Hi! I’m Laura McKenna, an education writer with bylines in The Atlantic, Yahoo, HuffPost, USA Today, Edutopia, The 74, and a bunch of other places. I’m also a blogger with 20 years of experience, a parent, and really lazy runner.
In my former lives, I was a political science college professor with a speciality in education policy, a special ed teacher in the South Bronx, and a secretary in a solenoid valve factory.
I am currently running for school board for my town, but I don’t write about that here.
I am currently running three substack newsletters:
Apt. 11D - This newsletter is an extension of my long-running blog, named after my old apartment in New York City. This is my place to write about general pieces politics, family, kids, and life in the suburbs. It’s random and free and undisciplined.
The Great Leap - This is a niche newsletter aimed at the special education community. This past year, I’ve spent countless hours preparing my autistic son for life after high school. Nobody prepares you for what’s waiting after high school, if you’re a parent of a special needs kid. But I’ll tell all.
The Educated Parent - This newsletter is aimed at helping parents become better advocates for their kid and all kids. Every Monday, this newsletter will provide an “explainer” on one hot topic. I’ll decipher the latest academic research and bust through edu-speak to provide real answers and context on topics that parents care about.
You can find me on twitter and instagram. My email is lmckenna11 at gmail.com.
My personal blog (which has been going since 2004) is called Apt. 11D. My work website is here.
