education
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Segregation, Reparations and Cultural Appropriation: Maryland Passes Legislation Settling HBCU Lawsuit
Maryland state senators voted to send more than a half-billion dollars to four majority-black institutions of higher learning, settling a 13-year-old lawsuit in which federal courts repeatedly found the state guilty of systematically discriminating against historically black colleges and universities. On Sunday, the Baltimore Sun reported that Maryland’s state Senate unanimously passed a bill sending…
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Confronting A Legacy, and Creating Her Own: Meet The First Black Rhodes, Truman, and Udall Scholar
Like many 21 year olds, Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru is on Twitter. And on Nov. 24, 2019, one of the University of Connecticut senior environmental studies major’s tweets went viral. No, Wawa didn’t absolutely body the latest TikTok dance craze, nor did she create a top-trending hashtag. Instead, she tweeted out news that would earn her…
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1st Grade Teacher Brings Black Excellence to the Classroom by Dressing Up as Historical Figures During Black History Month
LaToya McGriff is here to make a difference. While educators throughout the country have spent their February schooling students on the importance of historical black figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, the first-grade teacher from Suffolk, Va., has gone the extra mile of ensuring that her students have the opportunity to meet…
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Task Force of Physicists to Raise $50 Million to Encourage More Black Students
When you think of physicists you typically think of a white dude in a lab coat. My go-to is Professor Utonium, can’t even front. A task force of physicists has come together to potentially change that perception. NBC News reports that a task force backed by the American Institute of Physics has recommended a $50…
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School District in New Jersey Pays $25K to Settle Racial Harassment Lawsuit
Okay y’all, I’m starting to think that schools might be some of the most racist places in America. We all know kids have zero chill, but the level of racist behavior coming from both students and teachers seems like it’s becoming more and more common. According to NBC News, the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District in…
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Report Shows Racial Divide in Academic Success in Progressive Cities
The American education system is rife with problems. Schools go underfunded, teachers barely can make a living wage and students have to worry about either getting shot at or body-slammed by school resource officers. While many of those problems tend to be attributed to schools in lower-income areas, a study shows that’s not quite the…
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LeBron James Surprises 193 Students With Free College Tuition: 'It's Probably the Best Thing I've Ever Done'
While Sallie Mae has never put me in a headlock—I love you too, Air Force!—I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about her wreaking havoc on the bank accounts and mental stability of my peers. But hopefully, students at I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, won’t suffer a similar fate after LeBron James gifted them with…
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Student-Teacher Dismissed for Teaching ‘Willie Lynch Letter’ to 4th-Graders
A Tennessee instructor’s Black History Month lesson on a fake historical document backfired when school administrators discovered that she was teaching “alternative facts” instead of verifiable ones like Christopher Columbus discovering America, states’ rights causing the Civil War, or “liberty and justice for all.” While being interviewed for a book about conspiracy theories, I recently…
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As I Say, Not as I Do: Parents of All Backgrounds Say They Want Diverse Schools, but Their Choices Are Still Rooted in Bias
Privileged parents say they want their children to attend integrated schools—but their choices tell a different story. That’s what a study published by Harvard Graduate School of Education this week reveals. As the education blog The 74 reports, the new study found across all demographics, parents tended to agree that racial and economic integration in…
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High School Student Expelled for Smelling Like Weed Despite 2 Negative Test Results
A black student was suspended and later expelled from an Ohio high school—not for possessing or using marijuana—but after multiple school employees agreed that he smelled like the substance. While the student’s parent has questioned the legal or ethical basis for the suspension, one moderately experienced writer whose name rhymes with “Michael Harriot” posited a…