# Hannah-Jones Sent Her Daughter to Segregated Schools to Prove a Point

- URL: https://twotakes.us/stories/hannah-jones-sent-her-daughter-to-segregated-schools-to-prove-a-point
- Published: 2026-09-26T13:07:25.621591+00:00
- Topics: education, school-choice, segregation, race, nikole-hannah-jones

## What the left says
- Hannah-Jones made a deliberate, well-researched choice to invest in a struggling public school as an act of solidarity, believing that systemic change requires families with resources to stay and fight rather than opt out.
- The essay is a rare act of public self-reflection about the painful tension between idealism and parental duty, not a simple confession of wrongdoing.
- Blaming her individually deflects from the real culprit: decades of underfunding, segregation, and disinvestment in schools serving Black and low-income students.
- Her daughter's struggles illustrate a systemic failure that affects thousands of children whose parents cannot write op-eds about it, making the story bigger than one family's choice.

## What the right says
- A parent's first obligation is to their own child's education and future, not to a political or ideological experiment, however well-intentioned.
- The essay reveals that the school Hannah-Jones chose left her daughter with real academic gaps, particularly in math, undercutting claims that ideology alone can overcome poor school quality.
- The same school used Hannah-Jones's own 1619 Project curriculum, raising questions about whether ideological priorities crowded out foundational academics.
- Families who choose selective, higher-performing, or private schools for their children are exercising reasonable judgment, not perpetuating injustice, and shouldn't be shamed for seeking excellence.

## Common ground
- Hannah-Jones's daughter attended a predominantly Black, high-poverty public school in Brooklyn before later transferring to a selective specialized high school.
- The essay, published in The New York Times Magazine, describes real academic struggles the daughter faced, including gaps in math preparedness compared to peers.
- Both sides agree that underfunded, underperforming schools remain a serious problem affecting many children's educational outcomes.
- Parents across the political spectrum want their children to receive a strong education and grapple with hard tradeoffs in choosing schools.

## Sources
- [Daily Wire](https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-my-family-chose-excellence-over-nikole-hannah-joness-experiment) (Right)
- [AllSides](https://www.allsides.com/news/2026-09-23-0700/education-wanting-best-school-your-kid-doesnt-make-you-hypocrite) (Center)
- [AllSides](https://www.allsides.com/news/2026-09-23-0700/education-im-nyc-dad-heres-what-nikole-hannah-jones-got-so-wrong-about-our-public-schools) (Center)
- [National Review](https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/09/nikole-hannah-joness-daughter-is-not-the-only-victim/) (Lean Right)
- [Salon](https://www.salon.com/2026/09/23/wanting-the-best-school-for-your-kid-doesnt-make-you-a-hypocrite/) (Left)
- [RealClearPolitics](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2026/09/25/nikole_hannah-jones_is_a_good_mom_with_bad_theory_712065.html) (Center)
- [The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/09/hannah-jones-school-choice-response/688758/?utm_source=feed) (Lean Left)
- [The Federalist](https://thefederalist.com/2026/09/23/the-failing-school-where-nikole-hannah-jones-sent-her-daughter-used-the-1619-project/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-failing-school-where-nikole-hannah-jones-sent-her-daughter-used-the-1619-project) (Right)
- [AllSides](https://www.allsides.com/news/2026-09-23-0700/education-nikole-hannah-jones-experiment-accidentally-undercuts-her-case-against-school-choice) (Center)

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