I write about schools, cities, books, and books about schools and cities. I also teach in a school in a city. Jersey City is home. Doctorate in teacher education; fiction writer. Recent writing at carlyberwick.com.https://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3muhjif5abs2gGreat interview with Carla Ferreira, beyond the usual teacher hagiography. Q&A: Teacher of the Year creates safe zone amid ‘culture of fear' https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/09/qa-teacher-of-the-year-creates-safe-zone-amid-culture-of-fear/01 Sep 2026 13:26 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhjif5abs2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mthkxnth3k2sIt’s performatively offer to clear teacher wish list season. Teacher wish lists aren’t necessary in well funded districts with empowered principals who make sure to ask teachers what they need in the spring.19 Aug 2026 20:27 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mthkxnth3k2shttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mseawiou2c2sNew article by Musoke, Frohwirth, & Gould details how to do social media surveillance/social listening as public health strategy, with methods implications for education and other fields. (It also cites one of my articles as a novel method of data collection). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1609406926146449805 Aug 2026 19:24 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mseawiou2c2shttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mrhl2qzf2k2lCutting a proposal to get it under word count; someone says, just use AI, and I say, but this is one of the few things I am good at, and then realized that maybe soon being a writer and editor will be like a blacksmith or candle maker—a quaint skill trotted out as spectacle or bespoke service.25 Jul 2026 09:38 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrhl2qzf2k2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mraytryrys2o"They open the StudySync software program, which shows them each a series of questions tailored to their weaknesses. Their faces look like they’re being marched to the guillotine." https://www.wired.com/story/mississippi-state-testing-reading-comprehension-literacy/22 Jul 2026 18:56 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mraytryrys2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mra3kb4et22wNever forget when comparing salaries, teachers' wages are depressed 27 percent relative to other college graduates, let alone masters' holders as 3 states require. (Some of us even have doctorates.) In NJ, it's only a 12.7 percent penalty, the second least bad in the US. https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-penalty-reached-a-record-high-in-2024-three-decades-of-leaving-public-school-teachers-behind/22 Jul 2026 10:12 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mra3kb4et22whttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mr7v2cbuus2jWhen teachers use AI in the classroom, engagement and trust go down. This study looked at 4500 grade 6-12 students and used a control group of no AI-tool or training. Students rated AI-assisted classrooms as "less enjoyable, less interesting, and less important." https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=700733922 Jul 2026 08:16 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr7v2cbuus2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mr7to6evuc2lAs if Susan Choi wrote this—flashlights even feature, despite the publication of the 2023 escape itself being too late to be the inspiration for her 2025 novel, Flashlight: A Family’s Daring Escape From North Korea ‘to Live and Stand Tall’ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/world/asia/south-korea-family-defection-escape.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zlA.Szn_.BgN7zDJjrHbP&smid=nytcore-ios-share22 Jul 2026 07:51 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr7to6evuc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mmrhzde7vk2mThis is why NJ school budgets are a mess this year. Healthcare costs soaring due in part to federal gutting of ACA, reimbursement of brand name GLPs and bad state policy Op-Ed: NJ is capable of fixing public workforce health benefits crisis https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/05/op-ed-nj-is-capable-of-fixing-public-workforce-health-benefits-crisis/26 May 2026 17:04 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmrhzde7vk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mmhclourp226All verklempt to have a story in this issue of @kenyonreview.bsky.social alongside so many tremendous writers [contains quote post or other embedded content]22 May 2026 16:01 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmhclourp226https://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mlnukwkcck2aComments section in here a real mess. NYT readers have thoughts about the superior choices afforded by white flight and the welcome "right-sizing" of teaching staff in schools w/ fewer immigrants. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/upshot/public-schools-enrollment-crisis.html12 May 2026 13:13 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlnukwkcck2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mkut5bzhfk2sThe end of Hacks, episode 4, season 5 was great. To avoid spoilers, let me just leave this here, and we can join the abolitionist impulse: www.nationalbailout.org/giftguide https://www.nationalbailout.org/giftguide02 May 2026 14:11 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkut5bzhfk2shttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3milylaqaqk2tWhat is a good or effective school? Research by @owasow.bsky.social and @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social suggests the "veiled capacity" of educators to teach through oppressive systems can remake society. [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Apr 2026 15:04 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3milylaqaqk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mgn7n7oo3k2zGreat op-ed on the STEM teacher pipeline and the importance of opportunities to connect with colleagues, by Montclair State student Kira Paul https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/03/op-ed-the-stem-teachers-pipeline-is-waning-we-can-rebuild-it/09 Mar 2026 15:53 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgn7n7oo3k2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mfoqmsvjpc2ihttps://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/student-outcomes-take-a-hit-when-immigration-enforcement-ramps-up25 Feb 2026 13:04 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfoqmsvjpc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mfk4wdhwgc2hThis is the plot of Samanta Schweblin’s Little Eyes. Fiction writers see the patterns and possibility first. [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Feb 2026 17:01 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfk4wdhwgc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mfire6umr22k5 women authors I’ve read at least 5 books by: Toni Morrison Agatha Christie Deborah Levy NK Jemisin Jane Austen [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Feb 2026 04:01 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfire6umr22khttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mdoncfhwxs2xNew paper on AI as carceral in schools: Tanksley and Cabral "consider how the proliferation of AI technologies into K-12 schools has worked to hide, speed up, and automate educational inequities for Black students, giving rise to a techno-educational carceral apparatus": https://www.mdpi.com/2673-995X/6/1/1231 Jan 2026 01:14 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdoncfhwxs2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mdm2ih3rxc2dReport: In Some Urban Districts, Science of Reading Limits ‘Robust Comprehension’ https://www.the74million.org/article/report-in-some-urban-districts-science-of-reading-limits-robust-comprehension/30 Jan 2026 00:32 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdm2ih3rxc2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mdazjy6lhc2tFunded social science and education PhDs at University of Vienna, deadline 3/2/26. Great opportunity to get paid to do research in another country. #edusky #teaching https://www.researchgate.net/job/1034778_Social_Sciences_Education_Social_Research-Doctoral_Positions_SSH_Call_202625 Jan 2026 15:16 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdazjy6lhc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mc7yzix3vk2tLibrarians not only improve learning but also help students with media literacy—a critical skill today. In their absence, this skill falls to the English teacher already pressed to help kids read fluently and write across disciplines. https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026/01/09/school-library-data-shows-lack-of-school-librarians/12 Jan 2026 12:09 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mc7yzix3vk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mbfkyr5yjs27This graphic reminds me of artist Marc Lombardi's mapping of Bush-era entanglements; Trump's grift has exponentially magnified what were once "webs of scandal": https://curatorsintl.org/exhibitions/8953-mark-lombardi-global-networks [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Jan 2026 23:49 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbfkyr5yjs27https://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3mb3o5njjzc2bHonored to be nominated for a Pushcart by @terrainorg.bsky.social for my story “Sea Minks” https://www.terrain.org/2025/fiction/sea-minks/ [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Dec 2025 01:19 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mb3o5njjzc2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/cberwick.bsky.social/post/3maesdcrby22dDid annual cocoa house reading with students—everyone reads an excerpt from their work while I make hot cocoa or tea. Students said it felt weird and disrespectful . . . to have the teacher serve them. So they took tea&cocoa orders and mixed the cocoa for their peers. (I manned boiling water fwiw.)19 Dec 2025 23:02 +0000at://did:plc:i6h4ddpjp4267d2dlxux7bb3/app.bsky.feed.post/3maesdcrby22d