How I’m Helping My Child With Special Needs Navigate Remote Learning

My children always start school two weeks before everyone else. So after two weeks of e-learning—or what I am calling two-weeks “in the trenches”—I feel…

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…

The Only Thing Certain About Reopening Schools Is Black and Brown Kids Will Be Screwed Again

I don’t know if y’all have noticed, but nobody knows what the hell they’re doing with this school reopening thing. And look, I don’t envy…

Teachers, We Need to Get Our Knees Off Our Students’ Necks

Debate is raging across the country on how to return to school in the fall. The Trump administration, considering their abject disregard for the health…

Now Is the Time to Remake Our Schools With Equity in Mind

This week, the school reopening conversation is largely about when we reopen schools. Some people, including our president, want schools to reopen widely, as soon…

Seriously, Betsy? The Civil Rights Act

On Friday U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released a statement celebrating the 56th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, passed in 1957 by a Republican-controlled…

Our Students Have Strong Emotions Right Now, And That’s Not a Disability

When a local newspaper featured a picture of one of our students at a peaceful protest against police brutality, the staff at the small special…

Reopening Schools While Coronavirus Is Still on the Loose Is Ass-Backward

I swear this country is ass-backward. In last week’s Senate hearing, Dr. Anthony Fauci—the nation’s leading expert on the coronavirus pandemic—said outright, “… states will…

Students With Disabilities Deserve More During Distance Learning

At Alliance College-Ready Public Schools (Alliance) in Los Angeles, when we say that all scholars can learn and achieve, we mean all. That’s why, in…

My Son Cracked the Code in an Atypical Way With a Focus on Phonics

When my three older children learned to read, it seemed to us as natural a process as learning to talk. We read to them every…