Yet another example of an activist leading classrooms and helping to build the school-to-activism pipeline. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Val DiGiorgio, chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, accused me, a...
One teacher reflects on what he and other white educators need to understand as they work to build anti-racist practices and identities. Last year, I realized that I didn’t have my first black teacher until I went to college...
While some folks are lamenting that Philly did not become Amazon City II, I, for one, am not (apparently, neither is Will Bunch from the Inquirer). To see that a coalition of businessmen and political leaders came together to...
In the 1860s, Black Codes, including vagrancy and loitering laws, were established to prevent black people, particularly black men, from coming together. These Black Codes were used to vilify and cement a distinct and racial...
In all my writing about public schools you’ll find a consistent claim that public schools are insufficient to the task of educating black children. That message angers people, especially those working in district public schools...
The following piece was written by Derrell Bradford, Dr. Howard Fuller & Chris Stewart. Education reform is at a crossroads in this country. And it seems the issue of parent choice — who should have it, how much of it...
Increasingly, schools are returning to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in order to better understand how to support students. As anyone who has taken an introductory psychology course knows well, Maslow’s psychological theory...
I am punching above my weight. I am no education policy wonk, nor am I a mover or shaker in America’s larger educational conversation. But a recent blog post by the well-known edu-legends Carol Burris and Diane Ravitch on The...
From the moment I first heard Jahana Hayes speak, I knew that she was special. Riding back from a track meet, I came across her 2016 National Teacher of the Year YouTube video. I was feeling overwhelmed as I was preparing for an...
While The Hate U Give is a best-selling book and top-rated film, I’m getting some real pushback from my administration about having my students read the book and see the film in my English Language Arts class, despite its...
