Founder & ED @EmpowerEdDC, educator, salsa dancer, DC activist, Philly sports. Forthcoming book "Human-Centered Schools"- Fall 2026!

Washington DC
Joined February 2009
The driving force behind everything I advocate for is the deep unfairness and inequity I feel about the way I was able to experience childhood compared to how we treat young people in my adopted city. Whether it’s educational experience gaps or public safety- that’s my mission.
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Scott Goldstein retweeted
this is a critically important interview to watch in full — yglesias has figured out how to have no worldview at all and an incredibly harmful one at the same time. here he argues democrats shouldn’t speak out when migrants are being tortured in a foreign gulag
Always remember what MLK said about the greatest threat to peace being the white moderate. The complete moral depravity from Yglesias here isn't just infuriating, it's heartbreakingly sad. And the depravity gets worse when @mehdirhasan presses him about Gaza.
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Scott Goldstein retweeted
Help get @abdulelsayed elected to the senate! Jewish safety depends on a real multiracial democracy—and Abdul is the one fighting to protect it. Get involved and help at abdulforsenate.com/vote go.abdulforsenate.com We know how much it matters to live in a country where our rights are protected, where the law applies equally to everyone, and where the majority can’t just decide that some people don’t deserve the same freedoms. The safety and freedom we’ve found in America didn’t happen by accident. They exist because of democracy. And protecting democracy means protecting Jewish safety, too. We know what happens when those protections start to break down. When courts are weakened, elections are undermined, and people lose equal protection under the law, minorities are often the first to pay the price. Jews have seen this throughout our history. It’s one of the reasons so many of our families sought refuge in democratic countries. That’s why I find it so alarming to see what’s happening right now. When masked government agents are taking people off the streets and citizens are being shot in public, we should all be worried about where things are headed. As Jews, we know that when a government starts targeting certain groups of people, no one should assume they’re safe from what comes next. Mike Rogers has chosen to align himself with a movement that is willing to attack our democracy. He stood with Trump and refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. And now we’re seeing what happens when a political movement treats the rights and dignity of certain people as disposable. For Jews, these things should set off alarm bells. Jewish safety is tied to the health of our democracy. We can’t protect one without protecting the other. And in this Senate race, Abdul is the candidate who understands that and is willing to fight for it. #abdulelsayed #democracy #jewish #midterms
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And here’s the thing- there’s always another election around the corner. It’s not like they are ever like “now we won, let’s be super bold”- they’ll just start expressing caution about taking on anything controversial bc the NEXT election is coming.
This is the problem with Centerist... Willing to let massive pain happen if it means a win in an election.... Fml
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For anyone’s position to be “I can’t think of anything DC Council has done to support well off people in this city” is truly a wild lack of self awareness m.
Both my kids were/are educated by DC. DC approved a new bridge and trail near me. Repairs were made at the playground. DC installed a dog park. DC supported our 4th of July Parade. Urban Forestry is preserving our tree canopy. Bike lanes (I love then, so hate me) …..
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This has always seemed like such an obvious fact to me it’s hard to comprehend why so much has been invested in it. Creating new schools doesn’t create less scarcity or more quality, it just moves the scarcity and repackages it.
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Scott Goldstein retweeted
This clip really does show the nihilism at the heart of centrist politics. There are no firmly held beliefs or moral convictions – only an ever-shifting calculus of which positions or issues need to be adopted or discarded in order to "win".
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By the way- now is a great time to become a member of Zeteo.com. The content is incredible. Having immediate access to this full hour plus conversation today was worth the cost for the year- but you get so much more.
Me: "What does it say for your credibility on foreign policy issues, if you've gotten the two biggest foreign policy issues of our lifetime, Iraq and Gaza, both wrong?" Matthew Yglesias: "I don't know, what does it mean to get Gaza right?" New clip: zeteo.com/p/matt-yglesias-me…
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Precisely- there isn't even a second of humanity, not even a pause or expression of horror at what's being discussed. Nothing but strategy. Shocking but not surprising.
How much do you have to hate Palestinians that after he was asked about children being executed and dogs eating Palestinian corpses. he says the problem is that Netanyahu does not have a political endgame
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Always remember what MLK said about the greatest threat to peace being the white moderate. The complete moral depravity from Yglesias here isn't just infuriating, it's heartbreakingly sad. And the depravity gets worse when @mehdirhasan presses him about Gaza.
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Yggy is the Elizabeth Holmes of punditry. every day he wakes up is a do-over for him and he fundamentally doesn't accept that he needs to be held accountable for anything he's said or done before. it's a level of mendacity & self-belief you can't really break through
Hasan: "What does it say for your credibility on foreign policy issues if you've got the two biggest foreign policy issues of our lifetime, Iraq and Gaza, both wrong?" Yglesias: "I don't know that those were the two biggest foreign policy issues of our lifetime..."
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This is just....
Hasan: "What does it say for your credibility on foreign policy issues if you've got the two biggest foreign policy issues of our lifetime, Iraq and Gaza, both wrong?" Yglesias: "I don't know that those were the two biggest foreign policy issues of our lifetime..."
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The way @mehdirhasan just absolutely takes apart the bad faith arguments of Yglesias on every front one after another here I just really really wish that Mehdi knew more about teacher evaluation so he could back him into the same corner there!
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I don’t know maybe: - invest in and renovate public schools - expand hours at rec centers - expand access to early childhood ed - invest in Main St programs that support small businesses - build bike lanes & increase metro frequency. Those all help the kind of person he describes.
Replying to @mattyglesias
I would sincerely love our Council to take a minute to imagine a person who lives in DC, has a job, is a net fiscal contributor, and doesn't commit crimes. What have you done over the past year to improve the life of someone like that? What will you do next year?
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No matter the cost. We must take down, restore and fix almost everything Trump has done or is doing to DC. Restore Hains Point, replace the ballroom, restore the Kennedy Center, remove gold from the Oval Office, restore the rose garden, tear down arch if built etc.
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Yeah... the truth is there is a very loud crowd like him that is much more inspired by and driven by scoring points against the left and portraying themselves as the reasonable grown ups than achieving good political & policy outcomes for working people so it's not a surprise.
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OMG one the greatest debater of all time debated Yglesias? I'm very excited.
Matt Yglesias's debate with @mehdirhasan isn't even out yet, and Yglesias is already doing damage control.
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Same. Perfectly happy to have them lowered if it's good policy that will lower everyone else's bills. My only skepticism is whether those savings will actually get passed on?
SRECs have already paid for about 2/3 of the $30k solar system I bought in 2022. I personally benefit from this policy but it is clearly insane. I remember the glee when our solar guy described how it all works in DC...
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Important new piece on literacy rom @AllisterSBOE. Teachers #1 ask from the beginning was to prioritize training school leaders + coaches bc if teachers get trained but their leaders aren't, they won't be aligned about good practice. Well...look what's happened. #ListenToTeachers allisterchang.substack.com/p…
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We repeatedly heard from educators who did get trained that sometimes those evaluating them weren't and so they would tell teachers they were doing it wrong even when the teachers were the ones up to date on best pedagogical practice! Also...
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How the heck are we doing this in the form of a module that you can just click through? You want high quality reading instruction? Prioritize it! Give educators the time off in rotation to take a quality in-person, hands-on training. And give them time to observe other great teachers who do it well!
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