*Nikole Hannah-Jones is facing criticism after revealing the consequences of deliberately sending her daughter to struggling, predominantly Black public schools in Brooklyn.
The New York Times journalist and 1619 Project creator revisited the decision in a deeply personal essay published Sunday. The New York Post detailed the criticism that followed.
Hannah-Jones and her husband enrolled their daughter, Najya, at P.S. 307 in 2015. Hannah-Jones said they hoped their family’s resources and involvement could help challenge educational inequality.
“I did not, when we chose P.S. 307, go into this with naïveté,” Hannah-Jones wrote. “I understood exactly what we would face.”
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Years later, Najya confronted her mother after researching her school’s academic performance.
“Did you know my school was bad like this when you decided to put me here?” Najya asked, according to Hannah-Jones’ New York Times Magazine essay.
Najya later challenged the family’s decision more directly.
“So you had money to send me to one of the best schools, and you chose not to?” she asked. “Because other kids are disadvantaged, you didn’t want to put me in a great school?”
The consequences became clearer when Najya entered a more academically demanding high school. An assessment found significant gaps in her math education, including algebra and foundational skills.
Hannah-Jones eventually enrolled her daughter in intensive tutoring. Najya improved quickly and earned nearly all A’s and B’s by the end of her first semester. The experience also forced Hannah-Jones to reconsider a decision she had defended publicly for years.
Hannah-Jones’ account drew criticism from those who questioned why she knowingly placed her daughter in a struggling school.
“To purposefully subject your children to this environment distills progressivism to its core, and is the same reason blue cities are full of homelessness and crime,” author Evan Barker said, according to the New York Post. “They truly believe antisocial behavior is ok, and to enforce any kind of rules is oppressive.”
The experience also forced Hannah-Jones to reconsider a decision she had defended publicly for years.
“When it comes to the choices my husband and I have made about public education, these days I feel that I failed both my values and my child,” she wrote.
Hannah-Jones later apologized directly to Najya. “I feel like you got cheated,” she told her. “And I’m sorry for that.”
Najya, now 16, also acknowledged benefits from attending predominantly Black schools, including developing a strong sense of racial identity. Still, she told her mother, “I never really got the education I wanted.”
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