John Taylor Gatto (December 15, 1935-October 25, 2018) taught for 30 years in public schools. He was named New York City Teacher of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991. In 1991, he wrote a letter announcing his retirement, titled "I Quit, I Think," to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal, saying that he no longer wished to "hurt kids to make a living." A tireless advocate for homeschooling, unschooling, and open-source learning, he built a new career of writing and public speaking that took him over a million and a half miles across all 50 states and seven foreign countries.

Zachary Slayback is an entrepreneur, Ivy League dropout, and communicator, focusing on issues of education, innovation, and social change. He's the author of The End of School (2016) and a founding team member at Praxis, an apprenticeship program for young people looking for a real-world education.