This research and advocacy project explores the role of social class and economic inequality in the lives and work of New York City elementary school teachers. Although economic inequality appears daily in the work of teaching, many of the educators in this project are attempting for the first time to create classroom spaces where young children can share and learn about the historical and contemporary materializations of class-based inequality and discrimination.

This work honors the childhood memories of our teachers, both beginning and experienced, and draws upon their pedagogical wisdom and knowledge on economic inequality, as well as their commitment to the young children and families with whom they learn and teach.

Here you can find scholarly research-based articles, teacher-facing pieces, short films of elementary school classrooms, and a library of resources. The hope is this site encourages future research, curricular support, and more spaces for teachers to dream what is possible when facing economic inequality head-on through classroom teaching.

This work has been a collaborative effort with teachers, professors, students, and a team of research assistants, including Dr. Karen Zaino, Dr. Eve Herold, and Francine Almash, and is supported by the generosity of the following organizations. Films were produced with Marilena Marchetti at Portico Films. The Principal Investigator is Debbie Sonu, Professor in the School of Education at Hunter College, City University of New York. Her CV can be found here.