School Choice
I'm Waiting for Democrats to Stop Using Progressive Talking Points and Start Listening to Parents
When eight Democratic presidential candidates appear on stage in Pittsburgh this Saturday, most—if not all—will echo teachers unions’ animus towards charter schools and school choice, which have...
Charter Schools
Democrats Are Finally Talking Public Education, But You Probably Won't Be Invited to the Table
I couldn’t believe it. Finally, education was going to take center stage at the 2020 Public Education Forum. All the major Democratic candidates (and some not so major) will be there, including Vice...
Achievement Gap
Here's How We Got Educating Black Kids Wrong Again in the 2010s
Congratulations, America! You’ve once again managed to provide the shittiest public education for Black students and families. So as we close out this decade and enter a new year, I’ve taken the...
Parents
A Teacher Asked About My Child’s Hopes and Dreams and It Changed Everything
As a child in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, I did not have a good experience in school. My teachers did not understand my ADHD, and I was labeled the “dumb kid.” I moved to this country when I was 13, but...
Achievement Gap
This School Hired the 'Best Person' for the Job and Ended Up With a 75% Black Male Teaching Staff
As he moves around his seventh grade math classroom, Aurum Preparatory Academy (“Aurum Prep”) teacher, Salif Doubare, is crackling with energy. He’s tall, thin, wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a big...
Diversity
10 Books to Help Your Students Find the Diverse Voices They Need to Hear
The day my teaching changed forever didn’t happen in a classroom. It happened at the local mall, in a bookstore that was going out of business. No English teacher can resist a book on sale, and what...