Now Is the Perfect Time for White Teachers to Do ‘The Work’ of Anti-Racism

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted, well, everything, but at times I find that I have more time to communicate, virtually if necessary, with family and…

It Was the Worst Moment of My Teaching Career, And I Was the Problem

One of the best teachers I have ever known has a tattoo on the inside of her wrist of the snake from “The Little Prince.”…

We’re Teaching Black History Month All Wrong

News flash: We have been celebrating Black History Month all wrong.  Black History Month (originally “Negro History Week”) was started by Carter G. Woodson in…

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.…

The Republican Party Doesn’t Own the School Reform Movement. People of Color Do.

On Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump delivered his fourth State of the Union Address (SOTU) to the 116th Congress and the nation. The annual address…

Nowhere Is the Hypocrisy of Progressives More Apparent Than in Education

Two years ago, when I ran for mayor of Minneapolis I was somewhat naïve, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about the possibility of mobilizing the White, progressive…

Everyone Progresses With a Progressive Platform, Except for Black and Brown Children.

I’ve had the chance to travel a lot in my work as an educator and activist, and frequently I find myself in what I call…

27 Mistakes White Teachers of Black Students Make and How to Fix Them

A few years back, I was in my room meeting parents during an open house, just days before the school year started. A woman walked…

Even in a School With an ‘A’ Rating, Students of Color Are Being Failed

Around the country, schools that initially impress observers with high overall test scores often lose their luster upon closer examination, when inequities in achievement by…

Black Families Haven’t Been Hoodwinked, We Come From a Legacy of School Choice

The Democratic party once embraced charter schools as a tool for equity and opportunity. Now, as Andre Perry points out in his recent op-ed, “Support…