2025: Because We Had To Do Something About It
How did a bad encounter with two wayward teenagers after Trump’s inauguration transformed my outlook for the rest of the year? Read more here and let me know what you…
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‘Origin’ and Teaching Our Son Before The World Does
A few weekends ago, ARRAY Inc. invited EduColor to a screening of Origin, a movie based on the events surrounding and within Isabel Wilkerson’s best-selling
What Does A Good School Even Mean?
Recently, I saw a meme suggesting what school should have taught us as opposed to what it teaches us. The setup usually lists a set
Learning Loss and the Lessons Americans Refuse To Learn
The United States has spent the last three years arguing about the pandemic’s effects on students’ academic and socioemotional well-being. Of course, this gave rise
For Educators Who Get In Trouble But Want To Stay In Their Professions
Last night, I was asked to speak virtually to a group of student teachers who read my book This Is Not A Test for class
Death By Millions of Cuts (In Defense of NYC Public Schools and Beyond)
Last year, when I dropped my son off at school, my first question to the staff was “What’s changed?” After the cuts came down, students
Difficult For Whom: A Conversation about Conversations and Systems
Recently, my son did an active-shooter drill at his school. I asked him how it went. He mentioned how it was fine, but a few
The Problem With How You Discuss Reading
Kids can’t read. At least that’s what we’ve been told to believe by folks trying to dismantle public education. Proponents of this refrain use frivolous
Abolish School Supply Lists, Too
My son and I ran over to a super convenience store (you’ll know which one) to do some last-minute grocery shopping when we happened upon
What Spongebob Taught Me About Optimism In The Now
“Just six more minutes left / We’ve done all we could do / And whatever happens next / I’m glad I’m here with you …”
What The American Teacher Act Shows Us About Education Now
In the last year, I’ve visited four different classrooms, three of them within New York City. During my visits, I noticed similar trends: well-organized classrooms,
Cry On The Last Day of School, Too (on Abbott Elementary)
When was the last time you cried at the end of a school year? I’ve done it about five times as a teacher, each moment
We Put The Public in Public Schools (A Reprise)
Last Monday, a coalition of parents, educators, students, and New York City Councilmembers came together to rebuke school budget cuts to New York City schools.
Where Contrition and Closure Go Hand-In-Hand
“Vilson, you should read the names of the graduates. You know them anyways.” We’re at a retirement party that my wife and I organized for
It’s OK To Not Have The Words
There was a moment, just as I was getting into the groove of my second class, where I thought I had it all together. And
A Word About The Work We Must Do
About five years ago, the Teacher Activist Group in Boston, MA invited me to speak at their 7th annual Boston-Area Education for Social Justice Conference.
God Keeps Me and Us Around (2021 Year-In-Review)
Many of us end this year the same way we ended last year: by staring at screens, searching for answers to questions we don’t know
College, Career, Or Whatever Readiness
In recent times, the term “college and career ready” has come back into trend. It’s a term that first saw a spotlight during the Obama
What Gets Taught
Whenever I do a keynote presentation or workshop, I’m often asked: “How does this apply to me when I teach in a school with all-white
Lessons of Youth Activism, Climate Change, and Climate Justice
“Yeah, so first of all, I just want to give a little context. So Shell and Siccar Point Energy are trying to push a new
Sunshower, Just The Sign Of The Power (On Parenting and School)
The morning sun glistens just above the project buildings east of my son’s schoolyard just before school starts. The scene might have enamored me to
Big Educator Energy (Pt. 1)
Imagine putting the locus of your faith in actual people, not the ones you pretend to know or the ones you envision, but the actual
Bob Moses and The Enduring Education Injustice
When I first met Bob Moses, I was potentially too eager to meet him. For years, his book Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to
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Our Collective Lesson Plan [On Teachers of Color In This Moment]
After last summer, this is the way it had to go down. In recent weeks, conservatives have waged an all-out assault on their rendition of
We’re Not Even At Equality Yet
A jury of Derek Chauvin’s “peers” found him guilty on all counts of murder: unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Millions reacted to
Why I’m Opting My Son Out Of Standardized Testing (And You Can, Too)
Recently, my son revealed the difficulty in observing his ninth birthday. Usually joyous occasions, this past birthday was mired in nervousness over the perpetual, coordinated
Karen Lewis Taught Me
“José Luis, I’m writing your foreword.” That’s how it went. My publisher and I were brainstorming names for who would best introduce my first solo
Before You Must Go (The Whole Trump of You)
By the time this publishes, you’ll officially only have four hours left in your presidency. “Good riddance” isn’t strong enough. For you and your cabal
To A Greater Glory [National Catholic Reporter]
In my latest op-ed, I wrote an article as an open letter to the Biden administration that harkened back to my Jesuit education (Nativity Mission,
On This Insurrection, and The Next
I wasn’t supposed to ever forget the day because it was my son’s ninth birthday. In the middle of a pandemic, we still thought it
The Lives That Chose Us (2020 Year-In-Review)
In mid-September, I was knee-deep in a few readings, one for each class I had taken this fall. The readings ranged from dead white men
Where Did Education Fail Us?
In my final reflection for the semester of my doctoral studies (don’t ask me how it’s going), I considered what it meant to get an
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A New Narrative About The Secretary of Education, Too [Medium]
For EduColor’s Medium blog, I wrote a bit more about the Secretary of Education using some inspiration from Vanessa Siddle Walker’s The Lost Education of
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Where Will You Get Your Educators of Color From Now? [Medium]
In my latest post for Medium, I explore the connections between the current pandemic, the racial uprising, and NYC’s efforts to recruit and retain educators
Jose Interviews Mr. Vilson, Part 5: Now, It’s Every Classroom
Jose: So! Mr. Vilson: So. J: So … MV: Awkward, isn’t it? J: Right. So … what would you like to tell everyone about this
God’s Plan (A Requiem for Wendy Menard)
On November 29, 2016, we had a Single Session workshop for the entire Math for America community entitled “A Continuing Conversation: Race, Equity, and STEM
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