Call me radical, or just call me plain crazy, or even an idealist, but I believe the missing ingredient in public education reform is love. And compassion. And gratitude.

Please, let me explain.

Love has many definitions. As a noun, it can mean “deep affection, warmth, adoration” or “enjoyment, appreciation, passion”, or “compassion, caring, kindness”.  As a verb, love can be defined with words like “adore, delight in, and hold very dear.”

Look over that list above again. Is there one word up there—just one—that if applied to the everyday world of public education, wouldn’t make our schools a better place for our students and teachers?

As a 15-year veteran teacher, professor, and education activist, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since releasing my book: Breaking the Silence: My Final Forty Days as a Public School Teacher, in August 2014. The very incident that inspired me to start speaking about the flaws in public schools was a sexual misconduct charge brought forth by my principal.

The crime? Embracing the students in a group hug, much like a team huddle, after a high-stakes ELA test. Thankfully, the charge was dismissed, but that incident opened my eyes, even more, to the lack of love, compassion, and gratitude many teachers, students, and parents face day-in and day-out in our public schools.

When a teacher can’t hug a student, or a group of students, we have a problem in this country.

When a principal could potentially ruin a career and life, of a teacher who wants nothing more than the very best for her students, we have a problem in this country.

When a school board can investigate a teacher for over a year, traveling around New York City, trying to gather statements from students and teachers (with tax payer dollars!), and the teacher has no idea that this investigation is even happening, we have a problem in this country.

And this, my fellow teachers, parents, and administrators, is only the beginning…

My student teachers at Brooklyn College spent weeks preparing for their first round of parent-teacher conferences. As teachers, we know how important it is to make contact with families, have quality discussions about students’ successes and progress, and create an environment on parent-teacher night where students and families feel welcome and at ease.

As the student teachers filed into class on a Thursday, following conference night, we held a discussion about their first conferencing experience. I learned that many of my teachers didn’t leave the building until well after 10 p.m. The reason? They are grades 7-12 science teachers who have been given class loads of well over 160 students each. The administration failed to recognize that conferencing for this many students would take so long. But even worse than this, were the student teachers who shared with the class that they were allotted 5 minutes per parent. Yes, you read that correctly, 5 minutes.

I listened to their stories with heartache and anger, wondering a few things:

First, it’s poor planning to have teachers teach all day, then conference until 10 p.m., then return to the classroom the next day to teach, at 8 a.m.  Not only is it poor planning, I’d go so far to say that it is rude, inconsiderate, and most definitely breaks some sort of labor law, I’m sure.

Second, why even hold parent-teacher conferences if families get 5 minutes? What’s the value in that for teachers, students, or parents? What kind of relationship can be forged with families in 5 minutes? What message are we sending to parents when they get merely 5 minutes of face-to-face time with their teachers?

Third, where is the love, compassion, and gratitude in our public schools?

The two events above, “the hugging incident” and the shocked student teachers trying to process and digest the horror of those parent-teacher conference nights, led me to begin thinking about changing schools—at the very local level—by focusing on policies, instruction, and relationships rooted solely in love, compassion, and gratitude. These incidents also reminded me that educators have such powerful perspectives, knowledge, and insight as to what would make our schools a better place, if only we were asked.

I decided to take action and start talking about my radical idea of changing education through compassion, love, and gratitude. I conduced surveys of students, parents, teachers, and administrators, asking them, What would make our schools a more loving and compassionate  environment? The answers I received will shock you, inspire you, and give you new ways to think about the educational experience—both from the students’ and teachers’ points of view.

I invite you to join me and listen in to the Transforming Public Education Podcast. This is a weekly show which highlights all the wonderful things happening in public schools. It is a place where educators, parents, and students have a voice in what is working in our schools—and what isn’t. It is a show about public education which is rooted in solutions, inspiration, and above all, compassion and love.

The goal of the podcast is simple: To give teachers, parents, administrators, and students a voice—and to help transform schools into places where students and teachers can’t wait to get their days started. I do hope you will take a listen to the show—and if you’d like to be a guest, please reach out to me via email.