From the Race to the Top to
the Plunge to the Bottom
The Pandemic and Federal Education Policy
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Summer 2020
Teaching Voting Rights in the Time of Coronavirus
What Our Students Should Know About the Struggle for the Ballot — but Won’t Learn from Their Textbooks
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which promised “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Given the dizzying array of disruptions to our lives in this moment of pandemic, one could be forgiven for failing to register this anniversary. But the fight for voting rights enshrined in the 15th Amendment is still very much alive, and more critical now than ever — and needs to be taught to every student in this country.
“I Don’t Like China or Chinese People Because They Started This Quarantine”
The History of Anti-Chinese Racism and Disease in the United States
In this moment, teachers building online social justice curriculum and parents assisting with distance learning are in a position to teach our children about historical injustices such as those visited upon the Chinese American community at the turn of the 20th century, as well as share historical victories won through resistance and protestations. And we can make connections to this history as we organize to resist anti-Asian racism during the coronavirus crisis.
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Rethinking Schools is the country’s leading grassroots magazine for social and racial justice in education.
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Are You Teaching for Black Lives?
In the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery — and as communities across the United States erupt in rebellion against police violence, systemic racism, dehumanization, and injustice, we know that it is now more important than ever that our classrooms and homes be spaces for resistance against white supremacy.
Rethinking Ethnic Studies Named 2019 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Winner!
We’re pleased to share that Rethinking Ethnic Studies has been recognized as an INDIES Book of the YEAR Awards Winner in the education category.
The INDIES recognize the best books published in 2019 from small, indie, and university presses, as well as self-published authors.
Read the Special Dedication from the Editors of Rethinking Ethnic Studies.
About Rethinking Schools
Rethinking Schools began in 1986, when a group of Milwaukee education activists — teachers, teacher educators, and community members — met to talk about how they could bring more critical voices into the conversation about public schools and libraries. These founding Rethinking Schools editors saw a school curriculum that was conservative, dumbed-down, and dominated by corporate-produced textbooks. Inappropriate standardized testing was rampant. Racial bias infected every level of schooling.