Dear Freedom Writer: Stories of Hardship and Hope from the Next Generation

For 20 years, the Freedom Writers Foundation has mitigated student dropout rates by reproducing the Freedom Writers’ experience in schools around the world. The Foundation’s mission is to provide educators with tools to empower all students to succeed. Our core programs include Training, Outreach, Scholarship, and Curriculum.

At ERN, we staunchly believe every child is entitled to a high-quality public education. We seek to create progressive education at both the federal and state level that will guarantee a quality public education to all students, especially those previously denied that right. We advocate for policies that will empower all students—particularly students of color, students from low-income backgrounds and other historically underserved students—to reach their limitless potential.

From its inception, our nation’s public education system has been rooted in inequity, spanning lines of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, native language, zip code, and disability. For generations, our nation has distributed educational opportunity in discriminatory ways that rendered the American Dream illusory for too many children. While progress has been made, we continue to see the destructive consequences of systemic racism and discrimination within our education system.

ERN seeks to reverse these conditions and create a world where all American students—especially students of color and those mired in poverty—have access to quality schools that enable them to reach their fullest potential.