Backlash Politics and the Dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education
In March, Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (USED). Thousands of employees were fired without notice and billions of dollars in grants and research […]
Trump’s Education by Indoctrination Must Be Fought with Social Justice Unionism
Hagopian argues social justice unionism is the key to fighting the creeping fascism behind Trump’s effort to control what is taught in schools.
The Chicago Teachers Union Is Showing Us How to Fight Trump
Sanchez discusses the transformative new contract won by the Chicago Teachers Union and why their struggle serves as a blueprint for others in this moment.
Teaching “Mexican Repatriation”:
Uncovering Histories of Deportation and Belonging
A 5th-grade teacher engages students in a unit on the forced deportation of 2 million Mexicans and Mexican Americans from the United States during the Great Depression.
Sweet Stuff
Teaching About Sugar Subterfuge in Biology Class
Through a trial role play in a high school science class, students explore who — or what — is to blame for the rise of epidemics related to increased sugar consumption.
“I Really Felt Like I Was Using My Writing for Good”
Student Writing on Redlining, Urban Renewal, and Gentrification — The Definition Essay
Christensen details strategies to encourage students to write essays that matter while they investigate decades of housing discrimination in their neighborhood.
Original Sins — and What to Do About Them
An Interview with Eve L. Ewing
Cierra Kaler-Jones interviews author Eve L. Ewing about her new book Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism.
Building the School-to-Abolition Pipeline
A high school teacher explains how restorative justice helps students envision a different model of justice and community at school.
From Muffins to Movements:
Building Teacher Communities of Resistance
Sugarman and Taylor detail the challenges and successes of teachers using Teaching for Black Lives study groups to refuse isolation and defy the crackdown on anti-racist education.
I’m a Muslim High School Student. I Fear Texas’ New Bible-Infused Curriculum.
A high school student criticizes Texas’ new reading and language arts elementary school curriculum that encourages teachers to bring Christianity into classrooms.
Our picks for books, videos, websites, and other social justice resources 39.4
Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.
Parable of the Sower and Climate Futures
Eisen explores themes for classroom discussion as well as disturbing similarities between our present moment and the dystopian future portrayed in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower.
