Black History Is American History and Should Be Celebrated All Year Long

As a Minnesotan, February is a signal that the warmth of spring is so close yet so far away (seriously, last Thursday the high was two…

Lakisha Young Talks About How Oakland Is Tackling the Reading Crisis

Lakisha Young is the executive director of The Oakland REACH. Her work began through witnessing the disparities faced by Black and Brown students, including members…

If You’re Really Fighting for Educational Justice, You Need to Check Your Privilege

Earlier this week I was tagged in a tweet published by Carol Burris. It looked to be an attempt to negatively blast or shame my…

We Shined a Light on What Many Refuse to See: World-Class Cities With Third-World Educational Results

You mad, bro? That seems like the most appropriate question to ask after my team released “The Secret Shame of Progressive Cities” last week, a…

Here’s What It Really Means to Move to a ‘Good School’ in a ‘Good Neighborhood’

Many White folks, especially Northern White liberals who voted for Obama, would argue they are not racist, even while they actively cause harm to Black…

Nowhere Is the Hypocrisy of Progressives More Apparent Than in Education

Two years ago, when I ran for mayor of Minneapolis I was somewhat naïve, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about the possibility of mobilizing the White, progressive…

Thanks to the National Parents Union, I’m Fired Up and Ready to Fight for Better Schools

The racial demographics within traditional public schools in the U.S. are undoubtedly changing, and it’s two Latina parents living on opposite ends of the country…

Dr. King Would Have Shined a Light on the Shame of ‘Progressive’ Cities. So Should We.

On the day that the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was taken in 1968, he had become increasingly focused on the least of…

Think Education Is a Public Good? Think Again.

Education ought to be a public good. And it never has been. Most Americans want education to be a public good, an inherent right guaranteed…

Don’t Forget, Not Every Student Had Opportunities for Enrichment This Summer

This summer, my students and I learned that blue crabs are really feisty, but mosquitos are even feistier.  For two weeks in June, I chaperoned…