As president-elect Joe Biden inches closer to announcements of key cabinet positions, and following the reveal of his transition team in key policy areas, people on all sides of the education reform battles are understandably on edge.

Following the release of Biden’s education transition team, there was pushback on the makeup of the group. Brightbeam CEO, Citizen Stewart probed into the lack of appointments of those with receipts showing achievement with Black and Brown students. He highlighted the absence of those speaking for parents or who have run successful schools for underserved groups.

Much of the back-and-forth on education Twitter has been good faith takes between stakeholders with alternate views on who could best lead as the next secretary of education. However, Diane Ravitch ignited a Twitter firestorm earlier today with an unseemly attack on Sonja Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and a Black woman who is rumored to be under consideration for secretary of education.

In the bizzare, brazen, personal attack on the education leader, Ravitch managed to squeeze in attacks on Democrats for Education Reform, Teach For America, and Ed Trust, while hypocritically questioning Dr. Santelises’ personal education decisions for her family.

People weren’t having it.

Jasmine Lane, an educator in Minnesota (and Citizen Education contributor) highlighted Dr. Santelises’ qualifications while condemning the disrespect.

Kaya Henderson, former Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools, and cohost of Pod Save the People, called out the blatant disrespect and attempt to tear down a Black woman doing the work.

The 8 Black Hands announced a special edition episode to call out the attempted erasure and belittling of a qualified, successful Black woman of color and education leader. Tune in tonight at 7PM ET, you won’t want to miss this.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Oh give it a rest. So no Black person can ever be criticized or questioned by any white person without it being construed as racism?
    Sorry, that don’t scan.
    Dr. Ravitch,(or does the doctor term only append to Black educators with a PhD?) is a respected historian and educator. she is perfectly entitled to weigh in on any of Biden’s appointments, especially in the field of education.

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