School Choice
It Doesn't Matter Who's in the White House When It Comes to Education Policy
Anyone who has known me longer than five minutes knows that I am a pacifist, tree-hugging, worker-loving, Bernie Sanders Democrat. So what was I doing the morning after the election? Two things:...
School Discipline
ESSA Is Not About Leaving the Babies Behind
Ask any public school parent—including me—about what happens when your child is in the earliest elementary grades, and you may get an earful about what is missing from their classroom experiences....
Poverty
How Chicago’s Noble Network Pioneered High School Innovation at Scale
If you set foot on campus at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, the Land of Lincoln’s flagship four-year school, 1 of every 5 Black and Latino students you meet will have graduated from...
Charter Schools
How Personalized Learning Took This Charter School From Good to Great
Back in 2011, Chicago International Charter School (CICS) West Belden, on Chicago’s Northwest Side, was a pretty traditional place. Desks were in rows and teachers were doing most of the talking—and...
Charter Schools
This Teacher Is Going to the Olympics
How cool would it be if your gym teacher went to the Olympics? For the students at Bulls College Prep, a campus of Chicago’s Noble Network of Charter Schools, that’s a reality. On August 15 and 16,...
Diversity
Illinois Has Plenty of Teachers, Just Not the Ones We Need the Most
A few years ago, I had a conversation with a young African-American man who was a high school senior in Chicago. He wanted to be a teacher in order to reach kids who wanted to learn but needed help...