Democrats, This Is Your Moment to Make Equity More Than a Slogan

Where do Democratic candidates stand on public education? After last month’s Forum on Education, we know that the candidates are committed to increasing the federal…

5 Education Reports That Defined the Decade

WHAT WE GOT WRONG: The decade is coming to a close, but don’t expect the conversations and issues that were raised in the 2010s to be swept under the rug. …

In a Season of Gratitude, I’m Thankful for Our ‘Village’

It was late August, and suddenly, the moment I’d been anticipating for years had arrived. My husband and I were dropping off our baby, Nyanja,…

When It Comes to Education, Democrats Need to Think Bigger

I’m a Sam Seaborn Democrat. As the idealistic West Wing character once said:  Education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don’t need little…

We Had to Do Some Real Homework to Find the Right School for Our Child

About six years ago, my spouse and I found a home we could afford in a nice working-class neighborhood, near our families, with decent schools.…

Even in a School With an ‘A’ Rating, Students of Color Are Being Failed

Around the country, schools that initially impress observers with high overall test scores often lose their luster upon closer examination, when inequities in achievement by…

Here’s What Happened Yesterday When AFT and NEA Locked Out Black and Brown Parents from a Candidate Forum

Yesterday the AFT/NEA sponsored a “Public Education Forum” in Pittsburgh. There, hand-selected union members heard from seven Democratic presidential candidates as one by one they…

Black Families Haven’t Been Hoodwinked, We Come From a Legacy of School Choice

The Democratic party once embraced charter schools as a tool for equity and opportunity. Now, as Andre Perry points out in his recent op-ed, “Support…

I’m Waiting for Democrats to Stop Using Progressive Talking Points and Start Listening to Parents

When eight Democratic presidential candidates appear on stage in Pittsburgh this Saturday, most—if not all—will echo teachers unions’ animus towards charter schools and school choice,…

Black Kids Don’t Need to Sit Next to White Kids to Learn

WHAT WE GOT WRONG: Over the last decade, and indeed for longer than that, those fighting for justice, many of them White, have largely looked to integration as the panacea for educational inequity.…