Happy Mother’s Day: A Tribute to Black Moms Who Use Education as Their North Star
Whenever you see a low-income, single Black mother, I challenge you not to judge. I challenge you to see greatness in her and her children. I challenge you to see my mother and me. My mother was born in rural...
The Invisible Teacher: How the Secret Lives of Educators Can Impact Students
When you enter a school, it’s easy to notice the brightly colored bulletin boards and the roar of chatter spilling out of the cafeteria. But what do think about when you see a teacher? Professionalism? Intellect? Role model? Victim? Ms....
A Candid Convo With a Chicago Principal Who Says Black Boys Learn Best When Success Looks Like Them
Christopher Goins is the founding principal of Butler College Prep, a four-year-old charter high school on the far South Side of Chicago with a student population that is 95 percent low-income and Black. Much like Goins, who is a bold...
Here’s Where It Landed When Ed Reformers Talked About Race Behind Closed Doors
“But life at its best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony.” ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We weren’t exactly singing “kumbaya” when it ended, but the two dozen education thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum...
Power, Policy and Prayer: My Eye-Opening Phone Call With Betsy DeVos
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog expressing my exasperation with my children’s public school education and my attraction to school vouchers. To my surprise, United States Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spoke about that blog in a speech, and...
Ms. Rhames Goes to Washington: My Visit at the U.S. Department of Education
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos mentioned me by name in her keynote speech (starting at 29 min.) at the Brookings Institute last week. It happened while I was administering the standardized PARCC test to a group of third-graders at...
When the Only Real Choice Is Private: My Unlikely Attraction to School Vouchers
I felt that the free education my daughter was getting was just too expensive. I needed to find a school that would start filling her academic gaps while also providing culturally responsive pedagogy....
The Greatest Teaching Tool a School Can Have? Love.
Somewhere along the way, public schools stopped investing in the souls of children....
I’m Frustrated by the Way Education Reformers Talk About Race and Social Justice
On January 25, I had the honor of sitting on one of two panels on “Race, Social Justice and Education Reform,” co-hosted by the American Enterprise Institute and the NewSchools Venture Fund. (See video here; my panel begins at 1:12:00)...
The Ogden-Jenner School Merger Should Happen. Period.
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) will soon make a decision that will either allow it to leverage itself as a true champion for racial integration or affirm its dogged reputation as a racially biased institution whose policies promote segregation. By December...