Integration Is a Noble Goal, But Obsessing Over It Shouldn’t Distract Us From Improving Teaching and Learning

Another week, another headline about the urgency of jettisoning efforts to improve teaching and learning for all kids and instead laser-focusing on ending segregation in…

I Hate to Inform You, but Not Everyone Is Above Average in Wobegon

Wherever you live, there is a high probability that Minnesota is low-key superior to your state.  We are the safest state in America, we have…

The Biggest Threat to Public Education Is Still Its Insidious ‘Belief Gap’

For a long time school reform seemed to be winning the public argument about the failure of schools to prepare students academically. During that run,…

The Discomfort of White Adults Should Never Take Priority Over the Success of Our Black and Brown Students

“I didn’t come here to teach those kinds of kids.” It’s alarming to think that adults charged with helping students of color succeed in school…

Don’t Expect Results If You’re Selling Your Students Short With Old Strategies

I teach English Language Arts to high school students in Washington, D.C. All of my students are students of color. While bright and talented, many…

They’re Trying to Ban Charter Schools in California. Here’s Why That Matters.

About two years ago this time I had to write an explainer piece when the NAACP pushed for a moratorium on public charter schools. The…

Here’s One Thing You Can Do Right Now to Defend the Rights of Black Families in California

I don’t know about you, but I can’t just sit by and watch. It’s time for action. The latest battleground in the national war on…

It’s Time to Call American Public Education What It Is: A Caste System

A super selective public high school in New York handed out acceptance letters to 895 kids like how Oprah was handing out cars to her…

This County Made History and Elected Its First School Board Member of Color

On a cold December evening in Gwinnett County, Georgia, my mother and I rushed to find good seats in the auditorium of the J. Alvin…

While We’re Stuck On Blackface, Black Faces Continue to Suffer in a Racist School System

Yeah, I said it. All week, on social media and news outlets, there’s been coverage of Virginia’s Governor, Ralph Northam, denying claims of wearing blackface…