Karega Rausch Says Charter Schools Get Better Outcomes for Kids When They Listen to Communities

With all the ruckus around charter schools, it’s easy to forget they can’t be painted with a broad brush. Each state has its own charter…

Everyone Is Talking About ‘Reinventing Education.’ Here Are 10 Schools Actually Doing It.

Today, all over the world, we see the power, commitment and wisdom of young people in action. For inspiration, just look at Chris Suggs, Malala…

We Must Vote for the Candidates Who Will Implement the Right Policies for Our Kids

I first met Shennell McCloud when she was Director of Recruitment, and then as Director of Advocacy for KIPP New Jersey, a charter school network…

Here’s How the Presidential Candidates Stack Up on Community Schools

When the families of Chicago’s Spry Elementary and I launched Spry Community Links High School, the city’s first community school serving students from pre-K through…

3 Questions Every Educator Should Ask to Prepare for School This Year

There are some things we understand much better today than we did four months ago. Leading school districts and schools of all grade levels during…

KIPP Schools’ Response to COVID-19 Went Way Beyond Academics

You often hear that a crisis usually brings out the best in people, and it was certainly the case at KIPP Schools around the country. I…

This Is What Education Activism Looks Like During COVID-19

When you go back in history and look at who was leading the charge in the fight for liberation, it was always a person—or a…

How ‘Social Distancing’ Is Changing the Way We View Schools

Paradoxically enough, as Washington, D.C., has slid from mass school closures into social distancing and working from home toward increasingly likely shelter-in-place, my neighborhood is…

This Is Where I Convince You to Become a Mentor for a Young Person in Your Community

Toward the end of last year, my colleagues were writing wrap-ups to the decade and providing strong analysis of what had been won or lost…

Someone Should Run for School Board, Why Not You?

Let’s get this out of the way. Mark Twain’s famous joke: “In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made…