Here’s How a New Orleans Mom Found the Right School For Her Family in the Pandemic

When I met Tatiana, I was struck by how invested she was in the long-term process of getting her kids the best educational opportunities she could find. She was already thinking ahead to her second child’s education, and she had only just found out she was pregnant with him. When it came time to choose a kindergarten for her daughter, Julieta, Tatiana was incredibly persistent in understanding the school landscape and what… Read More

NOLA’s History Shows Us It Takes More Than Lawsuits to Fix Special Ed

Editor’s Note: Around the country, families and advocates have had to resort to class action lawsuits to push states and districts to do right by children with disabilities. In this essay, lawyer and advocate Jennifer Coco shows why it takes more than lawsuits to get children with disabilities the education they deserve, and how public transparency and family partnership must persist when courts decide to step back from enforcing the law. Ten… Read More

My Teachers Couldn’t Understand My Trauma, So I Pledged to Do Better for My Students

I became an educator because I wanted to be for students what I needed most when I was in middle and high school, and even though I am not teaching currently, it still remains true. You see if truth be told, I hated school. From eighth grade and beyond, school was not a safe place for me which ultimately led to me not graduating on time. I dreaded going to school for… Read More

Too Many Schools See Danger in Boys (and Their Toys)

Perhaps we should have known that keeping schools closed would lead to boys being deemed “dangerous” in their own homes. It was inevitable that “zoom school” would present a new challenge for teachers (and parents) as children would have to do their best to focus on learning with all of their toys physically within reach. And perhaps if a Barbie Doll or Superman figure appears on screen, it’s no big deal. But… Read More

This School Really Called the Police on a Black Child for Playing With a Toy Gun on Camera

Recently, I saw a mother post on Facebook about how her son’s school called the cops on her child. In the post, the mother details how her son is playing with a toy gun during one of his online learning classes. As the mother described it, the gun was neon green and orange. Now, unless it is a Warner Brothers cartoon, I do not think any real guns are neon green and… Read More

We Don’t Have a Justice System, We Have a System of Injustice

Gina Womack, the Executive Director of Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children said, “Everything that FFLIC stands for is because of what she stands for.” Gina was referring to Flora Watson, one of the founding members of the organization. Nearly twenty years ago Flora Watson joined with several other parents to form the organization and to demand changes to the juvenile justice system. The advocacy of her and other parents led… Read More

As a Mom I’m Scared AF About Schools Reopening

With the reopening of school approaching, I can’t lie, I’m scared AF! As a parent, it is my job to keep my babies educated and safe. I’m very concerned about how my children will get the proper education they need inside a potentially unsafe environment.  Even though New Orleans has decided to start the school year off in phase one, which is 100% virtual, I still have my concerns for when we… Read More

White Progressives Have a Lot of Work to Do, and I’m Not Here to Help

When I ran for school board it was former Minneapolis mayor who was the first elected official to endorse me. She asked me a lot of questions, offered some straight talk about the political system, and spoke very clearly about what it takes to win in a whiter than white town like Minneapolis. Later, after winning a seat on the board and facing white parents who came for my head and demanded… Read More

I’m Only 11-Years-Old and I Already Make You Uncomfortable

I am 11 years old and I attend the Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy, a charter public school in the Dorchester community of Boston focused on culture-based education. On June 7, 2020, I decided to speak at Boston’s “Be The Change” Peaceful Children’s March. I started my speech that day by quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he said,  “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that… Read More

Isis: A Black Girl Rising, Despite Covid-19

Before covid-19, when Isis left school, she would “just get off school.” She knew exactly what she was supposed to be doing and her teachers and principal knew as well. But in the final months of her Senior year, everything changed because of coronavirus.  Isis is eighteen years old and she just graduated as a member of the Class of 2020 from Frederick A. Douglass High School. As a member of Black… Read More