School Discipline
What Does It Mean to Demilitarize Our Schools?
My son was eight when he told me he was going to “quit school.” At first, I laughed, but after he said it again and insisted that he was serious, I listened. Turns out, what my son meant about...
student support
We Need a Stronger Commitment to Recruit and Retain Teachers of Color
The current global pandemic has challenged the concept of America’s exceptionalism. As we struggle with COVID-19, we are also uncomfortably grappling with the vestiges of slavery and economic...
COVID-19
We Deserve Better Than Betsy DeVos and Her White Privilege Plan to Reopen Schools
My family was supposed to move back South this summer. That was the plan as soon as we left back in 2017. I will never forget the day my life changed. Sitting in room 134, a thought came to my mind...
School Funding
A Student Who Is Ineffectively Taught by an Anti-Racist Teacher Is Not Receiving Justice
Last Sunday educators, students, and families marched in Philadelphia demanding a long overdue anti-racist action in the city’s schools, insisting that anti-racism “be the overarching theme of every...
equity
We Cannot Allow Reopening Schools to Be a Political Issue
After four years of being a largely forgotten policy area, PK-12 education suddenly became a national priority last week. Under ordinary circumstances, this should be cause for celebration, but the...
COVID-19
I Am a Teacher. Here's What Scares Me Most About COVID-19
I’m afraid of COVID-19. So are you. And so is everyone else. Fear is the only rational response given the current pandemic. Yet fear can be paralyzing and polarizing because we are sometimes scared...