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Hannah-Jones Details Daughter’s Struggles With Brooklyn Public School

By Drooid · Sep 30, 2026, 3:21 AM UTC · How we work

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Limited academic growth

Nikole Hannah-Jones published a New York Times Magazine essay about her daughter Najya’s years at a low-performing Brooklyn public school.
The choice was made to invest in her community and expose systemic inequities and de facto segregation in New York City’s public-education system.
Najya, now 16, says the decision limited her academic growth.
Later she transferred to a selective-admission magnet high school and received private tutoring to catch up.

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Parents Over Ideology

Nikole Hannah-Jones published a New York Times Magazine essay describing her daughter Najya’s experience at a low-performing Brooklyn public school.
Heritage Foundation fellow Corey DeAngelis argued parents should put children’s education ahead of ideological experiments, echoing Hannah-Jones’s regret about her earlier school-choice.
Najya told This American Life she would not have succeeded staying at the Brooklyn school.
Hannah-Jones said she cringed internally when Najya listed schools with few Black students.

History

Historical Context

After Brown v. Board of Education declared segregated schools unconstitutional in 1954, courts pressed for concrete remedies; Green v. New Kent County (1968) rejected “freedom-of-choice” plans, and the 1971 Swann decision authorized busing to achieve racial balance, moving about 30,000 students each year in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The ruling still shapes today’s debates over magnet programs and school-choice policies.

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Limited academic growth

Nikole Hannah-Jones published a New York Times Magazine essay about her daughter Najya’s years at a low-performing Brooklyn public school.
The choice was made to invest in her community and expose systemic inequities and de facto segregation in New York City’s public-education system.
Najya, now 16, says the decision limited her academic growth.
Later she transferred to a selective-admission magnet high school and received private tutoring to catch up.

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