I became active in education advocacy and policy in 2004 when mayoral control replaced community school boards and closed district offices, affecting the ways families could access schools in my neighborhood the LES and East Village. 

My two children attended public school from pre-k through MS/HS respectively and I saw first hand how our schools became more stratified by race, class and academics. The quality of education was diminished citywide as testing replaced the curriculum, community was removed from decision making and all levers of power were centralized in the bureaucracy.

I have found the vocabulary, tools and

kindred spirits at Teachers Unite to begin to realize the kinds of transformations educators, parents and youth need to make in our school communities. Teachers Unite models thoughtful, accountable organizing, leadership, training, strategic alliances and collective actions. 

TU Board member Lisa Donlan educates our design team about parent governance in schools for our Schools Are Us poster project

TU's focus on collaboration, democracy, membership-driven social justice and human rights issue-based campaigns and actions offer support for creating, together, the schools our city deserves.

Lisa speaks with Bed-Stuy parents as part of Teachers Unite's presentation at the Brooklyn Movement Center.

Our members are not only speaking out, they are acting out!

• They help schools organize Restorative Justice Teams.

• They collaborate with youth organizations to change the city's School Discipline Code.

• They produce media and resources that envision a humanistic approach to student discipline.

• They transform their own school cultures and advocate to the DOE and UFT for help with doing so.