White Progressives Have a Lot of Work to Do, and I’m Not Here to Help

When I ran for school board it was the former Minneapolis mayor who was the first elected official to endorse me. She asked me a…

ZIP Code May Not Be Destiny, But It’s as Hard to Fight as Gravity

One Saturday I was picking my daughter up from a birthday party at one of those modern-day upscale arcades, and I was surprised to run…

Welcome Back to Charter School Advocacy, Cory Booker!

One evening last summer, I arrived home later than usual, after a happy-hour chat with a good friend about the speech that had just been…

That’s Right, I’m on the Roland Martin Bandwagon

Outrage: Access Still Denied Last week, my mentor and sister in the struggle, Kenya Bradshaw, dropped a gem at the LEAP InnovatEd Summit that really…

Actually, Charter Schools Can Work Against Segregation

Reactions to public charter schools seem to exist on an either/or dichotomy characterized by extremes. They are either the only answer to our country’s educational…

How the New York Times Got It Wrong on School Choice and Segregation

After a much needed break from all things education, I returned to find an op-ed in the New York Times from Antioch University writing professor…

The Story You Haven’t Heard About Why They’re Banning “To Kill a Mockingbird” in Mississippi

I’ll admit it. When I first heard of the Biloxi, Mississippi junior high school board’s decision to stop teaching “To Kill a Mockingbird,” my first…

How Teaching a Liberal Education Will Help Our Students Move Past Prejudice and Embrace Our Common Humanity

In 1952, as the world continued to take stock of the devastation wrought by authoritarian regimes, a coalition of prominent universities and preparatory schools called…

It’s Common Sense: There Are No Great Schools Without Great Principals

Back in the day, when I was an education reporter and trying to figure out where to find the school stories that would illuminate something…

To All the Teachers Worried About Trump and DeVos, There Is Something You Can Do

“Betsy DeVos just got confirmed as secretary of education.” My colleague, a principal in Brooklyn, glanced at me with worried eyes. I was at a…