In the Face of the COVID Crisis, Michigan Districts and Charters Came Together to Innovate

Eighteen years ago, right before Michigan’s charter school boom began, I accepted my first teaching job at a Detroit based Big Picture Learning school. Built…

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…

School Choice Systems Must Prioritize Youth in Foster Care

Nearly half a million children in the United States are in foster care, many in non-relative settings or group homes, and spend an average of…

Biden’s Unity Task Force Isn’t Building Education Back Better, It’s Holding Back Progress

I am a quintessential American Democrat, a New York Jew raised by teachers union members whose own parents endured brutal bigotry before they escaped Eastern…

Parents, It’s Way Past Time to Break Up With Traditional Education and School Funding

This pandemic is an opportunity to change not only how we educate children, but how we fund that education. Right now, school and district leaders…

Charter Schools May Be Leading the Way During Covid-19

Last week I looked at the stark disparities in the quality of online instruction offered to children during the COVID-19 school closures, comparing Princeton Regional Public…

Kids Who Aren’t Well-Served in Traditional Settings Aren’t Troublemakers, They’re the Key to Real Change

Too often, education leaders think of schools and programs serving students who have gaps in their education, who are early parents, who are incarcerated or…

Let’s Help Our Young People Unlearn What White Supremacy Taught Them

True story. The other day I was recording an episode of my podcast with 11th graders at a school on the far south-side of Chicago.…

Think Education Is a Public Good? Think Again.

Education ought to be a public good. And it never has been. Most Americans want education to be a public good, an inherent right guaranteed…

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…