It’s back-to-school time, with excitement mixed with uncertainty and anxiety. News from the Department of Education is primarily about cutting its budget or eliminating the department altogether. How will these and other proposed changes affect students? Will the traditionally underserved be short-changed and fall further behind?

James E. Ford, a former teacher of the year in North Carolina, is founding executive director of the Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED), a stand-alone nonprofit that deals explicitly with race and education issues in the state. He is also principal consultant at Filling the Gap Educational Consultants. Ford and his organizations have been working on solutions to education challenges the nation faces, and he is this month’s guest on Equal Time.