Michael Charney: Teacher, Activist, Comrade
Rethinking Schools reflects on the life of our dear co-conspirator Michael Charney.
Updates
A Journey Toward Biliteracy:
A principal describes the importance of developing and supporting dual language programs and biliteracy from kindergarten through high school.
Student Essays that Matter — Defying Formulaic Writing
Students write “unbound” essays about topics that impact their lives.
“Rethinking Columbus” to Help Students Find Their Voice in an Age of Villains
A 5th-grade teacher modifies and expands Rethinking Schools’ Columbus trial into a unit.
An Ode to Altadena:
An administrator details efforts to rebuild community after losing his home and school in the Eaton Fire.
Fighting for New Orleans’ Children
Miller reviews What We Stand to Lose: Black Teachers, the Culture They Created, and the Closure of a New Orleans High School by Kristen L. Buras.
Six Stories, One Fight
Bigelow reviews Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance by Denali Sai Nalamalapu.
We Are All Minneapolis:
As 2026 began, the Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Metro Surge, deploying more than 3,000 federal immigration agents to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area — triple the size of both […]
Teaching Autism: Using Books as Bridges
A librarian outlines several children’s books that fit the guidelines Jevin Morris lays out in “Not ‘Burdens’ or ‘Saviors’: Picking Children’s Books Showcasing the Autistic Experience.”
Our picks for books, videos, websites, and other social justice resources 40.3
Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.
Not “Burdens” or “Saviors”:
Morris lays out guidelines for selecting children’s books that accurately portray the beauty and complexity of the autism spectrum.
Twin Cities Educators Resisting for the Common Good
Jaffe describes the rise of social justice teacher unionism in the Twin Cities and how unions have confronted ICE.
Learning Under Occupation:
A Minneapolis resident describes what it’s like to live under ICE’s Operation Metro Surge and the crucial role teachers and schools have played in building resistance.
Be Your Better Self
Students write narratives on kindness and solidarity to speak back to despair.
Trans Teacher, Detrans Student
A trans teacher draws out lessons for all educators from painful conversations with a student who has detransitioned.
In It for the Long Haul: Increasing the Possibility of Freedom and Liberation for All
Cierra Kaler-Jones interviews Mariame Kaba, organizer, educator, archivist, curator, and author of We Do This ’Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice.
Resisting the Rise of the Bots
In the next 10 years the AI education market is projected to reach between $112 billion and $127 billion — more than double the federal government’s entire K–12 education budget. […]
AI Under 6
Franz and Linn describe the dangers AI poses to children under 6.
Educators Over AI
Hagopian speaks back to the AI hype, arguing that AI cannot replace educators.
“Human Beings! Human Beings!” An Open Letter to Educators on the Dangers of AI
A high school teacher and Rethinking Schools editor denounces AI as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Resisting AI Mania in Schools
A former English teacher takes on many of the arguments of AI promoters.
The Power Is in Our Hands. It’s Time to Use It.
A teacher union organizer examines a new report on successful teacher union struggles for climate justice.
Our picks for books, videos, websites, and other social justice resources 40.2
Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.
Kicking ICE Out of Our Schools and Communities
Silverio Villegas-González, a father of two young boys in a small suburb of Chicago, just south of O’Hare Airport, woke up on Friday, Sept. 12, and, like he did every […]
Recipes for Resistance
An elementary teacher describes how planning a family cooking night surfaced community concerns about the growing immigration raids in Washington, D.C.