Poverty
If We Want Poor Kids to Get an Equal Shot at Learning, We Must Make Hard Choices
It’s not every day you see the phrase “supplement, not supplant” make it into The New York Times. But it did. The Washington education world is buzzing over Secretary John King’s effort to push...
Charter Schools
These Chicago Twins Have Some Advice for First-Generation College Hopefuls
Fraternal twins Kemonte and Kymon Harrington are members of the first graduating class of the Noble Network of Charter Schools’ Hansberry College Prep in Chicago. Kemonte applied to 13 colleges and...
Poverty
I Believe in Chicago Public Schools, But They Deserve a Fair Shake
Libby Elementary stands less than a mile away from my home on Chicago’s Southwest Side. The shocking fact about Libby isn’t its high poverty or intense concentration of students of color—it’s the 41...
California
It’s Just a Toilet': How Students Fought for a Gender-Neutral Bathroom
On the morning of Tuesday, April 16, 2016, the first day Santee Education Complex’s gender-neutral bathroom officially opened, things kicked off quietly. “People were just using it. The atmosphere...
School Choice
Here's Why April 1 Is a Big Day for Chicago's Public Charter Schools, Too
All eyes are on Chicago Public Schools (CPS) as the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) plans for a one-day strike on Friday. Parents are scrambling to find places to put their children for the day while...
Parents
How One Charter School Is Stepping Up Its Leadership Game
Successions are often tough times for schools of all kinds. When one principal leaves and another takes over, everything changes—for good or bad. Making the right leadership change can be especially...