The United States spends $5 BILLION annually on K-12 textbooks that students use as expensive doorstops. That's roughly enough to buy every teacher in America a really nice espresso machine…and honestly, that might improve the education system more.
Education is so damn expensive—and for what? Michael Vilardo, our CEO at Subject, once blew $70,000 (!!!) on UCLA Zoom lectures that made DMV waiting rooms feel like theme parks. But instead of starting a support group for overcharged MBA students, he built Subject after recognizing that the problem wasn’t simply online learning – it was how content was produced and delivered. Not only was the online curriculum boring, it also failed to connect with students’ cultural backgrounds or support English language learners. That hit close to home: brilliant students were failing not because they lacked ability, but because they couldn't demonstrate their knowledge through language barriers—the same barriers his own Colombian mother had faced.
Now school districts are rushing to adopt Subject because he figured out how to fix what everyone else just accepted as inevitable.
Here’s what’s on the dashboard this week:
Today’s Deep Dive: Making kids choose learning (without bribes)
Reading Rainbow: Teachers eating sandwiches at light speed
From Our Desk: Education saves lives
Watch of the Week: Hawkins Middle School > most real schools
Show of Hands: The best thing about new classroom tech?
The 4 steps to make kids choose learning (without bribes)
Michael Vilardo endured UCLA's most expensive screen time, then realized education was bringing a spoon to a gunfight against TikTok. His districts now expand faster than gossip in the teacher's lounge. (Yes, Karen, they’re talking about you…)
But here's what really drove him: Vilardo's Colombian mother navigated language barriers her entire life. He watched brilliant kids—just like his mom once was—fail tests not because they couldn't do math, but because they couldn't decode English word problems.
Picture a 12-year-old who solves complex equations for fun but stares helplessly at "If Train A leaves Chicago..." because every word is a stumbling block.
That kid knows math. But the test doesn't know that kid.
"My mom was an English learner," Vilardo says. Going from community college to UPenn showed him how language creates false ceilings on real potential.
"To be able to help students master their potential and not be limited by the language they speak is so important."
Here's his four-step plan that turned homework from punishment into something kids actually want to do:
Step 1: AI That Actually Speaks Your Students' Language
While everyone else duct-tapes Google Translate to their platform, Subject baked Multilingual + AI Learning Support into the foundation. Smart kids were tanking because they think in Spanish but test in English—like asking Gordon Ramsay to cook while wearing boxing gloves. Now parents can help with homework without translation apps mistaking "solve for X" for "dissolve the mystery."Step 2: Make It Whataburger, Not Generic Burger
Nobody in San Antonio cares about theoretical pizza slices from New York. They want word problems about breakfast taquitos. Basketball fans learn geometry through free throws. Swifties discover poetry through Taylor's lyrics. Revolutionary idea: speak to kids in their own cultural language.Step 3: Free Teachers from Groundhog Day Hell
Subject handles the administrative quicksand—grading, tracking who actually did the reading (nobody), generating parent emails. Teachers evolve from human copy machines into actual humans. They call it "Teacher to Tony Robbins," which sounds absurd until you remember good teachers already do what Tony charges $5,000 to do: convince people they're capable of greatness.Step 4: Make Friends with Our Robot Overlords
While others build fortress walls against ChatGPT, Subject says "use it for 10-30%, then explain your work out loud." You can't BS your way through verbal explanations. ChatGPT won't save you when you have to actually demonstrate understanding.
Kids now voluntarily do homework for 35 minutes. That's longer than most faculty meetings feel.
Districts see ROI instead of buyer's remorse. Parents participate without needing a computer science degree. Everybody wins except textbook companies still pushing $400 paperweights…bye!
American School Lunch Breaks Make Prison Meals Look Leisurely
It’s no r/AmITheA**hole thread. It’s better: Redditors are going all-in on why teachers get less break time than Amazon warehouse workers. One teacher's hack: "Master eating while walking, grading while chewing, and crying efficiently. It's called multitasking, Sharon."Study Finds Knowing Names Improves Learning, Water Still Wet
TEACH Magazine discovers students perform better when teachers acknowledge their existence. Coming next week: Students who eat breakfast less hungry than those who don't. (Seriously though, there’s some good food for thought there.)AI Already Rewrote Your Job While We’re Still Fighting SmartBoards
Learning Guild reports AI transformed instructional design faster than you can say "PowerPoint transition effects." Designers now coach computers instead of fighting clip art. The future is weird, but hey, at least Comic Sans is dying.Schools Give Free Lunches, Universe Doesn't Implode
NYT explores schools providing dental care, food pantries, and tax help. Treating families like complete humans with complex needs improves education outcomes. Alert the Department of Education! Oh, wait…
On the Subject #59 – Kyera Bradley on How Education Saved Her Life—and Why She’s Paying It Forward at CPS
Subject.ai | Where Storytelling Meets Superintelligence - Learning Intelligence is woven into every Subject solution to adapt to each learner, spot challenges early, and provide support exactly when it's needed.
Day in the Life | Hockey Student Athlete Edition | Joel Meyers Ep. 2 - Senior year student and Arrows Youth Hockey Joel Meyers shares his inspiring journey from England to America to pursue his hockey dreams.
Our pick of the week: Stranger Things
Why We’re Obsessed: It’s a nice rewatch that perfectly captures modern education—kids battle incomprehensible monsters while adults remain blissfully clueless. Plus, the 80s nostalgia reminds us when "innovative edtech" meant overhead projectors.
Recommended lesson integration:
Physics through portals — Calculate the energy required to open interdimensional rifts (more useful than calculating train speeds)
Cold War history minus the boring parts — Government experiments gone wrong beats another worksheet about treaties
Character analysis for the Netflix generation — Eleven's arc destroys any dusty required reading protagonist (please, stop assigning “Grapes of Wrath”)
Psychology of friendship under pressure — These kids handle demogorgons better than we handle reply-all emails…this might actually just be a lesson for the adults
Media literacy and nostalgia manipulation —Why we romanticize decades when the height of classroom tech was a TV cart on wheels that burned out monthly and a fun lesson on the “Mandela Effect” (We still swear it was “the Berenstein Bears”)
What was your favorite style of project in school?
Thank you for joining us for another edition of On The Subject. We’ll see you again in a week, with more stories from the hallways.
The Subject Team
Want to learn more about our curriculum offerings? Contact us today.
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