As students begin another schoolyear throughout the United States, a troubling trend is taking shape. Political leaders, seemingly hostile to complete and accurate history, are determined to shape lesson plans in line with their own agendas, at the expense of the truth. This summer we saw shocking commentary from Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, defending a proposed school curriculum that watered down the horrors of slavery.

Rona Kobell (right), during her time as a student at Hebrew University, is shown with a co-counselor while leading a tour of American teenagers through Israel in 1992. (Courtesy of Rona Kobell)
A few years ago, I hitched a ride to a Washington, D.C., journalism conference with a writer then living in Baltimore and his wife. We exchanged small talk about our families and hometowns, and I mentioned I had two siblings in Philadelphia and one in Israel. At this news, his wife’s face turned sour. “What is your sister doing there?”

Harry Calloway was a hugger, and he came at me suddenly while I was trying to take notes on a summer day in 2005. He wrapped his big arms around me outside Saint Benedict’s Church on Wilkens Avenue, and I could feel his earnestness, his gratitude, his elation that strangers were trying to show him the way out of wickedness.

Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. joins Damian O’Doherty for Episode 60 of The Lobby. Keiffer is a former local & state official from Baltimore before serving as the Chief Legislative Officer to former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, He is now a key leader for BGR’s State and Local Advocacy. Just as Bill Murray was David Letterman’s first show guest, Mitchell was featured on Episode 1 of The Lobby.

As students begin another schoolyear throughout the United States, a troubling trend is taking shape. Political leaders, seemingly hostile to complete and accurate history, are determined to shape lesson plans in line with their own agendas, at the expense of the truth. This summer we saw shocking commentary from Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, defending a proposed school curriculum that watered down the horrors of slavery.

The Washington region just had its most intense September heat wave on record, and climate disasters fill our news media. If you’re looking to turn your anxiety into productive and empowering action, there are many effective local- and state-level opportunities that Washington region residents can tap into. This post provides a list of action opportunities rooted in the fact that making our cities, suburbs, and towns more livable, inclusive, and vibrant is one necessary area of climate action.

Recent reporting from Fox45 on math proficiency at Baltimore City’s top high schools is not only misleading to the public, but also a gut punch to the administrators and teachers who work tirelessly every day to ensure their students are prepared for what lies ahead after graduation. The sensationalized headline read: “At Baltimore’s five best high schools, 11% of students tested proficient on state math exam.” That would be horrifying — if it were true.

Maryland educators and families are seeing big changes. Carey Wright, the former Mississippi schools chief who oversaw dramatic gains in student performance during her nine years on the job, has been appointed interim state superintendent of education. She is a former Maryland teacher, principal and school administrator who is known for her ability to build consensus and improve teaching and learning.

Today marks Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, an urgent reminder that we need to do everything we can to protect pregnant people and children, including undocumented mothers and their unborn babies. A new policy solution gives this often-overlooked part of the population hope. Last year, Maryland enacted a new law — the Healthy Babies Equity Act — that provides comprehensive health care coverage to pregnant people regardless of immigration status.

What was it that Joseph Campbell said? “Follow your bliss.” It became a catchphrase in the 1990s after Campbell, the author and mythologist, gave an interview to Bill Moyers on PBS. “If you follow your bliss,” Campbell said, “you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.”