We Don’t Need Any More Allies. We Need Accomplices in the Fight for Justice.
@MsPackyetti "Allies take up space; accomplices take up risk." #SummitX #UNDENIABLE — SFER (@SFERnational) March 5, 2017 This month, I had the absolute pleasure to spend time with reformers and...
View ArticleWalter Chen Is Building a Charter School That Reflects the Diversity of the...
Walter Chen, the founding principal of a new Green Dot public middle school set to open in south Seattle this fall, has a pretty simple vision for the school: “I want it to be a rigorous, joyful...
View ArticleHere’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...
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Founders, Eggs and Fists: How the NewSchools Summit Proved That the Fight...
When the NewSchools Summit in San Francisco ended last week, Black attendees were asking me what I would write about it. They were curious because this Summit was markedly different from the last one,...
View ArticleThe Woman Behind the Miracle on Cooper Street in Camden
Point A: A young girl born in Puerto Rico in 1962 spends her childhood traveling up and down the Eastern Coast from Florida to New Jersey as her parents, migrant laborers, follow the harvest. Point B:...
View ArticleI Was a Principal in Southwest Philly and That Didn’t Stop These Black Cops...
All year our eighth-grade students have been grappling with social justice issues and how to address them. They’ve closely analyzed past movements in America and South Africa—especially those involving...
View ArticleThe Big Gay Way to End the School Year
Happy Pride, y’all! June 1 marks the start of a month-long celebration of LGBT history and culture and of our extraordinary leaps forward in terms of equality in recent years. If what you know of Pride...
View ArticleThe Only Special Interest Group We Represent Is Our Children. Period.
At the end of the 19th century, the famous Nicaraguan writer, poet and journalist Rubén Darío wrote, “Si los perros ladran, Sancho, es señal que cabalgamos,” which translates to, “If dogs are barking,...
View ArticleEvery Book You Teach Is a Political Choice. Make It a Step Towards Social...
At NNSTOY’s (National Network of State Teachers of the Year) conference last July, civil rights educator Sharif El-Mekki delivered a moving presentation that ended with the question (and answer):...
View ArticleI’m No Black Revolutionary But After Charlottesville I Want to Be
This weekend, there was a terrible and very telling incident in Charlottesville, Virginia. While emotions are high and people are scared, to me, this is a moment in which we, Americans, must make key...
View ArticleHow I Use Bill Withers and Tupac in My Classroom to Help Students Learn
Music is everywhere. We play it constantly in our cars and homes, and listen to it on our phones as we’re exercising or walking. Music is one of life’s great joys. It can move us to dance, help us...
View ArticleOur President Is Wrong on Race and Our Kids Need to Hear Us Say It
I need to say it. You need to say it. Teachers need to say it. School leaders need to say it. We all need to say it. Our president—who drew a moral equivalency between White supremacists and the groups...
View ArticleCoffee Break: Broward Supt. Bob Runcie on How Public Schools Can Carve the...
Bob Runcie has led Florida’s Broward County Public Schools (the nation’s sixth-largest district) since 2011, after serving in several leadership positions in the Chicago Public Schools. Few have his...
View ArticleUndocumented People Aren’t a Threat to Communities. They Are Our Communities.
Teachers returning to the classroom across the country carry a heavy burden of explaining the unexplainable. Students will have hard questions about the horrific events of the summer, from the...
View ArticleHispanic Heritage Month Is Every Month for Latino Educators
Today marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, an annual celebration of the histories and stories of the Latino diaspora. In most of the country, Hispanic Heritage Month is often an excuse to...
View ArticleWhy the Hell Didn’t Someone Put These Books in My Hand When I Was Younger?
I should read more than I do. Everyone should. I think we’d be better off as a nation and a species if we all read more. Teachers have a unique role in fostering a love of reading and engendering an...
View ArticleYou Can’t Deny Our Stories. We Are First-Generation Students Organizing for a...
For first-generation college students, having to overcome some adversity is often a common shared experience. Despite the challenges we have faced, being able to sit in a college lecture hall is a...
View ArticleA Commitment to Justice: Educator to Educator
Recently, I thought about what accountability looks like between educators. I thought about what I hope other educators will hold me accountable for and what I will commit to holding them accountable...
View ArticleSometimes You Gotta Check Your Teacher Friends on Their Social Justice Activism
One late Sunday evening, I was scrolling through Facebook and decided to check on one of my friends and former colleagues. I went to his page and saw lots of pictures with his wife and children in...
View ArticleI’ve Been a Principal for 15 Years, Here’s 12 Things I’ve Learned Along the Way
This marks my 15th year as a principal. I have learned directly from my coaches, mentors and colleagues. Many of the lessons I have learned and continue to learn, are no different than any leadership...
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