What ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ Means for My Black Daughters and the Schools They Attend

As the Black mother of two Black girls, I am always acutely aware of how Black girls are harmed in this society. However, there are…

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…

How You Can Help Your Students Cope With Holiday Stress

Not all of your students look forward to the upcoming holiday season. Students may exhibit more frequent or new behaviors this time of year. The…

America Has Always Used Schools as a Weapon Against Native Americans

When Michelle Obama and her husband visited students of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation in North Dakota in the summer of 2014, she met students…

Our Students Need Every Educator to Speak Up to Ensure DeVos Hears Our Support for Restorative Justice

In my decade in Chicago Public Schools as a social worker and currently as a behavioral health specialist, I’ve learned a great education goes beyond…

School Shootings Aren’t the Only Things School Police Officers Need to Train For

In light of recent school shootings, one of the proposed solutions has been to put more school police officers in schools. In the last 30…

Thank You to All the Teachers Who Know That We Can’t Have Equity Without Love

I come from nothing. I was reminded of this at a tense board meeting in which a member from the community, upset with my opinion…

I Almost Let My Own Issues Get in the Way of My Student Killing It at a Talent Show

From the jump of my educational career I’ve always identified with the troubled students, the outcasts and troublemakers. I gravitate toward them and desperately try…

It Takes a Good School Leader to Know When a Teacher Is Struggling

Last year I went from managing students in the classroom to managing adults. That shift was just as hard as the one from managing myself…

If You’re Justifying Higher Suspension Rates for Black Kids Then You’re Not Facing Up to Racism in America

Many people of privilege, myself included, have a hard time looking in the mirror and confronting their own racism. They will do anything to justify…