For 10 straight years DSST Public Schools has celebrated having 100 percent of its graduates earn acceptance to college. This year, as a finalist for the 2018 Broad Prize for Public Charter schools, the network could have 250,000 more reasons to celebrate its positive impact on all of its students. For the second year in a row, DSST has been…
Category: Equity
“Tough” is the Compliment We Pay White Teachers That Condemns Black and Brown Students
My nine years as a teacher in public schools have been eye-opening. The injustices that students from low-income backgrounds and students of color face in the education system have been common knowledge for years. And yet, it has been astounding to experience firsthand just how deep our biases go and how they cause us to misdiagnosis problems in education and…
I used to think DeVos had a heart for Dreamers, but not anymore
Remember when Betsy DeVos said her “heart is with Dreamers?” It was last September, just before her visit to Colorado, when she received a hand delivered letter from Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg imploring her to use all the efforts of her office to protect Dreamers. Clearly she didn’t get the message. And back then, I really tried to…
Who gets to choose what we believe is quality for kids?
The answer to that question truly depends on who you ask. But one thing’s for sure, it’s one of the most contentious areas of discussion for just about anyone connected to the Denver Public Schools (DPS). So if you haven’t yet checked out Education Post’s Voices4Ed podcast, it’s time to tune in! On this week’s episode, co-hosts Ikhlas Saleem and Lane…
The Belief Gap is real, but it doesn’t have to define your future
From a young age, I was exposed to people working toward social justice and educational equity. My father was an advocate for bilingual education and worked in programs focused on providing educational opportunities for children of migrant workers and Chicano/Latino students. My mother was a Head Start and primary school teacher and was involved in the women’s movement. The people…