Poverty
How to Save Charter Schools From the Beatdown
There seems to be an organized assault on charter schools. Legal challenges, bureaucratic barriers and smear campaigns all work to destroy their reputation, deplete their finances and diminish their...
Politics
My Native American Students Don’t Need to Be Taught About Racism But They Do Need a Space to Talk About It
Just this year alone, Kanye West has said slavery was a “choice,” Roseanne Barr compared former Obama Advisor Valerie Jarrett to an ape, Starbucks closed down 8,000 stores to hold anti-bias training...
Achievement Gap
Does Standardized Testing Help Students?
Every state uses standardized tests to find out how students in public schools are doing. Federal law requires it. But why? And how do standardized tests actually help students? The short answer:...
School Choice
Why Is Oklahoma City Blocking This School for Native American Kids?
Having grown up on a reservation in Reno, Nevada, Phil Gover of Oklahoma is committed to improving education for Native American students. In the summer of 2016 he founded the Sovereign Schools...
Achievement Gap
School Discipline Doesn't Have to Be a Pipeline to Prison, It Can Be a Teachable Moment
A decade ago, I happened upon a story that shook me. In the midst of an emotional outburst, a 6-year-old kindergartener had been removed from her Florida classroom in handcuffs. The handcuffs, too...
Poverty
What It's Like Teaching From Inside a Suicide Epidemic
If you’ve read past the title you already know what this post is about. If you’re still reading, it’s because you want to learn more, or because you already know and hope to find empathy. This post...