If children are at more risk out of school than in school, then the problem isn’t school. If kids who aren’t in school are hungry, then increase funding to food pantries and community kitchens. (BTW–many public schools have been feeding kids all summer.) If kids who aren’t in school are in greater danger of abuse, then improve child protective services, […]

The following essay was written by students in the Detroit Public Schools Community District. At a time when the Overton Window view about the role of policing in our society is shifting ever more to the left, their voice is important and deserves to be heard. Organized by the group 482Forward which is working for a quality education for EVERY […]

Black Lives Matter… …but our laws don’t reflect that. …but our criminal justice system doesn’t reflect that. …but too many police officers don’t act like they do. …but too many Americans don’t act like they believe that. …but in so, so many ways, they don’t seem to matter as much as white lives. Following the heinous murder of George Floyd […]

It’s difficult to overestimate how truly awful Sen. Tom Cotton’s op-ed in the NY Times yesterday was, but here’s the bit that made me stop reading and my mouth hang wide open… “One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers.” This is the sort of […]

As someone who visits a lot of schools each year to observe student teachers and work with my colleagues in the schools, a few thoughts on these newly-released CDC “back to school” guidelines… • kids can’t keep their shoes and socks on for a full school day…masks? • no shared items? everything in school is shared…pencils are shared, books are […]

Anyone else starting to think that it’s the “closet conservatives” that pose the most danger during our current constitutional and health crises? With the “out” Trump supporters, for example, you can see them coming from a mile away. Confederate flags waving, no face masks, stupid, misspelled signs, support for the border wall, and hatred for women and minorities–it’s all on […]

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has pulled a lot of shady stuff in her time in President Trump’s Cabinet. But her latest action may take the cake for brazen, underhanded political malfeasance. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is using the $2 trillion coronavirus stabilization law to throw a lifeline to education sectors she has long championed, directing millions of federal dollars […]

By now you’ve probably heard the quote from John James that he supports Donald Trump’s agenda “2000 percent“. The failed Republican candidate wanted desperately to ride Trump’s coattails into the U.S. Senate but was subsequently beaten soundly by Debbie Stabenow in 2018. Lately, however, James has changed his tune. With polling showing Donald Trump down by as much as ten […]

A recent article in New York Magazine predicting the demise of higher education is causing a great deal of anxiety in the professoriate, and for good reason. The author is making some pretty audacious prognostications, and none of them bode well for our profession… enrollments will crater hundreds of colleges will go out of business only a few “elite cyborg […]

A friend asked me how I was doing during this pandemic, and I thought I’d share my perspective as a teacher who has struggled to find my footing in our new reality… How am I doing, you ask? To be honest, not well. I’ve been a teacher for 40 years now, and I really love teaching. I love the interactions […]

It’s been many a moon since Michigan Republicans have put up any sort of legitimate candidate for U.S. Senate. In 1996, Ronna Romney, the mother of RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, got crushed by Carl Levin who had trounced Bill Schuette six years before. He went on to beat Rocky Raczkowski and Jack Hoogendyk before retiring. The seat is now […]