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…

3 Questions Every Educator Should Ask to Prepare for School This Year

There are some things we understand much better today than we did four months ago. Leading school districts and schools of all grade levels during…

I Desperately Want to Get Back to School, But My Students’ Safety Is My First Priority Right Now

I desperately want to return to school in the fall and be with my kids. In the most non-melodramatic, non-trivial way possible—I am lost without…

James Baldwin’s ‘Talk to Teachers’ Is Just as Relevant Today

As I sit here, processing my thoughts on the severity of events that are currently grappling our nation, I reflect on the historical circumstances that…

White Teachers, Our Whiteness Is Getting in Our Way

Since the murder of George Floyd, teacher leaders across America have sought to prove the necessity of antiracism in public education. And rightly so: from…

This Is a Perfect Time to Talk With Our Students About Social Injustice

The COVID-19 pandemic offers teachers a unique opportunity to capitalize on student empathy. Before the pandemic hit, millions of U.S. students were already in our…

The Hidden Cost of Injustice Is What Our Children Could Have Been

“You can be anything you want to be when you grow up!” That’s what we tell our kids, and we encourage them to do well…

Award-Winning Teachers Demand 4 Anti-Racist Policies to Ensure Schools Are a Place of Liberation

As educators, and also as community members, parents, and learners, the undersigned 2018 Teachers of the Year, rise in solidarity with Black Lives Matter against…

Black Girls Need Police-Free Schools

We are at a precipice. Advocates and school leaders in nearly 100 districts all over the country have called for the removal of police in…