It Was Hard Being a Dyslexia Mom Before Coronavirus and Now It’s Even Harder

For me, helping my son go from a bright but illiterate fourth-grader to a high school student who can read and write was an incredible…

Here’s How the COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Will Affect Education

Late this morning the U.S. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act. The total tab is $2 trillion…

It’s Time to Acknowledge That This Is the New Normal

To call the last few weeks hard, unprecedented and surreal feels trite. We are facing a pandemic unlike any in the last century and it…

My 7-Year-Old Helped Frame Her IEP Goals

Having a child with a disability, and becoming disabled myself, has put me through a boot-camp that prepared me for the war for quality services…

Thanks to the National Parents Union, I’m Fired Up and Ready to Fight for Better Schools

The racial demographics within traditional public schools in the U.S. are undoubtedly changing, and it’s two Latina parents living on opposite ends of the country…

Three Ways to Foster a Love of Reading in Students With Disabilities

When it comes to literacy, how do we help our students with learning disabilities thrive? The research is clear: Vanessa Chratian, a special education reading…

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…

Here’s How ‘Threat Assessments’ May Be Targeting Vulnerable Students

Last month, the U.S. Secret Service released Protecting America’s Schools, which sends education leaders a clear message: we can prevent school shootings and other targeted…

We Need a New Way of Talking About Students Who Face Barriers Erected by Adults and Sustained by Broken Systems

I bring John, David, Ana and Sally into every training, strategy session and decision-making room I occupy.  Well, actually I bring their stories, to remind…

Free College Is Cool But When Will Presidential Candidates Start Talking About K-12

I was a first-generation college student who considered dropping out my freshman year because I couldn’t pass math.  As an honor student who attended high…