Derek Black
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Articles by Derek Black
Religious charter schools threaten to shift more money away from traditional public schools - and the Supreme Court is considering this idea
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Religious charter schools threaten to shift more money away from traditional public schools - and the Supreme Court is considering this idea
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 30, 2025, in what could be the most consequential case for public education since the court started requiring schools to desegregate in the years following Brown v. Board of Education. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond – and its companion case, Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v.
Religious charter schools threaten to shift more money away from traditional public schools - and the Supreme Court is considering this idea
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 30, 2025, in what could be the most consequential case for public education since the court started requiring schools to desegregate in the years following Brown v. Board of Education. kAmk2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^HHH]DFAC6>64@FCE]8@G^5@4<6E^5@4<6E7:=6D^9E>=^AF3=:4^ac\bhe]9E>=Qm$E] xD:5@C6 @7 $6G:==6 r2E9@=:4 ':CEF2= $49@@= G] sCF>>@?5k^2m – 2?5 :ED 4@>A2?:@?
I Was the Future of White Nationalism. Quitting Felt Like Death
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I Was the Future of White Nationalism. Quitting Felt Like Death
I grew up the child of one of the leaders of American white nationalism, but my childhood wasn't what people might expect. We lived in a relatively urban south Florida neighborhood that was racially diverse, and the city had one of America's highest populations of Jewish people. So, while in school, I had non-white friends I had this conflicted feeling growing up. I always wanted to be open to others but was from a family whose ideology was at odds with the communities around us.
The fraught connection between state and school
Schools are increasingly unable to serve their original purpose of creating a shared civic community. What does this mean for their relationship to the state? The nation state and the public school grew up together during the 19th century, with each enabling the development of the other.
Derek W. Black Says Public Education Represents the Idea of America... Not its Reality
Derek W. Black explains how the expansion of public education has developed alongside democracy in America. His recent book Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy links the current threat to public education to attacks on democracy. This is the 46th episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast.
Could public money finance private-school discrimination, religion and fake history? Original
Derek W. Black and Rebecca Holcombe With bills pending in more than 20 state legislatures to expand private school voucher programs, this spring could usher in the biggest transfer in funds from public schools to private schools in our nation’s history.
Nervos launches $ 5 million fund to fund DeFi projects
11 Share Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now. The Chinese project Nervos has launched a $ 5 million fund to support cryptocurrency firms and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. Nervos announced that the fund was created to provide grants to financial technology and blockchain firms. Specifically, Nervos intends to provide material support to developers creating decentralized exchanges, platforms for issuing synthetic assets and solutions for lending.
Public schools are the starting point for bridging our divides
© Gerry Images Public schools are the starting point for bridging our divides President-elect Biden reportedly will nominate Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education, a former elementary school teacher and public school graduate who is Connecticut Education Commissioner. An imminent debate over reopening America's schools will push the Department of Education into the spotlight and will be an important point in the new president's desire to heal our divided country.
America’s Founders Recognized the Need for Public Education. Democracy Requires Maintaining That Commitment Original
September 22, 2020 11:00 AM EDT Even before the United States had a Constitution, its founders were advocating for the creation of public education systems. The United States was an experiment in democracy unlike anything the world had ever seen, turning away from government dominated by elites and hoping that the common man could rule himself. If this experiment had any chance of standing the test of time, the nation needed far more schools to prepare everyday citizens for self-government.
Column: Betsy DeVos has crossed a bright constitutional line
By David Sciarra and Derek W. Black/Guest Columnists Saturday Jul 25, 2020 at 6:28 PM Jul 25, 2020 at 6:28 PM Schools must look inward, assess local COVID-19 conditions and ignore pressure from DeVos. They have authority over whether to reopen. She doesn't. Columns share an author's personal perspective and are often based on facts in the newspaper's reporting.
Betsy DeVos just crossed another line. She's an ongoing danger to teachers and students. Original
David Sciarra and Derek W. Black As much of the country experiences an alarming surge of COVID-19 cases, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is carrying President Donald Trump’s water by demanding that states reopen their schools after the summer break. She makes this demand with no sense of how schools can do this safely. But just beneath her disregard for public health is a shocking ignorance about the fundamental nature of authority over public schools in this country.
Supreme Court voucher ruling threatens American unity Original
Derek W. Black The Supreme Court’s decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue could drive a value shift far more important and troubling than its narrow practical effect. The ruling demands that Montana allow private religious schools to participate in its school voucher program. But for most states, the decision is currently irrelevant. About half of the states do not fund private school tuition. Many of those that do already fund private religious education.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets. Congress tried to help in the US$2 trillion economic relief package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act, by designating $13.5 billion for public schools.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
Low-income Seattle students began to pick up bagged lunches in March after their school closed. Karen Ducey/Getty Images Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids × You have run out of free articles. You can support our newsroom by joining at our lowest rate! Already a subscriber? Log in or Activate your account. Loading&hellp; {{html}} Thanks for being a subscriber. Sorry, your subscription does not include this content. Please call 866-839-6397 to upgrade your subscription.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Derek W. Black, University of South Carolina (THE CONVERSATION) Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.
Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids
Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets. Congress tried to help in the US$2 trillion economic relief package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act, by designating $13.5 billion for public schools.
Perspective | Federal court delivers holy grail of education advocacy: A fundamental right to basic education. Don’t count on Supreme Court to uphold it.
I wrote last week about a historic decision by a federal appeals court that ruled that students in the low-performing Detroit school system have a right to expect to learn to read and write in their public schools.
Elizabeth Warren’s schools plan would make SC public education stronger and fairer
For the half-million kids living in poverty in South Carolina, public education may be their only shot at the American dream — and our middle-income kids depend on public schools nearly as much. The quality of our schools determines who is ready for college and who is able to compete within and beyond our states’ borders, in addition, what becomes of these children will determine what becomes of our economy and ultimately our democracy. Of course, Sen.
Trump's 'education freedom' plan is an attack on public schools. That's un-American.
Derek W. Black "Education freedom" — the Trump administration’s new buzzwords — is not about good education for the public. It’s about ending all that public education stands for. The administration won’t claim that precise goal because it’s politically toxic, including with a huge chunk of its own base. Instead, President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have carefully aimed at core aspects of public education without ever formally declaring war.
Two cheers for school bureaucracy
Getty Images School system bureaucracies can be rigid and stifling, but they also serve the public interest. To call an organization “bureaucratic” has long been taken to mean that it is inflexible, impersonal, hierarchical, and strongly favors a literal rather than substantive interpretation of rules. In the popular imagination, bureaucracies make it difficult to accomplish whatever you want to do, forcing you to wade through a relentless proliferation of red tape.
Democratic candidates want to boost school funding - research shows that will help low-income students
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) With few exceptions, the various Democratic plans for public education share a common theme: more funding, less privatizing. Candidates Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders have promised to dramatically increase or triple current federal funding for low-income students and curtail charter school growth.
Democratic candidates want to boost school funding - research shows that will help low-income students
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) With few exceptions, the various Democratic plans for public education share a common theme: more funding, less privatizing. Candidates Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders have promised to dramatically increase or triple current federal funding for low-income students and curtail charter school growth.
Democratic candidates want to boost school funding - research shows that will help low-income students
With few exceptions, the various Democratic plans for public education share a common theme: more funding, less privatizing. Candidates Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders have promised to dramatically increase or triple current federal funding for low-income students and curtail charter school growth. Warren recently went even further, promising to quadruple federal funding for low-income students and end federal funding for charter expansion.
Folk Music’s Radical Patron: Remembering Mitch Podolak
Podolak was a prolific figure in Canadian music who founded the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the West End Cultural Centre Derek Black Culture September 3, 2019 Photo courtesy the Winnipeg Folk Festival “Move that over and paint it brown.” I always believed that this famous quote by Mitch Podolak (which he denied making), spoke to the fact that there was a lot more to organizing a “folk festival” than simply hiring a bunch of folk musicians to perform tunes.
How Charter Schools Exploit A Lucrative Loophole
Written by Derek W. Black, et al Some charter school operators make profits by leasing space to themselves at unusually high rates. By Ilya Andriyanov from www.shutterstock.com While critics charge that charter schools are siphoning money away from public schools, a more fundamental issue frequently flies under the radar: the questionable business practices that allow people who own and run charter schools to make large profits.
Teacher pay hikes alone can't fix education. We need a 'big idea' to help kids do well.
Sen. Kamala Harris recently proposed an average $13,500 raise for teachers — the first major teacher salary initiative from a presidential candidate in two decades. The proposal is a response to teachers’ growing political clout. Other candidates will have to navigate this clout in their own ways as they move forward. But the public education system that teachers and three-quarters of voters want cannot be had through salary increases alone.
Teacher pay hikes alone can't fix education. We need a 'big idea' to help kids do well.
Sen. Kamala Harris recently proposed an average $13,500 raise for teachers — the first major teacher salary initiative from a presidential candidate in two decades. The proposal is a response to teachers’ growing political clout. Other candidates will have to navigate this clout in their own ways as they move forward. But the public education system that teachers and three-quarters of voters want cannot be had through salary increases alone.
Teacher pay hikes alone can't fix education. We need a 'big idea' to help kids do well.
Derek W. Black, Opinion contributor Published 6:00 a.m. ET April 5, 2019 School funding policies are a disaster. The world's richest nation must confront what students need to succeed and rethink its spending on education. Sen. Kamala Harris recently proposed an average $13,500 raise for teachers — the first major teacher salary initiative from a presidential candidate in two decades. The proposal is a response to teachers’ growing political clout.
Congressional oversight is at the heart of America's democracy
President Donald Trump increasingly acts as though he believes he can ignore Congress and set wide-ranging national policies on his own. He has, for instance, recently taken unilateral steps to cut off foreign aid to countries he says are sending too many migrants to the United States. He wants to redirect some of the Pentagon’s budget to building the border wall that Congress rejected.
Congressional oversight is at the heart of America's democracy
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) President Donald Trump increasingly acts as though he believes he can ignore Congress and set wide-ranging national policies on his own. He has, for instance, recently taken unilateral steps to cut off foreign aid to countries he says are sending too many migrants to the United States.
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