Because parents know it takes a village.
Lane Wright is the Director of Policy Analysis at Education Post, a national education nonprofit focused on improving schools. Lane tells stories that help families understand how their schools are doing, how to make them better, and how policy plays a role. He’s a former journalist, former press secretary to Florida’s governor, and has worked exclusively in education policy since 2013.
During his career he’s interviewed teachers, students, and local school leaders. He’s spent time watching them work in the classroom and helped them raise their voices on issues they care about. He’s also helped parents advocate—in the news, and before lawmakers—for a better education for their own kids.
Lane is the father of three children who attend (or will soon attend) public school in Tallahassee.
The other day I imagined myself rich enough to be looking out of the floor-to-ceiling windows of a plush mansion on the beach and shaking my head, solemnly, as I whisper to myself. “Biggie and P. Diddy were right, man. Mo money. Mo Problems.” I’m pretty sure I would love to be that rich and […]
Some teachers in Florida are holding up a new study by the Brookings Institute as proof that state leaders should stop meddling with certain parts of our education system. They shouldn’t. The title of the report raises a provocative question: Did Tenure Reform In Florida Improve Student Test Scores? Read a couple paragraphs in and […]
If you live in Florida, and especially if you have children here, there’s good news for you (well, for us): Florida schools are getting better. Maybe you’ve noticed recent news lamenting the fact that students in this country, on average, have made virtually no progress in the last decade. All the charts and graphs show […]
This post originally appeared on Education Post One by one, 34 high school seniors walked across the stage set up in the gymnasium at KIPP Jacksonville’s campus. Whoops, screams and vigorous applause nearly drown out Pharrell’s “Happy” blasting through the speakers. They found their seats and looked out into a crowd of middle and elementary […]
Take a closer look at this image. Those kids aren’t lining up for candy or soda. They’re making book selections. I guess it started with vending machines selling snacks and sodas. Then we saw creative vending machines selling healthy stuff or electronics at the airport, then Redbox came out with DVD rentals. Heck, just yesterday […]
A couple weeks ago one of my school board members, Alva Striplin, told everyone she felt offended by some of some comments people made that evening. It was a school board meeting where the hot topic of the night was a vote on approving two charter schools and she didn’t feel good about the way […]
(This post originally appeared on The 74) When the call came in two weeks ago, I thought it might be another spammer. I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered anyway. “Hello, is this Mr. Wright?” “Yes, this is Lane.” “Hi. I’m calling from the School of Arts and Sciences at the Centre location. I’m […]
It’s been more than three weeks since the Valentine’s Day mass murder at Stoneman Douglas High School. For those families and fellow students who lost loved ones I can’t imagine time has much meaning right now, but the world is still turning, and something feels different about the conversations we’re having around protecting our children […]
Originally posted on Chalkbeat by K.T. Katzmann on February 20, 2018 “Remember,” I tell the children, looking them in the eyes in the darkened classroom. “Remember to keep the scissors open. They’ll stab better that way.” My students, the target demographic for many a Disney Channel sitcom, laugh nervously at me as they try to […]
(Disclaimer: This is satire. To all those who think the politicians mentioned and quoted in the article below would actually admit to these realities, thank you for your faith in humanity.) Florida has a long, proud history of pretending to evaluate teachers and two Republican lawmakers, Rep. Rene Plasencia and Sen. Debbie Mayfield, say they’re […]