This morning, I accomplished a huge goal. My first piece for the New York Times was published!!! Check it out -- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/opinion/coronavirus-schools-suspensions.html?smid=tw-share

"Students and educators are beginning the school year this fall under unheard-of circumstances as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. And I am gripped by the fear that aggressive school discipline is only going to get worse."

On the disprop. of Blk stu.&Blck disabled stu. who are sent to youth prisons from their schools, @DrSubini told me “I think educators need to constantly ask themselves, ‘Is this worth getting my kid in trouble for? Is this what I want to give of my autonomy as a teacher?'"

@losendan ,the director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA’s Civil Rights Project, told me “I can imagine the administrators and staff either calling the cops more or suspending more often because even minor violations now have, at least in theory, a health risk.”

When he started teaching Black and Latino first grade boys, Dr. Joseph Nelson said he heard all kinds of negative narratives rooted in race and gender stereotypes. This one's never disciplined or this one's constantly out of his seat. This one can't keep his hands to himself...

"What I learned quickly is that most of the boys were high performing. Again, they were bored with their other classes. They were fulfilling the teachers' expectations of them by acting out...thinking 'well, my teacher doesn't like me anyway'" - Dr. Joseph Nelson

Con't "You have to provide an environment where they can be who they are & be seen outside of these stories tht were told abt them." Nelson said he was committed to thinking creatively abt how to best serve them well based on what he learned abt them from relationship building.

I'm currently reading University of Georgia Professor Bettina Love’s book “We Want to Do More Than Survive”, she talks about teaching BIPOC students in ways that show that they matter in every aspect. Thriving, not just surviving is crucial for marginalized students.

Teaching must be rooted in liberation, joy and restorative justice. So, even amid a pandemic (and especially bc of the focus of police brutality in this current racial/social justice movement) we have to do better for the kids that need love and respect the most.