What do U.S. Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona, Newburgh Superintendent Roberto Padilla, and The Leadership Academy CEO Nancy Gutierrez all have in common? They all see it as a badge of honor to serve your home community. In a new Education Week commentary, Gutierrez and Padilla outline the dangers of the all-too-common “leave to succeed” mindset that communicates to young people in low-income communities of color that to be successful, you need to leave your community behind and be closer to whiteness.
The Leadership Academy also joined a number of national education organizations and researchers in sending a letter to Dr. Cardona outlining a number of policies that are essential for supporting teacher and leader professional learning as a means for advancing education equity.