What Fires Young Progressives’ Activism? A New Study Asks Them

by Rinku Sen on May 24 2012, 9:49AM

In one of the first studies involving Occupy participants, the Applied Research Center gathered young activists from multiple movements in focus groups to ask, What propels you to the political frontline?

Topics: #Occupy, Politics, Rinku Sen, Schools & Youth, Youth and Race

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Kelley Williams-Bolar’s Long, Winding Fight to Educate Her Daughters

by Julianne Hing on May 16 2012, 9:30AM

When the Ohio mom was prosecuted last year for sending her daughters to a neighboring school district, her story became a cause celebre. Now, she’s joined a growing movement for more parental control over school reform. But is it just a front for privatization?

Topics: Dispatches, Education Reform, Schools & Youth

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The Remaking of Philadelphia Public Schools: Privatization or Bust

by Julianne Hing on May 11 2012, 9:19AM

The nation’s eighth-largest school district says financial solvency depends on an infusion of cash from the city — and a plan that would shut down schools in the next five years.

Topics: Education Reform, Schools & Youth

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Tucson’s Ousted Mexican-American Studies Director Speaks: The Fight’s Not Over

by Julianne Hing on April 27 2012, 10:00AM

Sean Arce may have been fired, but he’s not going to stop defending the Arizona ethnic studies program he says is actually reaching Latino students.

Topics: Schools & Youth

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Another 6-Yr.-Old in Handcuffs? Harry Belafonte on Child Incarceration

by Channing Kennedy on April 24 2012, 8:29AM

In light of Florida kindergartener Salecia Johnson’s classroom arrest, here’s more from our interview session with Harry Belafonte, in which he discusses his fight to end child incarceration.

Topics: Criminal Justice, Harry Belafonte, Schools & Youth

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Bobby Jindal, Using ALEC Playbook, Radically Reshapes Public Education

by Julianne Hing on April 23 2012, 8:44AM

Louisiana now has the most expansive school voucher system in the nation. How that happened is a lesson for the school wars nationwide.

Topics: ALEC, Education Reform, Schools & Youth

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Five Myths About Crime in Black America—and the Statistical Truths

by Hatty Lee, Shani O. Hilton on April 13 2012, 8:47AM

Trayvon Martin’s killing stirred many debates about crime surrounding black men. It also kicked up many familiar misconceptions, like the idea that black-on-black crime is uniquely bad. Hatty Lee’s infographic breaks down the realities.

Topics: Criminal Justice, Schools & Youth, Trayvon Martin

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Thousands of Young Black Men Die in Gun Crimes Every Year

by Hatty Lee on March 28 2012, 9:00AM

For all the talk of hoodies and school suspensions and who punched whom first, one thing stands above the rest in Trayvon Martin’s death: There was a gun involved, and that’s a terribly common feature in the deaths of young black men.

Topics: Criminal Justice, Schools & Youth, Trayvon Martin

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How Scholarships Leave Student-Athletes Powerless in the NCAA Game

by Jamilah King on March 23 2012, 10:08AM

While March Madness kicks into full swing, it highlights college athletes who are simultaneously the most visible and most vulnerable students in the country.

Topics: March Madness, Schools & Youth

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Dharun Ravi, Tyler Clementi and the Hard Work of Truly Stopping Bullies

by Rinku Sen on March 21 2012, 9:33AM

If we really want to stop bullying, writes Rinku Sen, we can’t just do it from the back end in criminal courts. We have to affirmatively, proactively expand the rights of LGBT people, immigrants, people of color and women.

Topics: Bullying, Gender & Sexuality, Rinku Sen, Schools & Youth

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The March Madness Statistic You Don’t Hear About: College Grad Rates

by Hatty Lee on March 19 2012, 9:32AM

The country’s best teams are competing in the NCAA tournament for a national championship. But are schools preparing its black players for life after basketball?

Topics: Arts & Culture, March Madness, Schools & Youth

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Radical School Reform Idea Spreads, With Messy Fights in Tow

by Julianne Hing on February 27 2012, 9:40AM

Proponents are making good on their promises to turn the “parent trigger” into a national movement. But controversy continues to trail it wherever it goes.

Topics: Schools & Youth

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The Dark Cloud the Supreme Court Just Cast Over Affirmative Action

by Victor Goode on February 22 2012, 10:40AM

The Roberts court is uniquely hostile to affirmative action. And now that it has agreed to review a challenge to the University of Texas’s admissions program, all bets may be off for affirmative action in higher education.

Topics: Schools & Youth

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States Move on Tuition Equity for Undocumented Students

by Julianne Hing on February 16 2012, 10:06AM

Key fights in Colorado and Florida highlight the progress activists have made, and the challenges they’re up against.

Topics: Schools & Youth

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A Group of Parents in the Calif. Desert May Be the Future of School Reform

by Julianne Hing on February 15 2012, 9:53AM

Parents are no longer content to let politicians and policy makers lead the debate. But does the answer many are embracing turn them into an astroturf movement for dismantling public schools?

Topics: Dispatches, Education Reform, Schools & Youth

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U.S. Dept of Ed Inquiry: Do Harvard and Princeton Discriminate Against Asian-American Students?

by Julianne Hing on February 10 2012, 10:03AM

An Asian-American student says he was passed over because of his race. Experts help make sense of the thorny debate.

Topics: Schools & Youth

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The Real Goal of Ariz.’s Book Banning Thought Police: Harass Latinos

by Rinku Sen on January 20 2012, 9:20AM

To ban ethnic studies in Tucson, officials have had to warehouse Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” along with six other books. But the messy details don’t matter. The real goal is to put Mexican Americans on the defensive about their place in the state.

Topics: Immigration, Rinku Sen, Schools & Youth

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10 Years Later, No Child Left Behind Ignores Plenty

by Julianne Hing, Hatty Lee on January 12 2012, 9:50AM

INFOGRAPHIC: A day in the life of the student who is still being left behind by the landmark law, on its tenth anniversary.

Topics: Education Reform, Schools & Youth

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If I Were A White, Male Middle Aged Forbes Columnist…

by Akiba Solomon on December 14 2011, 10:11AM

The lesson of Gene Marks’s “If I Were a Poor Black Kid” column: If you don’t have firsthand knowledge of structural inequality, you have to put in time and rigorous research to write about it. Or you could just stay in your lane.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Media, Schools & Youth

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Poverty Soars Among Children in California School Districts

by Julianne Hing on December 7 2011, 10:00AM

Between 2007 and 2010, poverty in the state ballooned 30 percent.

Topics: Schools & Youth

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