This School Year Let’s Treat Our Teachers Like Celebrities

My father was a high school teacher for 30 years. My earliest memories are of him returning home in the evening after a long day…

10 Ways Teachers Can Be ‘All In’ Like Jon Snow This School Year

(Warning: Game of Thrones spoilers ahead. But like from Season 6, so no excuses; play like a champion.) There is this shot in the penultimate episode of…

This New Jersey Parent Summit Had Parents Fired Up and Ready to Go

Awesome…Uplifting…Informative…Amazing…Spectacular…Inspirational…Wonderful…Successful…these are just some of the words parents used to describe the New Jersey Parent Summit. Upon arrival, attendees received gift bags full of “swag”…

Jared’s Got Something Special and KIPP’s ‘Pathways’ Is Helping Him Show It

Eight-year-old Jared Teel-Drayton hops into the room, hands flapping, eyes darting, smile alight. He’s been painting—his class went to the art room today—and his teacher,…

Let’s Avoid ‘Alternative Facts’ When We Talk About School Choice and Charter Schools

Over the weekend, Americans were introduced to a new meme: “alternative facts,” Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway’s awkward rationalization of the president’s reality-challenged worldview. Well, it…

9 Stories of Parents Demanding Better Schools in 2016

Okay, so I’m not a parent—yet. But every day I read so many inspiring stories of parents from around the country demanding better schools for…

I Knew From the Start I Had Found My Son’s Community School

My husband and I have always believed we have the right to choose where our children attend school. So when I noticed my youngest son…

I Walked My Daughter to School and Here’s What I Learned Along the Way

Recently I joined hundreds of fathers and male mentors at my daughter’s school for their annual “Dads Walk Your Child to School Day.” As I…

I Support Public Charter Schools, But Not This One

Montclair is a beautiful community in New Jersey, but it is not perfect. For a town that is anchored in diversity, its education system is…

The Key to Charter School Success Is Collaboration With District Schools

The dominant theme of Richard Whitmire’s book The Founders is that the top quintile of public charter school operators are remarkably open to collaboration with…