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Biden Is Right, We Need Kids to Go Back to School But Not Like Before

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Posted Mar. 1, 2021

Across the entire United States, there aren’t nearly enough Black teachers inside classrooms.  According to the National Center for Education Statistics, less than 7% of…

Posted Mar. 3, 2021

On March 13, 2020, when Governor Newsom shut down schools in California including in LAUSD where my son is now a senior, I held my…

Posted Mar. 1, 2021

There have been some good reasons to close schools over the past year—in the early days of the pandemic, for example, or during major weather…

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Educators Who Consider Themselves ‘White Allies’ Are Dangerous When It Comes To Developing Anti-Racist Classrooms

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Posted Feb. 17, 2021

I have been navigating majority (or all) white spaces for a very long time. Whether it was the tracked gifted and talented classes or my…

Posted Feb. 22, 2021

“I am a white ally,” the 30 something-year-old white teacher declared emphatically in the diversity and inclusion professional development session. She snapped her fingers to…

Posted Feb. 17, 2021

On January 6, as my students were learning about the history of trench warfare during World War I, I had no idea that our own…

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White People, Celebrate Black History Month By Facing the Truth of White Supremacy

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Posted Feb. 12, 2021

I was gifted an advanced screening of “Judas and the Black Messiah” earlier this week and it affirmed just how much education equals power, while…

Posted Feb. 16, 2021

I came across an image on social media the other day and it made me stop and think. In it, two boys—one white and one…

Posted Feb. 11, 2021

A war has been waging in my home state of Illinois, and the battle lines have been drawn. In one corner of the ring—the “uber…

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Here’s Why Putting the Brakes on Charter Schools Is So 2020

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Posted Feb. 9, 2021

When millions of parents became de facto teachers during COVID-19, they saw firsthand a deep-seeded, widespread problem in American education: lackluster content and curricula that…

Posted Feb. 10, 2021

Prior to COVID-19 upending American education, some state legislatures around the country considered moratoriums or “pauses” on public charter schools; while others, like in California,…

Posted Feb. 8, 2021

Although the United States has always had a diverse population, public school curricula are overwhelmingly built around a white, male perspective. Students are learning a…

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Schools Haven’t Figured It Out, So Give Money to the Parents. We Need It.

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Posted Feb. 3, 2021

President Joe Biden has certainly kept busy during his first days in the Oval Office. He has issued a call for national unity, doubled down…

Posted Feb. 4, 2021

Whether you support your state’s reopening plans or not, the reality is families locked out of learning for nearly a year are getting fed up.…

Posted Feb. 4, 2021

The protests and activism that took place last year had an impact on schools. School districts are adding diversity, equity, and inclusion roles and stating…

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As a Mom of a Son With Multiple Disabilities, I Have the Receipts on Remote Instruction

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Posted Feb. 1, 2021

*Mic check* (Ahem). Educators: Are you aware that this month is Black History Month? Have you asked your students, specifically your Black students, what they’d like…

Posted Feb. 1, 2021

Here at brightbeam, our North Star is “How Are The Children?” As parents look back over the last nine months of COVID-related school disruptions and…

Posted Jan. 29, 2021

From insurrection to impeachment to inauguration—January has been quite a month for current events! And maybe you thought you could safely tune out of politics—at…

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How Do We ‘IGNITE’ Social Change in the Next Generation of Leaders?

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Posted Jan. 25, 2021

A new COVID-19 strain is more contagious than ever. The Trump administration’s sheer neglect in the face of this deadly pandemic is enraging. Federal inaction…

Posted Jan. 25, 2021

The impact of COVID-19 on the education community was astonishing. Educators pivoted all of their curricula to a virtual landscape for the first time. Guardians…

Posted Jan. 13, 2021

Chicago Public Schools students are back in school.  Well, some of them are. It’s complicated, and getting messier by the minute.  WBEZ Chicago has more…

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I Don’t Know if Biden Can Heal This Nation, But a House Divided Cannot Stand

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Posted Jan. 20, 2021

Today at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s inauguration, Amanda Gorman stole the show. Lady Gaga? J-Lo? Garth Brooks? No contest. This 22-year-old…

Posted Jan. 20, 2021

November 2016, I walked into my school building to students blocking their peers from coming through my classroom door. They said, “We’re building a wall,…

Posted Jan. 13, 2021

Chicago Public Schools students are back in school.  Well, some of them are. It’s complicated, and getting messier by the minute.  WBEZ Chicago has more…

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We’re Not Even Close To Realizing Dr. King’s Dream

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Posted Jan. 15, 2021

Y’all know what, had education been done right in the first place then maybe we could’ve avoided this shit show called “Duck Dynasty: Civil War…

Posted Jan. 15, 2021

Two years ago I was fortunate enough to attend a showing of “Hamilton” in my hometown of Atlanta. A huge group from Atlanta Public Schools…

Posted Jan. 13, 2021

Chicago Public Schools students are back in school.  Well, some of them are. It’s complicated, and getting messier by the minute.  WBEZ Chicago has more…

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There Is a Right Way to Process Current Events With Your Students

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Posted Jan. 11, 2021

On the afternoon of last Wednesday’s attempted insurrection at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., Twitter was a refuge. While living and working in…

Posted Jan. 13, 2021

The certification of the electoral votes from the 2020 election was already going to be a contentious issue, but the events that transpired go far…

Posted Jan. 8, 2021

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos resigned last night, citing Wednesday’s putsch at the Capitol, Trump’s incitement of violence, and her concern that “impressionable children are watching…

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