Stories

activism

Will You Still Care About Our Kids When the Teachers' Strike Ends?

My friend and esteemed colleague, Chris Stewart, often asks, “How are the children?” Well, according to Jasmine Lane’s tweet thread asking rhetorical questions like, “How many futures have been...

Want to Keep Teachers of Color at Your School? Recognize Their Work.

I reread it slower this time, an email sent to 40+ staff members with the subject line, "Congrats and Great Work," from my principal. The email was a glowing account of one of my colleagues’ recent...

Teaching

Black Teachers Face Extra Scrutiny While White Teachers Often Get a Pass

When we hire White teachers, their quality is generally assumed rather than questioned. But when we look at Black educators, their quality is generally questioned. In the context of hiring Black...

Parents

Someone Should Run for School Board, Why Not You?

Let’s get this out of the way. Mark Twain’s famous joke: “In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.” Hardy, har, har. The rejoinder of this weekly column...

School Discipline

My Child Was a Victim of Restorative Justice. But It Doesn't Have to Be This Way.

In 2015, I started a three-year journey to acquire my doctorate in educational leadership. On top of going back to graduate school, I was a high school principal. It was a job I loved and one for...

equity

Leveling' Teachers Doesn’t Always Level the Playing Field for Kids

Imagine you’re a new teacher in a traditional public school district. You have spent the summer planning for and worrying about the upcoming year. You have scanned and re-scanned your ever-changing,...