When I became a pastor as a young man, I was prepared to minister to my congregants through all phases of their lives. I expected to spend my time welcoming new babies into the world, sharing biblical principles with thriving families, and ministering...
In Brooklyn, public school’s been up and running for almost two months now, and I can’t stop thinking about Jmyha Rickman. She’s the 8-year-old Illinois schoolgirl who threw an epic tantrum last year and was hauled out of Lovejoy...
For a long time, the conventional political wisdom was that no one ever lost an election for being too tough on crime. That wisdom has been turned on its head in recent years, as both politicians and the public are realizing how much damage the...
We know that about 10 million more people have insurance coverage this year as a result of the Affordable Care Act. But until now it has been difficult to say much about who was getting that coverage — where they live, their...
As colleges continue to scramble under federal pressure to overhaul how they handle cases of sexual assault, the list of schools under investigation for botching cases continues to grow. That's left some wondering if campuses will ever get it...
For many years, Liz Obert woke up, got dressed, went to work, and acted as if everything was fine. Once she returned home, however, she found herself lying around depressed, feeling hopeless and full of dread. Diagnosed in her early 20s with...
More than halfway through Joel Klein’s forthcoming book on his time as the chancellor of New York City’s public schools, he zeros in on what he calls “the biggest factor in the education equation.” It’s not classroom...
It was early September and Vincent Flewellen had just wrapped up his day teaching at Ladue Middle School, in an affluent suburb about 13 miles south of where protests erupted in Ferguson. Flewellen was in a good mood, but he knew he could be in...
Toney Jennings was illiterate when he was arrested at age 16. In the six months he spent at the Lowndes County Jail in eastern Mississippi, he says he played basketball, watched TV and “basically just stayed to myself.” A special...
We all bring our own unique perspectives to the work we do. I grew up in a community where we took for granted that there was a role for a public sector in universal health care, quality education, public transit, social planning. There is one simple...
Like Cody Beck, thousands of special education students in Mississippi lose valuable time in school through suspensions, expulsions and arrests each year. According to federal data, more than 8,000 special education students in Mississippi...
"Social host" laws, which hold adults accountable for any underage drinking that takes place on their property, may help curb teenage drinking, according to the preliminary findings of a new study. Researchers found that the number of teens who...
Sleep difficulties, particularly problems falling asleep, are common among toddlers and preschoolers with mental health issues, according to a new study. "Sleep problems in young children frequently co-occur with other behavioral problems, with...
With the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse well under way, the issue of child sexual abuse now turns its attention towards the Anglican Church in Newcastle. The recent announcement of a police...
Case Western Reserve University mental health researcher Joseph Galanek spent a cumulative nine months in an Oregon maximum-security prison to learn first-hand how the prison manages inmates with mental illness. What he found, through 430 hours...