When Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, this marked the end of slavery in the United States … that is what a lot of people learned in school. Honestly, it is more nuanced than that. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued to free enslaved Africans in the Confederate states. Even if students learned that component, many…
The societal turmoil, protests, and unrest is a cry for justice. The focus is on Black lives; however, this goes beyond Black lives being protected from police brutality. Black lives must also be protected from educational malpractice. For decades, researchers have shown there is an achievement gap between Black and white students. More recently, concerns…
In the second installment of my series “School During the Pandemic,” I want to discuss how we can keep kids learning at all costs. As I mentioned in the first installment, my focus was on how to switch my school to the virtual world. Now that we have finished our school year, the need to…
If you are Black, like me, you are probably getting tired of all of these diversity statements. You probably have seen a statement that even offended you because of your experiences or experiences of Black people you know with the organization that released the statement. But even considering the hypocrisy of corporations, some of the…
Some mothers have taken e-learning to great levels with cooking lessons and gardening included. I’m NOT that mom. I barely made it through e-learning, and I’m pretty sure I had a glass of wine to celebrate the last day. Now that e-learning is complete; I am faced with all but one of the activities planned…
Amid the horror and sadness of the murder of unarmed Black people at the hands of police officers, we are seeing the coming together of people of all races, ethnicities, and socio-economic status. It is beautiful to see on social media and the news thousands of people exercising their First Amendment right to express themselves…
Over the last nine days, my family has watched the events around the death of George Floyd happen. Along with this, there have been many discussions. My son said he had more understanding of the riots that broke out and protest in connection with the Rodney King beating. He asked if I joined the protest…
IDOE released IN-CLASS (Indiana’s Considerations for Learning and Safe Schools): COVID-19 Health and Safety Re-entry Guidance, a 38-page document detailing recommendations on how schools should reopen this fall. With school start dates in Indiana typically falling during the last week of July and the first week of August, it is critical for school districts to…
At Indy K12, we are unapologetically Black. We want students in Indianapolis to be successful. We know this cannot happen without directly addressing the educational equity issues in our city. We are tired of Black students getting left behind. Many of our readers have thanked us for our thoughts on current issues. We not only…
Recently, I wrote two pieces addressing diversity in education. The first in the series, “If You Want to Keep Educators Like Me, You Need to Think Beyond Your Diversity Quota” addressed why school and district leaders have to do more than just hire diverse teachers; they have to support them. When this was shared, an…