Achievement Gap
I Just Couldn’t Trust a Diverse Suburb With My Black Daughter’s Education
People loosely use the term “good schools and diversity” without looking into it or researching what that means. When you get below the surface, it means achievement for the White kids, but not for...
Achievement Gap
Richard Whitmire's 'The Founders' Is Turning Myths on Their Heads
Richard Whitmire’s new book, “The Founders,” offers a virtual tour through the moves, machinations and mindsets that led to the growth of a particular flavor of public charter schooling. Rather than...
Poverty
5 Reasons I’m Optimistic About the Class of 2020
I don’t have teenage kids any more, but I do have a special interest in the nearly 4 million kids who are just starting high school right now. Back in 2010, the GradNation campaign set a goal of 90...
Poverty
Coffee Break: Oakland Supt. Antwan Wilson on Anticipating Tuesdays, Poverty Fueling Drive, and Putting Power in Students’ Hands
On July 1, 2014, Antwan Wilson became the superintendent of Oakland Unified School District—a district that was in state receivership from 2003-2010 and has been plagued, like so many urban...
Poverty
Do You Think of Dallas as a Leader on Integrating Schools? Maybe You Should.
Dallas has been in the news lately for its ongoing conversations about race and class in the wake of tragic shootings. Like other American cities, Dallas is highly segregated by income and race, and...
Poverty
What Does It Mean to Be in a ‘Good’ School Versus a ‘Bad’ One?
Five years ago, I left a failing school. Having taught in struggling schools for my entire career, the choice was difficult because I left a school that eventually closed, for a high-achieving one....
