In an era when despair has become the dominant narrative in American education, this piece argues that naming failures is no longer enough. It makes the case for a disciplined, evidence-based pedagogy of hope—one capable of building the systems our children actually need.

When families lose food assistance or affordable care, children carry the burden into the classroom. Hunger, illness, and instability show up as absenteeism and lost learning. This is the quiet war being waged on our kids—not with weapons, but with policy choices that strip away their safety nets.

To teach well, educators must begin well. The first month of school sets the tone for safety, wellness, and joy in learning. Research shows that when teachers prioritize well-being, belonging, and social-emotional growth before diving into content, students thrive academically and emotionally. Begin Well offers practical, evidence-based guidance for creating humanizing classrooms where both teachers and students flourish.

This summer, let’s treat ourselves to a different kind of professional development—one rooted in love. Informed by thirty years of research, I invite educators to grow in three essential practices: communication that begins in listening, visualization that sees student strengths, and community that nurtures belonging. These aren’t strategies—they’re ways of being. Let’s study love this summer, so we can teach it more powerfully in the fall.

The hardest part of equity work isn’t data analysis. It isn’t professional development. It isn’t political backlash. It’s trust—not just gaining it but deserving it.

We don’t have a curriculum problem—we have a trust problem. Teachers don’t teach what they’re told; they teach what they believe.

What if education stopped asking multilingual children to fit into a ready-made world and started building a world ready for them?

After relying on cellphones to save education during the pandemic, schools are now banning tools that could someday transform learning.

Let us enter this school year with a renewed commitment to our Black boys, knowing that by lifting them, we become titans, lifting our world

In a dignity-driven curriculum, our children are given chances to see and be seen as they look into both mirrors and windows.

Dignity-driven education is more than equity (how we respond within an inequitable system). It pivots to belonging (how do we create systems