Rock the Schools with Citizen Stewart

Caging the black mind, with guest Educator and 2006 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Lee-Ann Stephens

Over many years school reformers have labored to improve public schools so that more children succeed academically. After years of reform, American public education looks remarkably like it did a century ago. With the rapid pace of change that has accelerated innovations in every area of life, can we continue to support a fossilizing system of mass, compulsory education that seems doomed by its irrelevance? Is it time to ask if public education in its current form is dead? Justin Cohen joins Rock The Schools to discuss his ideas about how obsolete public education has become

A recent study called "Two Strikes: Race and the Disciplining of Young Students," experimental studies that showed that teachers are likely to interpret students' misbehavior differently depending on the student's race. At the same time schools are under pressure to rethinking student discipline and improve racialized academic outcomes. Focus is on teachers, teaching, and learning. That raises an issue: students increasingly taught by a work force is mostly female, educated, middle-class, and "strikingly white." Teachers are younger, less experienced, and more educated than ever, even as students are poorer and browner. Many believe this causes cultural problems that impact student achievement. Tiffany Wilson-Worsley joins Rock The Schools to share her experience supporting black students in both suburban and urban public schools.

Recent news coverage shows that Seattle is a hotbed for anti-testing sentiment. This is underscored by a recent press conference held by the president of the NAACP and local educators. We talk with Dr. Thelma jackson about the testing opt-out movement in Seattle, its implications, and the actors who are driving it. As an educator, former school board members, and leader of the Black Strategy Roundtable's education effort Dr. Jackson schools us on local and national education politics.

Listening to the journey of one young black woman from Chicago Public Schools, to a mostly white Minnesota college, to nine countries in study of social justice, we learn how schools need to provide enough options for each student to find their unique calling.

Belief is a powerful agent to shape the lives of children. Too many of our kids fall into a belief gap created by the adults in their lives. Addressing this requires school reformers and community members to think more broadly about the holistic needs of children.

Black people have a long tradition of fighting for education, but that gets lost in the education reform movement. We discuss the unique claim that black activists and communities have on the effort to transform American public schools.

A sloppily written article by Christopher Bonastia that invents a "racist" origin of charter schools is making the rounds through progressive media. Joe Nathan from the Center of School Change and Bill Wilson, founder of Higher Ground Academy, join me to discuss the true history of charter schools and the role they play in giving marginalized families educational options.

National advocates are pushing for more restorative justice policies to replace zero tolerance discipline in public schools. But not everyone agrees. Some think these new policies break down order in schools. We speak with Marika Pfefferkorn, an advocate of Solutions, Not Suspensions.

Is education reform too white to do any good? Some say yes. We discuss the need for a new movement, led by people of color, that advances the cause of betters schools. We are joined by Nekima Levy-Pounds, a civil rights attorney and educational justice advocate.

In this episode, Chris and his guests share observations about how race and politics impact attempts to improve education, and share experiences with challenging - or being challenged by - white progressives.

After years of advocating for better schools and real education we find ourselves still trying to convince people in and out of our community that the public schools have serious issues. The "reform" movement is dominated by white voices. The anti-reform movement too. The more the two "sides" argue, the more they gain power and keeps us disenfranchised. So, what is the movement we need now to save our kids from these schools?