This Is What It’s Gonna Take to Get More Chicago Kids All the Way to College Graduation

New studies on college enrollment and completion in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) show signs of progress. But there’s work yet to do to ensure Chicago’s…

‘Will They Cancel Everything?’ A DREAMer Copes With the End of DACA

My neighbor, Oscar Carrillo, has lived almost all of his 18 years in legal limbo. His parents brought him to the United States as a…

Everyone Is Entitled to an Opinion on Charter Schools But Parents Deserve the Final Say

Over the last year we’ve seen the NAACP come out forcefully against charter schools. We’ve seen the Trump administration support choice in ways that have…

When the Only Real Choice Is Private: My Unlikely Attraction to School Vouchers

I felt that the free education my daughter was getting was just too expensive. I needed to find a school that would start filling her academic gaps while also providing culturally responsive pedagogy.…

Who Needs Selective Enrollment When Your Neighborhood High School Has an IB Program

This is a stressful time for many urban eighth-grade students and parents who are considering high school options, and hearing from public schools about acceptances…

#MyBlackHistory: My Mom Had to Lie to Get Me Into a Good School. No Parent Should Have to Do That.

In a nation as wealthy as America, no parent should have to lie about their address to get their child into a high-quality school. Sadly, I have heard this same tale from many, many other Black families.…

These Chicago Twins Have Some Advice for First-Generation College Hopefuls

Fraternal twins Kemonte and Kymon Harrington are members of the first graduating class of the Noble Network of Charter Schools’ Hansberry College Prep in Chicago.…