In the late 80s, embarking on my teaching career, every retired teacher said, “It can be challenging but the retirement is so worth it.” It did not take long to become a believer in...

It’s no secret that education reform initiatives tend to target urban schools. Achievement gaps in America’s largest cities are significant, and as families flock to cities for job opportunities, the pressure keeps mounting to...

One of the not-so-fun parts of living in the South is that your accent may not translate well if you leave it. Assumptions and rushed judgments are too often made about someone’s intelligence, lifestyle,...

“Why don’t people who live there, teach there?” That question, posed by this recent Hechinger Report story, is a troubling reminder of the unique, persistent challenges that rural communities face in staffing schools. Like rural America itself,...

With my term on the Commissioner of Education’s Teacher Advisory Council (TAC) set to end next week (not a humblebrag, I swear), I’ve been spending some time reflecting on the valuable insights and opportunities...

I’m just going to go ahead and say it. Education is a civil rights issue, and it’s one that we can’t be moderate about. Sorry, not sorry. I’m referring here to a group of people...