These remarks were also offered as public testimony to the Swampscott Board of Select. What matters to me more, what upsets me more than the ongoing lack of transparency is that like so many times during the pandemic, adults are more concerned with adult interests than the constituents those policies and programs were designed to […]
Closing the North Shore Birth Center is reproductive injustice
These remarks were offered as public testimony to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The ironic timing of the closure of a 42-year-old birth center on the heels of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade—a 49-year old law of the land protecting reproductive health access—is not lost on me, nor should it be […]
Enough.
It was a Wednesday. I was a high school junior, not yet 17. Throughout the day, I found myself glancing behind me, mentally noting how I could get out of any of my classrooms should the threat arise. At 16, I taught myself situational awareness because just 24 hours before, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris […]
I am not your model minority.
The American cultural mythos of the “model minority” is toxic, insidious, and rampant. It perpetuates racial injustice that harms every member of the Asian-American community, even though most who use it “mean well.” The inherent othering baked into the term — when paired with the unspoken comparative to which “model” a “minority” must strive to […]
Boston Public Schools’ 461 Million Dollar Question
Once you start talking about numbers with more than one comma, it can be hard to conceptualize what half a billion dollars could really look like. The entire package of federal funds — that full $461 million dollars — breaks down to about $9,581 per BPS student. Remember, this is in addition to the roughly $23,000 BPS already […]
The Real Costs of Soft Landings for Under-Enrolled Schools
All things being equal, Weighted Student Funding (WSF) is one strategy Boston Public Schools (BPS) uses to accommodate the ways in which student need can impact individual school budgets by providing school leaders with the funding they need to best serve their students and meet their unique needs. The flexible formula that is WSF provides […]
Motherhood at Year 5: What It’s Really Like Raising a Kindergartner
For a long time—too long, it felt like—I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to be a mom. I went through five years of infertility, five years of wondering if someone would ever grow up and call me “Mom.” It’s been 10 years since that day I got the call from my doctor’s office, that left […]
Why Comparing Trump’s Election To Republicans’ Loss In 2008 Is Misguided Gaslighting
Responses to Trump’s presidential victory have spanned just about all the five stages of grief — most notably: denial, anger, and depression. Many of Trump’s most ardent supporters — who praised the 70-year-old business tycoon’s ability to “tell it like it is” on the campaign trail — are now telling those anti-Trump protesters to get […]
September 11 Through My Father’s Lens
In his gut, my dad knew it was a terrorist act: over 30 years of journalism experience had taught him that all too well. He threw on a quick change of clothes and was out the door in minutes. He told my mom that he was headed to New York to cover the story. My […]
Why Tesla’s Real Fuel is Purpose
Purpose inspires. But moreover, it guides problem-solving and good decision making. The deeper an organization can infuse purpose into its culture, the better the results. Purpose empowers people to do their best work. Tesla CEO Elon Musk knows this, and puts that idea into practice from the moment a candidate sits down for an interview. […]