Once, the American chestnut made up a quarter of the Appalachian forest. Then blight arrived, killing billions of trees and leaving only stubborn roots that still try to grow. The tragedy of the chestnut is not weakness—it is a disease in the soil that prevents flourishing. The same is true of generational poverty and systemic inequality. Survival is not the same thing as justice. I see canopy trees every day in my classroom—children full of brilliance and resilience. The question is not whether they are strong enough. It is whether we are willing to tend the soil that shapes their future.

The Federal Department of Education ensures educational equity by funding low-income schools, supporting students with disabilities, and enforcing civil rights laws. While states control most education decisions, abolishing the federal department would widen achievement gaps, disproportionately harming communities of color and low-income families, perpetuating systemic inequities rooted in historical discrimination.

For years, Republican politicians have worked to turn public opinion against higher education, painting colleges as breeding grounds for liberal ideology rather than institutions for learning. At the same time, they have pushed to weaken or even dismantle the Department of Education, claiming that education should be left to individual states or families. But what if these moves aren't just about policy differences?

Nazi book burnings and today’s book bannings are looking very similar.