Huge Victory for Washington State’s Students: Exit Exam Requirement Struck Down!

Cue Pomp and Circumstance because many more Washington State high school seniors will be walking across the stage and handed a diploma! Beginning with the class of 2020, high school students are no longer required to pass the "Smarter Balance Assessment" high-stakes standardized test to graduate. They will still have to take at least one …

Continue reading Huge Victory for Washington State’s Students: Exit Exam Requirement Struck Down!

Meet the 2019 “Black Education Matters Student Activist Award” winners: Youth leaders of an uprising for racial justice!

At the first NAACP Youth Coalition Racial Justice Conference on Saturday, ethnic studies teacher Jesse Hagopian and Superbowl champion/bestselling author Michael Bennett presented the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award (BEMSAA) to three of the most dynamic and powerful changemaking youth in Seattle. The 2019 BEMSAA award winners are: Rena Mateja Walker Burr, Cleveland High …

Continue reading Meet the 2019 “Black Education Matters Student Activist Award” winners: Youth leaders of an uprising for racial justice!

Rainier Beach High School’s dramatic gains for students to be featured on HBO’s “Problem Areas”–even as the school is struggling to stop disruptive educator displacements

  If you haven't heard, there's a new season of Wyatt Cenac's "Problem Areas" show on HBO and it's fire. The show is in the middle of its second season all about education, and its the best exploration of education I've seen on national TV. This week's episode, Friday, May 3 at 8:00 pm Pacific, …

Continue reading Rainier Beach High School’s dramatic gains for students to be featured on HBO’s “Problem Areas”–even as the school is struggling to stop disruptive educator displacements

Seattle Students: Apply today for the 2019 Black Education Matters Student Activist Award

It’s time to nominate your favorite Seattle based anti-racist student activist for the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award (BEMSAA). Seattle Public School students  (or advocates on their behalf) can apply for the Award by filling out this application.  Applications for the 2019 award are due by May 10th and award winners will be announced …

Continue reading Seattle Students: Apply today for the 2019 Black Education Matters Student Activist Award

Video: Watch the premiere of Wyatt Cenac’s HBO show “Problem Areas” for free–and truly understand the new educator uprising in America

School is fundamentally one of the greatest sources of humor. The premise of mainstream schooling is that a lot of young people, at different developmental stages, are packed into a room with an adult who is trying to get them to do something they often have little idea why they should care about.  That basic …

Continue reading Video: Watch the premiere of Wyatt Cenac’s HBO show “Problem Areas” for free–and truly understand the new educator uprising in America