Seriously, Betsy? The Civil Rights Act

On Friday U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released a statement celebrating the 56th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, passed in 1957 by a Republican-controlled…

From Kindergarten to High School, Schools Show They Don’t Give a Damn About Black Lives

Across the globe, millions of people are protesting police brutality and systemic racism in response to the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor…

Black Families, These Are Not the Democrats Who Will Save Us

While watching the Public Education Forum 2020 on Saturday, one phrase caught my attention: Democratic “hopefuls,” referring to the presidential candidates in attendance. Given that…

Here’s How We Got Educating Black Kids Wrong Again in the 2010s

WHAT WE GOT WRONG: Congratulations, America! You’ve once again managed to provide the shittiest public education for Black students and families. So as we close out this decade and enter a new year, I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting some of these moments, policies and practices that have upheld your deep-rooted oppression!…

My Black Students Have Learned to Be Wary of People Who Look Like Me, And That’s Not Racist

Recently in class, my students and I were listening to Lil Nas X sing “Old Town Road,” for what felt like the 100th time. Unintentionally…

Why We Need LGBTQ+ Curricula

In 2018, GLSEN’s national school climate study indicated that 59.5% of LGBTQ students “felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 44.6% felt…

Here’s How Trump Is Making It Harder to Integrate Schools

This summer, integrated schools heated up as a campaign issue when Kamala Harris called out Joe Biden for his 1970s stance on mandated busing as…

DeVos Has Dramatically Scaled Back the Protection of LGBTQ Students

This week a report from the Center for American Progress showed that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has dramatically scaled back…

We’ve Never Seen a Public School System Work for All Kids, But We Have to Believe We Can Build One

The other day I watched the documentary True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality.  Now if you don’t know who Bryan Stevenson is, you should…

Having a Mock Slave Auction Isn’t Teaching Students About Slavery, It’s Just Racist

As an educator, I am sometimes left with more questions than answers. One question that I have is how come conducting a mock slave auction…