Posted inCOVID

Miguel Cardona’s Letter to Parents and Students: Our Students and Families are Resilient

As the newly confirmed Education of Secretary, Dr. Miguel Cardona, he writes his first Opinion Piece. Read below. For more information, click here.  To our Nation’s Parents and Students: I write first, as your new Secretary of Education, to acknowledge the extraordinarily challenging year you’ve endured. Between the health crisis, economic hardship, staunch national division, […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education

Now That Betsy Devos is on Her Way Out, Here Are 7 Picks for Her Replacement

There’s a lot to celebrate with Joe Biden’s election. The glass ceiling shattered when Madame Vice President Kamala Harris stepped onto the acceptance stage in suffragette white. Black women turned out in record numbers, truly changing the trajectory of the election (thanks, Stacey Abrams!) The fear that many of us lived with under Trump is […]

Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

Dear Senator Warren: There are 3.2 Million Public School Teachers Who Know What We Need in Education

February 26, 2020 Dear Senator Warren: At the Democratic Primary Debate in Charleston, South Carolina, you proclaimed that you would hire a teacher as your Secretary of Education. If elected in 2020, your decision to hire a public school educator for this cabinet position would be a positive step away from the current administration’s choice […]

Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

Teachers Matter: Attributes of an Effective Secretary of Education

Recently, Elizabeth Warren made headlines with what seems to be a surprising announcement to many. Warren, who is among many other contenders for the 2020 presidential election, announced that if elected president, she will ensure her Education Secretary is “a former public school teacher who is committed to education.” This comment comes after her (one […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education

The U.S. Secretaries of Education, A History: Part I

As President-Elect Donald Trump has been nominating his Cabinet appointments, plenty of contention and consternation has swarmed and surrounded his selection of Mrs. Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. While plenty of articles have been written about her, I was curious to learn more about the Secretaries of Education who preceded her. The Department of Education […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education

Can Public Schools Survive the Era of School Choice?

Last week Betsy DeVos was tapped as the Secretary of Education by the incoming Trump administration. Now many educators in traditional public schools are cringing and bracing for the worst because DeVos is known in Michigan for her support of school vouchers and charter schools, often called “school choice.” The charter school topic can be a very […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education

No Right to an Education: Detroit Schools and the Secretary of Education Nominee

In September 2016, seven students in the Detroit school system filed a lawsuit against Michigan governor Rick Snyder and other state education officials. In their complaint, the students allege that over the last several decades, there has been systematic disinvestment in and “deliberate indifference” to the Detroit schools, which has fundamentally denied Detroit school children […]