DeVos Will Recommend the Removal of Civil Rights Protections for Students of Color

Any day now we’re going to hear the news that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration are removing guidance meant to reduce…

How We Can Make School Buses Safe for Kids and Affordable for Districts

Earlier this year, a New Jersey student and teacher were killed in a school bus crash while traveling for a field trip. The incident followed…

How to Save Charter Schools From the Beatdown

There seems to be an organized assault on charter schools. Legal challenges, bureaucratic barriers and smear campaigns all work to destroy their reputation, deplete their…

When Educators Act Like Gateways Rather Than Gatekeepers, Students Are More Likely to Get Through College

When I was in middle school, it was pretty clear what my teachers thought of me. I was placed in the slow track, literally named…

I Didn’t Want to Go to KIPP But Now I’m in College and I Totally Get It

It’s 5:45 a.m. on a Monday in mid-August. The year is 2006 and my mom is rapping on my bedroom door. “Julien! Time to get…

My Sister’s Battle With Severe Mental Illness Taught Me Never to Stand for Pretense

My parents, Jerry and Emily, had three daughters. I’m the oldest, followed by Carla two years later, and then my youngest sister. Carla, I’m told,…

Students With Autism Are ‘Different, Not Less,’ and Other Lessons From Temple Grandin

Steven was my oversized and freckled first-grade classmate. That basement classroom was bulging with students, with rows of tiny desks brimming with books and a…

I Almost Let My Own Issues Get in the Way of My Student Killing It at a Talent Show

From the jump of my educational career I’ve always identified with the troubled students, the outcasts and troublemakers. I gravitate toward them and desperately try…

I’m Celebrating How Newark Took Charter Schools From the Fringe to the Center

All parents deserve access to a high-quality school that nurtures and supports their children. But despite best intentions, many Newark parents continue to struggle finding…

Coffee Break: De’Shawn Wright on Being Destined for Public Service and Finding Purpose in Education

De’Shawn Wright has spent more than 15 years serving in senior leadership posts in government and the nonprofit sector and is a part of the…