Illinois Has Fixed Its School Funding Formula, But That Didn’t Help My Student

Kylie, now an eighth-grader, came to our school in second grade. In her six years with us, she came to think of our school as…

I’m Teaching My Students How to Read and Think Beyond the Headline

We’ve all been there. A tempting headline, a picture too startling to keep our fingers at rest. We skim through the article. We write a…

Even in Death, Black and Brown Students Are Dehumanized

In my second year of teaching, I had a notorious student we’ll call Israel. After the first day of class, we sat down and discussed…

With the Right Team of Adults Behind Her, My Autistic Child Is Killing It at School

Nationwide, health coverage for autism-related services is seriously lacking. In my home state of Illinois, advocates are pushing newly elected Governor Pritzker to expand Medicaid…

Going to a Women’s HBCU Inspired Me to Fight for College Access for Everyone

At my small high school in East St. Louis, Illinois, going away to college was not accessible to all. The few most promising students were…

When I Failed My Student, Restorative Justice Picked Us Up

During one of my daily writing warm-up exercises Alex, a sophomore in my remedial English class, decided to exercise his defiance by yelling, “Get off…

‘The Make-or-Break Year’ Offers Ed Reformers Sobering Lessons on How Real School Change Happens

“If we have to remove dead weight, we will remove dead weight.” That’s what the assistant principal of Chicago’s Orr High School told me in…

Nobody Likes a Teachers Strike. Here’s How We Can Work to Avoid Them.

Nobody likes a teachers strike. I know. I have lived through a number of them. And I’m doing it again this week. My life and…

Forget the School-to-Prison Pipeline, For White Boys It’s the School-to-Politics Pipeline

Tonight, President Donald Trump will deliver his State of the Union address. Like many other U.S. citizens, I see our current president as deeply flawed,…

Showing Up and Doing Well in School Should Lead to Better Opportunity But It’s Not Always True

Low-income and minority students are not being challenged nearly as much as their White peers in high school, according to a new study produced by…