• Achievement gap
• Charter schools
• Grading
• Politics
• Poverty
• Race and diversity
• Reading and literacy
• School choice
• Teacher quality
• Writing

P.L. Thomas is a professor of education at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. He previously taught high school English in rural South Carolina before moving to teacher education. He is a column editor for the National Council of Teachers of English’s English Journal and the series editor for “Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres” (Sense Publishers). NCTE named Thomas the 2013 George Orwell Award winner. Recent edited volumes include “James Baldwin: Challenging Authors” and “Becoming and Being a Teacher.” His teaching and scholarship focus on literacy and the impact of poverty on education, as well as confronting the political dynamics influencing public education in the U.S.