What It’s Like to Attend School in Rural America

On a rainy day in May of 2018, I toured a public school in northern Pennsylvania. Most of the students were eligible for free lunch.…

I’m Not Willing to Trade Fixing Income Inequality for Better Schools. We Need to Do Both.

I don’t know about y’all but I get tired of seeing annual reports basically saying the same thing: Black people in America are suffering. Like…

Better Schools Have a Place in Creating a More Equitable America

As someone who spent the first portion of his career deep in the “education reform” movement, I wasn’t surprised when Nick Hanauer’s Atlantic article, “Better…

The High School Play Everyone’s Talking About Shows Why We Need More Arts Funding in Schools

The sun can’t reach you but face-hugging and acid-spewing aliens can. Welcome, you’ve arrived at LV-426. Or have you? for their self-funded stage adaptation of…

A Psychology Professor Explains How Racial Trauma Impacts Students of Color

Dr. Maryam Jernigan-Noesi has been thinking about and studying children’s mental health since she was a child herself. I recently talked to her about the…

This Mom Raised $20K to Help Wipe Out Student Lunch Debt in Her State

Kate Lacroix is a mom from Boulder, Colorado. She has spent the last few months living her motto, “The need to feel nourished is universal.”…

This Has Been a Different Type of School Year

Engage. Enrich. Educate. That is what we, the educators at Phoenix Charter Academy in Chelsea, Massachusetts, set out to do while embarking on a different…

This Thanksgiving I’m Thankful for All the Education Advocates Who Make Doing This Work Just a Little Bit Easier

Outrage: Distractions Y’all, I’m irritated. The internet stays failing us and we believe almost everything we see and hear without doing our own research. Over…

If You’re a Teacher in a Turnaround School, You’ve Got a Friend in Me

I recently spent a weekend with two elementary school teachers. I was not there because I was from their school or even their state—I was…

If You’re a Politician and Don’t Have Education at the Forefront, Then You’re Part of the Problem

I recently had the opportunity to join with a few educators in a meeting with a prominent political official in my state to discuss teacher…