Believe It or Not, Trump and DeVos Have Done Some Good for American Education

WHAT WE GOT RIGHT: I’ve been leading Getting NYC Kindergarten and Getting Into NYC High School workshops for New York City parents for approximately 15 years. But only since the 2016 presidential elections has the question began popping up during the Q&A portion: How is (Education Secretary) Betsy DeVos going to affect my child’s education?…

Betsy DeVos, Trump’s Most Effective Cabinet Member? The Answer May Frighten You.

Two winters ago, Kaitlyn Kirk, one of my premier students, came into the library with her eyes glued to her phone. Headphones in, she sat…

Coffee Break: Tim Daly on How EdNavigator Helps Parents Make School Choice Work

Three years ago, Tim Daly and two colleagues left TNTP (The New Teacher Project) and launched a new effort called EdNavigator. The organization aims to…

Some Advice for Young Education Reformers

Conservative education policy writer Rick Hess has a new book out called “Letters to a Young Education Reformer.” He invited me to join one of two…

How Parents Benefit From School Accountability

If you’re a parent like me, at the start of each school year you eagerly learn all about the course content your child will study,…

Here’s the Deal: We Can’t Help Teachers Improve If We Don’t Know What Needs Improving

In an unexpected defense of the Obama administration’s pursuit of a clearer teacher-by-teacher picture of who’s doing a good job educating the nation’s students and…

Right Now We Are Numb. But We Will Rise and Fight for Kids.

The election of Donald Trump has evoked pain and emotion for so many. I read their blog posts. I watch them protest. I see their…

Would a Republican Government Be Good for School Kids? I’m Skeptical.

Now that Republicans are running Congress, the White House and two-thirds of the states, we will find out whether conservative government will be good for…

Believe It or Not, I Actually Moved to Nevada for the Schools

This is the first part in a three-part series on Nevada’s successes and struggles to turnaround its school system over the next five years. Too…

I’m Proud Not to Support Trump, But I Wish I Could Be More Proud to Be a Democrat

I found myself flipping back and forth between schadenfreude and disgust at last night’s Republican National Convention circus. Chachi, some Duck Dynasty guy and a…