We were right about literacy. Why did children have to wait?
For years, parents, educators, researchers, and advocates have been sounding the same alarm: too many children were being denied the opportunity to become proficient readers because schools refused to fully embrace what science already knew….
When labor, justice, and civil rights are treated as separate, workers lose
North Carolina Must Confront the Racial History of Economic Exploitation There is a dangerous tendency in American discourse to separate “labor issues” from “civil rights issues,” as though wages, working conditions, and economic survival…
So, Jane Crow walks into a classroom…
Let’s be clear from the beginning: an apology does not erase harm. During a New York City Community Education Council meeting, while a scholar was speaking, a Hunter College associate professor, Allyson Friedman, was caught…
When safety is kept quiet: how school districts can protect families without exposing them
Across the country, particularly in politically hostile states, school districts are navigating an impossible bind: families are asking for clarity and protection from immigration enforcement, while districts fear retaliation, funding loss, or political targeting if…
Federal funding for public schools is a fragile promise
When federal dollars disappear from public schools, the damage is never evenly distributed. It concentrates—predictably—on Black, rural, and historically underfunded communities. North Carolina’s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education over the sudden termination of…
Federal Waiver Watch: When States Strip Parents of the Power to Protect Their Children
Across the country, states are quietly pursuing federal waivers under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that would weaken equity protections tied to funding, assessments, and accountability. These changes are being framed as technical adjustments…
1955-2014: The Rope, the River, the Playground — the Children America Refuses to Protect
In honor of Tamir Rice’s 23rd birthday On a cold November afternoon in 2014, the world ended for a 12-year-old Black boy on a Cleveland playground. His name was Tamir Elijah Rice. A child. A…
When Leadership Shrugs, Communities Pay: North Carolina’s Education Crisis Demands More Than Apologies
In North Carolina, two stories collided this week that should shake anyone who still believes public education is safe, stable, or adequately supported. At a Wake County public forum, parents came expecting reassurance about school…
How North Carolina Is Failing Its Exceptional Scholars with Disabilities
When a government fails its most vulnerable citizens, that failure is not a clerical error — it’s a moral indictment. Across this nation, and right here in North Carolina, students with disabilities — whom we…
When Black Grief Becomes a Headline: Journalism Without Truth Is Complicit Violence
The night my family lost a loved one, we were still catching our breath in the shock of grief when the emails came. Newsrooms sent polished condolences followed immediately by requests: legacy statements, a quick…