Former United States Education Secretary John B. King’s powerful memoir Teacher by Teacher: The People Who Change Our Lives looks closely at how dedicated educators transformed his life and how we can reshape America’s education system to offer that same lifeline to every student.
King lost both his parents by the age of 12 and was expelled from high school. Yet he went on to earn degrees from Harvard, Yale, and Columbia, becoming the first Black and Puerto Rican Education Commissioner of New York State before joining President Obama’s cabinet as U.S. Secretary of Education. In this complicated time when the educational system in this country is being heavily scrutinized and under attack, King gives us reason to believe that educators are capable of changing every child’s life.
Our spring season comes to a close with this uplifting and deeply relevant talk where King will be joined by Van Lathan, popular co-host of the podcast Higher Learning.
This event is presented in partnership with Reparations Club.
John B. King Jr. served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet as the tenth U.S. Secretary of Education. Over the course of his extensive and influential career in public education, he has been a high school social studies teacher, a middle school principal, the first African American and Puerto Rican to serve as New York State Education Commissioner, a college professor, and the president and CEO of the Education Trust, a national education civil rights organization. King is currently the chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), the nation’s largest comprehensive system of public higher education. Both of King’s parents were career New York City public school educators. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, an education researcher and former teacher, and his two daughters.
Van Lathan Jr. is the cohost of The Ringer’s Higher Learning podcast and is best known as a former cohost and senior producer on TMZ Live. He is the Executive Producer for Two Distant Strangers, the 2021 Academy Award Winner for Best Live Action Short Film. He lives in Los Angeles.
