Popular Bookmarks
Your Uncategorized Bookmarks Your Bookmark Collections

Maureen
Costello

Maureen Costello, retired director of Teaching Tolerance, has been a teacher and educational leader for over 40 years. After joining TT in 2010, she grew the program significantly, adding a number of new initiatives: the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching; the Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards; the Teaching the Movement project; Teaching Hard History: American Slavery; in-person professional development activities; and the Educator Grants program supporting anti-bias programming in classrooms, schools and districts. Under Costello’s leadership, Teaching Tolerance magazine went from two to three issues a year and garnered dozens of awards, including the AAP’s Golden Lamp Award. She wrote two groundbreaking reports on the impact of the 2016 campaign and election on American schools, and she helped name the phenomenon “The Trump Effect.” She also held a lead role in the production of the student-friendly documentaries Bullied and Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot. 

Before joining the Southern Poverty Law Center, Costello worked for Scholastic, Inc. and directed the Newsweek Education Program. She began her career as a history and economics teacher at Notre Dame Academy High School in Staten Island. Throughout her career, Costello has been committed to fostering the ideals of democracy and citizenship in young people. She is a graduate of the New School University and the New York University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. In retirement, she continues to write and speak on education issues. She lives in Montgomery, Alabama. 

Sign in to save these resources.

Login or create an account to save resources to your bookmark collection.

LOGIN CREATE ACCOUNT

Articles by Maureen

The Price of Pilgrimage

For people who complain about a “war on Christmas,” here’s a reality check. If you’re Christian in the United States, you can generally practice your religion without constraint. Assuming you don’t force your faith on others, being devout is not likely to cost you your job.
Maureen Costello

I Heard the News Today, Oh Boy

Thirty years ago, I heard the news that John Lennon had been shot. Every year since, the morning news on NPR reminds me again of that day. I was a young, second-year teacher then, with four sections of grade nine “World Cultures” and one section of A.P. United States history. Mine was a Catholic school, and we’d had Monday, December 8 off because it was a holy day, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Maureen Costello

What To Do About the Civil War?

The Teaching Tolerance team had a confab earlier this week to plan ahead. Looking at a 2011 calendar, Sean Price, Teaching Tolerance’s managing editor, reminded me that the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War was fast approaching. Did we want to do something? My first response? Frankly, no. As a former U.S. history teacher, I suspected that the next four years will present an unending opportunity mainly for military history buffs to strut their stuff. We would, I suggested to Sean, better serve teachers by focusing on the themes that spoke to racial justice.
Maureen Costello

How Not To Deal With Bullies

The news today brought yet another tragic story of a teen suicide related to bullying. The world lost a promising young man who had seen his share of teasing—like the time he’d dyed his hair pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But this time, he was on the other side of the equation. He was the bully. Along with two other boys, he stood accused by his elite prep school of harassing a fellow student because of that student’s sexual orientation. The school sent the boy home and pressured him to withdraw rather than face expulsion.
Maureen Costello

Bullying is a Civil Rights Issue

Kudos to the U.S. Department of Education for making such a strong case in this week's Dear Colleague Letter that bullying is a matter of civil rights. The DOE rightly reframed the issue of bullying in schools as one of institutional responsibility—one that can get schools into serious legal trouble if ignored. Among other things, the letter says “some student misconduct that falls under a school’s anti-bullying policy also may trigger responsibilities under one or more of the federal antidiscrimination laws.”
Maureen Costello
x
A map of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi with overlaid images of key state symbols and of people in community

Learning for Justice in the South

When it comes to investing in racial justice in education, we believe that the South is the best place to start. If you’re an educator, parent or caregiver, or community member living and working in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana or Mississippi, we’ll mail you a free introductory package of our resources when you join our community and subscribe to our magazine.

Learn More