Our children are our future. Education is at the heart at developing their skills and abilities and yet year after year we hear about the degrading state of our educational system. Our nation has spent trillions of dollars on failed programs that research and experts had promised would work. Achievement gaps persist, performance declines are accelerating and so it is of paramount importance that we explore novel ideas and solutions. You might not agree with many or any of the ideas below, and we certainly are not endorsing policies – our hope is just to create a space where bright, dedicated folks from the community can share their ideas – so that we can all come together and better understand each others experiences, concerns and how we might move forward together to build a brighter future.

Will Bodewes

As a Mechanical Engineer, I have spent a lot of time in school or out of school studying. While in my eyes, there is a lot of benefit to attending school, by founding my own company I have realized that there is a lot that my 17 years of education didn’t teach me. In my experience, the education system takes a black-and-white approach to life, you either go to college or you can’t make money, then you graduate and you get a job in your field or you continue your education. Read more>>

Tracion Griffith

Financial Literacy. I’d definitely start introducing that to students at an early age so they’d understand things such as compound interest, and how it can help their money grow and grow over time from an early age. They need to understand real world situations and get prepared for paying bills and being responsible and disciplined. Read more>>

Toni-Rose Bioc

One thing I would like to change about the educational system is adding a core curriculum around the development of interpersonal skills throughout every level of education. Especially in recents years, I’ve found myself investing more time in learning how to improve on my interpersonal skills in order to build more meaningful connections with people. I have learned more about myself and developed deeper connections with others from reading books, listening to podcasts, and learning from people’s stories about communication and how to put language behind our emotions. I have learned so much about myself from my own readings/listenings, and I wish I had learned these valuable skills at an earlier age, in the educational system. Read more>>

Sonny Mauricio

I consider myself lucky because I discovered my passion very early on. I knew what I wanted to do, what peaked my interests, and what truly made me happy in 7th grade. I took it upon myself to do whatever I could to learn more about graphic design, photography, and video. Not for the money but for the love of creating. I spent thousands of hours on YouTube and Google, going out and shooting and learning by failing and questioning what I can do better next time. I never took one graphic design, photography, or video class throughout my time in the education system until I went to college. Read more>>

Erica Baker

As a former educator, I would change what students learn and how they learn. Black & Bilingual was created to show the world the linguistic and cultural diversity of the African Diaspora. School needs to be done differently. We need to get rid of the “Assembly Line”, and move more toward specialized teaching. Whether it be to mix up ages in a classroom, or go to a 4-day school week with 1 day as “real time learning” or mini-internships, something needs to change! We need to prepare our future leaders to be able to play in the global marketplace. Language learning is a great way to begin this. Bilingualism is great for the brain, and it is a marketable skill for all. Read more>>

Trenton Anthony

I would for sure make sure that students were taught personal finance, credit, and consumer law, if not in high school, I’d make it mandatory for the first two years of college. When I learned these things it took my business and personal life to the next level. Read more>>

Gift Esema

One thing I would change in the educational system is the mindset of educators and learners. For Educators: I would make Educators see teaching beyond a job but as a selfless service to humanity especially in rural communities because a mind that thinks ‘service’ will do more than a mind that thinks ‘money’. Read more>>

Tanya Hadley

I currently work in the Guidance Counseling Department in a local high school and Education has always been a passion of mine! One of the biggest issues in education I would like to tackle is simply making sure EVERY child is receiving an education regardless of their social-economic status. Sometimes it can be very easy for children’s education to “fall through the cracks” so we must ensure every child receives the right to learn! Read more>>

Chef Miguel Cavanna

Having had experience in the subject I would start by totally revamping the food/cafeteria system in our school system, we feed our kids CRAP and that has to change immediately. I would go a step further and reduce the salaries of the PARASITES aka politicians and feed “all” kids for free as well as take better care of the teachers We need to TEACH/EDUCATE not INDOCTRINATE Read more>>

Wennevill Regalado

As a mother of 5 I would highly recommend that our children have the proper education on finances, savings, budgeting for expenses, retirement, investments, etc. I also feel our children should get educated on customer service, building relationships and proper communication. and last but not least proper etiquette. I feel these are all important topics our children are lacking in preparation for a fulfilling and successful life. Read more>>