How Our Rural School Is Closing the Opportunity Gap and Preparing the Next Generation of Teachers

Teacher shortages in Wisconsin, and across the country, have a stranglehold on the profession. Enrollment in educator prep programs in Wisconsin is down 30 percent.…

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…

Stop Trying to ‘All Lives Matter’ the Black Struggle for Educational Justice

Outrage: White People Won’t Be Satisfied Until We Make Our Struggle About Them I get tired of people trying to “All Lives Matter” my advocacy—especially White…

What Oklahoma Teachers Can Learn From the Montgomery Bus Boycott

On this day in Montgomery, Alabama, 63 years ago, Black people strategically rebelled against one of White supremacy’s ‘systems.’ That day, Black folks got into…

8 Million Stories Is Here to End the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Our Black boys aren’t served by the education system. Period. So many of them are sent right into the correctional industry. But that could be…

How We Can Help Rural Students Overcome the Opportunity Gap

One of the best baseball movies I’ve seen is “Moneyball” with Brad Pitt. There’s this scene where Pitt’s character had just brought in an economics…

Real Educational Equity Isn’t Going to Just Happen in Schools

Those of us in the education and learning fields are focused on developing ways to reduce the persistent educational inequities that harm low-income students. Unfortunately,…

Trying to Talk About the Achievement Gap? Try This.

Politics and education are two of my favorite subjects. It’s neat when I have an opportunity to combine them. I recently listened to a speech…

Achievement Gaps Are Just the Symptom. Opportunity Gaps Are the Real Problem.

We hear a lot of talk about achievement gaps these days, and rightfully so. America has only grown more diverse, but the gaps have barely…

Three Things You Should Think About When Choosing a School for Your Kid

I am a first-generation college graduate who wants my daughter to be successful. Growing up in the Englewood community in Chicago, I was exposed to…