Erika M. Kitzmiller’s public writing explores education policy, school reform, educational inequality, democratic education, and public institutions. Her commentary has appeared in outlets including The Washington Post, Time, Reuters, The Hechinger Report, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, bringing historical perspective and policy analysis to contemporary debates about schools, equity, and institutional change.
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Featured Commentary
Kitzmiller, Erika M. “Education Decisions Aren’t Inevitable, They are Rooted in History,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 24, 2026. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. and Akira Drake Rodriguez. “The link between educational inequality and infrastructure,” The Washington Post, August 6, 2021. Link.
Rodriguez, Akira Drake, Erika M. Kitzmiller, and Daniel Aldana Cohen. “Now is our chance to rebuild U.S. public schools to address both climate change and racial inequality,” Time, July 30, 2021. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. “What elite universities can learn from Alexander Hamilton,” Reuters, June 2, 2016. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. “Pennsylvania’s school funding is a case study in the future of inequality,” The Hechinger Report, January 10, 2022. Link.
Education Policy & Public Scholarship
Kitzmiller, Erika M. and Adele Bruni Ashley. “Remaining Silent is a Political Act,” The Hechinger Report, November 8, 2018. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. “Donald Trump and teaching in a democracy: Where did we go wrong?,” The Hechinger Report, November 10, 2016. Link.Kitzmiller, Erika M. “The next step in school funding: a rural-urban coalition to achieve educational equity,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, March 3, 2023. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. and Akira Drake Rodriguez. “The Racialized History of Philadelphia’s Toxic Public Schools,” The Metropole, January 13, 2022. Link.
Domers, Ted and Erika M. Kitzmiller. “Students as Collaborators in Research-Practice Partnerships: A commentary on the April 2021 issue,” Phi Delta Kappan, May 3, 2021. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. and Lauren Overton. “As Children Develop Their Gender Identities, Educators and Families Must Support Them,” Barnard Top 5, June 1, 2021. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. “Re-opening Schools Isn’t Worth the Risk,” New York Daily News, July 19, 2020. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. “Public Schools, Private Funding: An Arms Race,” Phi Kappa Phi Forum, Spring 2019. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. “More than a Bake Sale: Private Funding for Public Schools,” Teachers College Record, Commentary, February 9, 2015.
Rodriguez, Akira Drake and Erika M. Kitzmiller. “We have a lot to learn from teachers’ unions,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 10, 2022. Link.
Rodriguez, Akira Drake and Erika M. Kitzmiller. “Philly’s School District is Halting Reopenings. It Should’ve Listened to Teachers Earlier,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 11, 2020. Link.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. “Philadelphia to Corporate Ed Reformers: No Contract, No Peace,” Dissent, November 1, 2014. Link.
Historical & Community Writing
Kitzmiller, Erika M. and Deborah Grill. “Mourning the Loss of Germantown High School,” The Crier, Summer 2014.
Kitzmiller, Erika M. “‘Making Jewels out of Rough Diamonds’: Memories of the Wissahickon Boys Club,” The Crier, Fall 2011.
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Erika speaks on school reform, educational equity, first-generation college success, and public institutions.