White people can take for granted that there are models of successful adults to watch and learn from. They grew up looking to presidents, military leaders, movie stars and characters in literature and in all sorts of positions of leadership including in education were of white models. They learned their exceptionality was by ethnicity or religion.They are told stories about names being changed as they came through Ellis Island or lived through the first Catholic president controversy.…

The use of Twitter to share news and to congratulate individuals or teams, or to remind of meetings or events has become a part of many educational leaders' work of the day. Many, if not most students and parents are 'on' Twitter. It has become a favored way to communicate quickly and briefly. At first a vehicle for young people to speak to each other in brief terms, it has been swept up by adults and businesses. Its use was welcomed and used for good. The use of social media helped school…

How many of you tuned into 'Sixty Minutes' on Sunday night in anticipation of the Stormy Daniels interview? It didn't happen. But, if you stayed with the show, you saw the interview segment with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. She had visited Stoneman Douglas High School this past week (though we haven't heard that she spoke with any of the students) and she will be somewhere at the table of decision makers about school safety federal policy. The interview did little to change minds…

Guns in schools that are not on the hips of police officers strikes us as a very dangerous idea. There are several reasons why. First, however, let us say in no uncertain terms, the safety of the children is paramount. Educators are fully aware of the responsibility they have from drop off to pick up. We have written about that before, actually as recently as last week. It is a responsibility educators take seriously and carry every minute of their working lives. …

STEM has become the subject of community, curriculum, business, and budget conversations. The media gives it attention. Children's lives are changing because of it. This movement is grounded in the understanding that science, technology, engineering, and math are where the jobs of the future wait for our graduates. It also arises from a demand for schools to focus more in these fields. But, these are not the only reasons we should be learning about and implementing STEM in…