Below are some of my favorite columns published in the Dorchester Reporter (https://dotnews.com/), an independent, weekly newspaper covering local issues in Boston, Mass. Click here for links to more of my Reporter pieces.
Henderson families, district staff at odds over meaning of inclusion
It’s been a challenging few years at the Henderson K-12 Inclusion School in Dorchester, which my daughter has attended since 2017. My wife and I are part of a group of active parents who are troubled by decisions being made by the Boston Public Schools that are pulling us away from our school’s pedagogy, which is a model nationally and internationally for full inclusion.
I explored this tension in my April 10, 2024 column for the Reporter, Henderson families, district staff at odds over meaning of inclusion. The photo above was taken at a meeting our School Parent Council, which was attended by the school’s founder and namesake, Dr. Bill Henderson (back row, 6th from left). During his remarks, he highlighted the vital importance of parent voice and reminded us that a school is like a three legged school made up of students, staff, and families. For the stool to stand, all three stakeholder groups must be engaged meaningfully.
The film ‘Intelligent Lives’ captures the value of difference being normal
What would it take to create a more inclusive society where every one of us is truly welcomed and valued? This is one of the most urgent questions of our time, one that can seem too daunting to tackle. It’s a question that Dan Habib has been thinking about for almost two decades. Read more
Why Mr. Rogers is as important as ever today
Last week, my wife and I went to the Coolidge Corner Theatre to see the new documentary film about Fred Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
We both grew up in the 1980s so to some extent this was a sentimental journey back to our childhoods. But the film is not simply a nostalgic look at an iconic children’s television show. Like “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which ran for over three decades on public television, it is a radical call for us to love one another and offer our best selves to the world. It is a message as critically important today as it was in 1968 when Mr. Rogers first told America’s children that he loved them just the way they are. Read more
Caro’s ‘Working’ provides another primer on American political power
Years ago, I was walking through Central Park with my father when he pointed to a rather uninspired playground consisting of metal swings, a see-saw, and monkey bars floating in a sea of concrete. “Moses,” he uttered with derision. He was referring not to the biblical prophet, but to Robert Moses, the powerful urban planner and builder who had radically transformed New York City during the previous five decades. Read more
He has been gone now for 30 years; we miss his clear-tone political voice
Politics was like a religion in my family. My father – the freelance political writer and historian Walter Karp – was our high priest. He had a deep and abiding love for the American republic and little tolerance for lazy thinking or conventional wisdom. When others took aim at the American people, he turned his critical eye toward those in power. He did not believe in social forces; he preferred to name names and misdeeds. Perhaps most of all, he did not believe you could be apolitical. “Apolitical is political,” he would say, “it just means you support the status quo.” Read more
We don’t need an act of Congress to create safer and more inclusive schools
The words move across your phone, laptop, or TV screen: “School shooting.” You read the horrific details about the latest gun-fueled massacre. You feel sadness for the young victims and their families. Grief morphs into anger at lawmakers for failing to address widespread violence by gunfire. The latest rampage took place last Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Fourteen students and three teachers were killed when a former student, Nikolas Cruz, opened fire from a legally purchased, semi-automatic AR-15 rifle. Seven students were fourteen years old. Read more
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