I Know What the Challenges Are for Black Teachers and How to Start Fixing Them

I will never forget the moment last year when a seventh-grade African American student came to my door and said, “Mr. Taylor, I just wanted…

Schools Need to Teach the Hard History of Asian Americans

Like so many Asian Americans, I was not surprised when I heard the news that the mass shooting in Atlanta targeted six Asian American women.…

Restorative Justice Isn’t Just for the Students, It’s for the Adults Too

Let’s face it: Our public schools are, in the main, alienating and repressive institutions whose function it is to provide our society with an army…

A Leaky Pipeline Loses Teachers of Color

Despite the benefits of a diverse teaching force, prospective teachers of color fall out of our leaky preparation pipeline at every stage: preparation, hiring, induction…

Teacher Diversity Explained: Why It Matters, and How We Got Here

While America’s student body has grown more diverse over time, the teachers working with them have remained overwhelmingly white. While more than half of public…

Education for Black Kids Cannot Look the Same as It Did in 2020

We lost so many lives this year—lives that could’ve been saved if people just gave a damn for once. And I’m not referring to the…

Cultural Competence Only Goes So Far. Kids Need Teacher Diversity.

I am a middle school science teacher. When covering the laws of physics, I teach that “every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” This…

Breonna Taylor Didn’t Get Justice, But It’s Not Too Late to Save Our Kids From a Country Set Out to Kill Them

Before we even get started, I just wanna say that the Grand Jury ruling Breonna Taylor’s killing justified is bullshit.  Now that I’ve gotten that…

I Believe in School Choice, But Only When Those Choices Are Available to Everyone

Two weeks ago, the governor of my state directed $32 million dollars in funds from the federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund to create…

Teachers, If You Haven’t Been Giving a Damn About Your Students, We Definitely Don’t Need You Now

Before I stroll into my routine of being a habitual line stepper, let me state my usual disclaimer. Educators, I love and appreciate y’all. I…