It’s that simple. — Most of the educational disasters we face, and especially the Covid related ones, can be managed if we abandon our dedication to the age-based structure. We need to stop freaking out over students not ‘meeting grade level expectations’ and start re-organizing our schools on a different platform. Try this: Take…

It’s not much of an observation to note that schools are communities. Nor is it very insightful to observe that within the larger community of neighborhood, town, state, or nation, schools play an essential role in prosperity, security, and stability. …

We got rid of them once, why are we not doing it now? — Not long ago, men (almost always men) with great power said God gave it to them. They were chosen, they claimed, because they were special, and if they had better lives, more power, more land, more money, it was because God wanted it that way. …

One is much worse. It’s not an accusation to say that conservative media and politicians emphasize fear. Nor is it a crime that FOX News and other largely conservative media sites lean towards fear in their reporting. The purpose of news, after all, is to inform, and what information is…

One has to imagine that the men who keep shooting innocent people think of themselves as brave. The Buffalo murderer even claimed to be defending a cause, placing himself on the dangerous front lines of a war he imagines coming. …

Teachers don’t do this by choice, but necessity — Whenever we have fire drills in school (and the Law says we must have them monthly) a student invariably asks me why we do it. It’s a reasonable question if you are ten years old. Ten year olds actually ask more reasonable questions than adults. Fire drills are loud, disruptive…

Because why would an institution dedicated to teaching others be capable of learning anything at all? — In every school across the country, significant numbers of children are not meeting the learning standards their states have set for them. Graduating seniors are missing huge chunks of expected content and skill, according to every newspaper and magazine to report on it. Within classrooms, the situation is even more…

White men have dominated our literature and history for thousands of years, but they are finally being replaced. We’re moving from a ‘whitewashed’ history to a color washed one. Will it be successful? — I was in 4th or 5th grade when I was taught less-idealistic versions of history. I wasn’t much interested in history at 10, but the lessons went deep because they held deliciously negative emotions: betrayal, injustice, hypocrisy, deceit. …

But the accused, the teacher, is innocent. — There’s a boy in my class who struggles with reading. He’s several grade-levels lower than he should be at his age. And it’s my fault, because I, his teacher, am the one responsible for teaching him to read. He is entitled to this skill; he deserves it. It is a…