A misleading narrative has developed that parents have become deeply unhappy with and distrustful of their children’s schools because of building closures during COVID, masking requirements, and what is characterized as “indoctrination” of children.

Because 1.4 percent of young people from the ages of 13-17 identify as a different gender from what they were thought to be when born, most schools should expect that some students will need support as they explore their gender identity.

For the past few decades, the federal government has encouraged educators, mostly in exchange for grants, to adopt “scientifically based” or “evidence-based programs and teaching methods. So how do we know what works well for our children?

Not only can every child learn; every child is hardwired to learn. But the ability to learn is intertwined with a
child’s sense of self and well-being.

Every child in our school district deserves a good education, and that means ensuring that the money we spend on schools is distributed fairly.

Every child in our school district deserves a good education, and that means ensuring that the money we spend on schools is distributed fairly.

More than 88,000 school board members serve more than 13,000 local school districts, acting as the citizens’ voice in public education. They are the most numerous of all elected officials, and in many ways the face of small-d democracy.

We know how to teach the vast majority of children to read. While a few will seem to learn to read easily with little instruction, most children need the help of a trained teacher. The fact that so many children are still not strong readers means many schools and districts are not fully using the knowledge developed over decades of research.

The U.S. Constitution does not mention education. As a consequence, the federal role in education is secondary to that of the states, almost all of which guarantee a tuition-free education in their constitutions. Perhaps the most important federal role is to ensure that states and local districts don’t discriminate in schools, a role it plays more or less assiduously depending on who is president.

Many extremist organizations are working to deliberately undermine confidence in public schools in order to dismantle them and privatize education. Although they don’t always state this, it is not at all a secret.

We need to make sure that children from all backgrounds find a welcome in our schools and are helped to achieve at high levels.

Good assessment goes beyond giving grades. It’s about helping understand how students are thinking, and where they’re getting stuck.

Over the past two years organized groups have disrupted school board meetings and intimidated educators, claiming that school libraries contain books that are "pornographic" or "anti-white” and demanding their removal.These book banning efforts are really thinly veiled targeting of Black, LGBTQ+, and Latino students that are part of a larger project of undermining confidence in public education and, more broadly, democracy.

The term “critical race theory” was coined by law professors Derrick Bell and Kimberle´ Crenshaw, among others, who asked the question: “Why are there still disparities after the Civil Rights Movement?”