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

Join Us for a Virtual Town Hall on #SeekingChildJustice

Justice for children sounds simple enough, but it’s not. It requires families, communities, nonprofits and others to come together. Education is a key pillar of this platform, but providing a proper education means holding leaders accountable to invest in it.  In that spirit, brightbeam (the parent organization of Citizen Ed), in partnership with Forward Promise, the Wayfinder Foundation and the Opportunity Institute, are hosting a virtual town hall called “Seeking Child Justice and Reimagining Whole Child… Read More

The FCC and Trump Administration Are Sacrificing Student Learning for Corporate Profit

Once again, the FCC and the Trump administration are sacrificing underserved children on the altar of corporate profits. If there was any question who the FCC works for it was answered this week with another timid and industry-favoring response to the pandemic. Yesterday, with ample self-promoted fanfare and self-congratulations, the FCC pulled in their pal Betsy DeVos from the Department of Education to tout their latest puff of smoke, in a press release titled,… Read More

Join a Conversation on Learning and #PostCovEd

While privileged parents and pundits have the luxury of debating whether to prioritize academic or social-emotional learning, those on the front lines of exposure to the virus and job loss have little mental energy left to ponder how to keep education on the radar for their children at all. Nonetheless, some leaders are showing the way forward, whether by borrowing established best practices from the homeschool community, bringing personalized attention to each… Read More

How to Work Remotely and Teach Your Child During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Parents are stressed and panicking as schools across the nation close for weeks. The governors of Indiana’s neighboring states (Illinois and Michigan) have closed schools across their entire state. Indiana Governor Holcomb decided to offer schools a wavier of 20 instructional days instead of mandating a statewide school closure. If school leaders decide to close schools, they do not have to worry about making up days to meet the minimum 180 instructional… Read More

Toxic Teachers Need to Go

This article was first published on indy.education There is not enough self-care in the world that can shield a person from a toxic work environment. I had a few jobs before I became a K-12 educator. I worked in my dorm’s cafeteria, at Villa Pizza in the student union at Purdue, and at a church daycare. The work environment was nice. People were supportive, kind, and courteous. When I accepted my first… Read More

Our Children Need Better Politicians

This article was first published on www.educationpost.org Can we all agree that the basic care and development of America’s children—yes, every single one of them—is a cardinal virtue that should live unbothered by race, class, geography, ideology and partisanship? And if publicly funded education systems are the single most powerful investments we make as a society to fulfill our responsibility of raising healthy kids into capable adults, shouldn’t politicos of all stripes… Read More

THE SILENT TEARS OF BLACK MOMS AS REALITY SETS IN – OUR BLACK CHILDREN HAVE BECOME THE NEW COTTON IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

This article was first posted on www.realtalkgwensamuel.com By Gwen Samuel I am in a self-reflective mood this evening in need of God’s wisdom and guidance. Why? I’m in deep thought about parent rights, particularly Black parents and the erosion of their Constitutional rights and of Black children and the total dismissal of their educational rights and social emotional well-being.   We, as Black parents are crying entirely too many tears of desperation in our daily… Read More

We Need to Better Equip Our Children of Color With the Tools to Overcome Trauma and Toxic Stress

If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far. -Daniel Goleman Creating conditions that generate healthy and successful outcomes for our society will require meeting the social and emotional needs of the most vulnerable among us…. Read More

Take it From a Parent: Here Are 5 Ways To Engage Me in My Child’s Education

What we haven’t done is to figure out how to not just engage but to empower the people whose children are being impacted by the work we do.                                                      -Dr. Howard Fuller Parents, regardless of their financial situation or social status, want the best for their children, particularly when it comes to education. They also want to help their children at home with homework and projects. I know personally that, as a parent,… Read More