Georgia’s Educational Neglect

Georgia’s Educational Neglect

I worked as a substitute teacher in a Newton, Massachusetts middle school a few months ago. I taught a wide range of kids, including some with behavior-related disabilities. A few of these children needed in-class aides and extra academic support, but they met their...
Summer Spells Hunger for Kids in Small American Towns

Summer Spells Hunger for Kids in Small American Towns

Metropolis, Illinois, population 6,465, isn’t much of a metropolis. But when Reverend Orlando McReynolds moved to that small town on the Kentucky border two years ago to become the pastor at the First Missionary Life Center, he found the same thing he left behind in...
Five Laws That Made America a Better Place

Five Laws That Made America a Better Place

Our country has no shortage of big problems. While big challenges are nothing new for Americans, how we deal with them has changed. Fifty years ago, rising social unrest forced Congress to deal with big things — like voting rights, immigration, and access to health...
Throwing Public Education under the Bus

Throwing Public Education under the Bus

Public education used to be, you know, public — an essential societal investment for the betterment of all, paid for by all through school taxes. In addition to privatization schemes to turn education over to corporate profiteers, public schools themselves have...
When Children Hurt, Schools Can Help

When Children Hurt, Schools Can Help

What happens when children witness violence? It’s more common than you think, and the effects can be devastating. More than 1 in 4 American children have been exposed to violence, according to a recently published study from the journal Pediatrics. Researchers found...