equity
First-Generation Immigrants Like Mari Are Called DREAMers for a Reason
Marisol, Mari for short, is a true dreamer. One of my best friends, Mari, is a first-generation immigrant to the United States from Mexico. Her parents brought her as a baby, undocumented, but they...
Poverty
To All of the Educators, Love Not Money Will Close the Gap
I grew up in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Toledo, Ohio. During my time in middle school, we did not have books or resources that made me believe that there were pathways out of the...
Poverty
Fix the Formula, Illinois. It’s Time.
Yesterday afternoon, my second-grader got her copy of the school yearbook. She flipped back to the kindergarten class photos. “Miss Maya’s class used to have three teachers,” she observed. Now it has...
Poverty
Illinois' Current School Funding Formula Is the Definition of Insanity. Here's How This Superintendent Says We Can Fix It.
Kimako Patterson is the superintendent of Prairie-Hills Elementary District 144. Prairie-Hills is a 2,600-student district in the south suburbs of Illinois where 95 percent of students are from...
Parents
What Do Baltimore Parents Want? Advanced Academics and Help Choosing Schools
When it comes to school choice, opportunity in theory isn’t enough. We must ensure that families have the know-how to exercise choice wisely and that students in every elementary school leave fully...
equity
Kids Might Be Addicted to Screens But Schools Aren't Helping Either
Recently my school’s counseling department organized a showing of the documentary “Screenagers” to all 450 of our middle school students. The film explores the negative impacts of children spending...
