Linda is a veteran award-winning journalist and author who specializes in writing about separation of church and state issues in public schools. Known for digging deep into her topics with an investigative flair, she has produced long-form journalism for major publications as well as commentary. See some of her favorite as well as more recent articles below.
Trump Wants Prayer Back in Schools. Boston Has a Cautionary Tale
January 11, 2026
President Trump wants to restore prayer to schools, but history shows prayer and schools are incompatible. I give readers a taste of that history in a Boston Globe Magazine Perspective commentary. Read it
A Look at Supreme Court’s Ruling on Football Coach’s Mid-Field Prayer
July 7, 2022
I give my take on the June Supreme Court Ruling about the football coach’s mid-field prayer in a Boston Globe Magazine Perspective commentary. What will this ruling mean for schools? What will it mean for religious minorities and atheists? Read it
A Family’s Journey from a School Prayer Dispute to the Supreme Court
June 20, 2022
I did a 30th-year anniversary article for The Washington Post about the Lee v. Weisman Supreme Court ruling, which prohibited clergy-led prayer at public school graduations. It’s a narrative about the Weisman family’s battle against Providence schools, a fight that began softly with a hallway conversation and letter. Read it.
An Invisible Tax on Teachers of Color
April 4, 2021
In this Boston Globe Magazine cover story, I profile veteran Brookline High School teacher Malcolm Cawthorne, also the head of the school’s METCO program when this piece was published. Malcolm tells a much bigger story — what it’s like to be among the few Black teachers in a predominantly white, yet increasingly diverse school, as schools are suddenly more eager than ever to teach and talk about race and racism. Read it.
Teaching about the ‘Alt-Right’
April 4, 2017
In the 2016-17 school year, I was shadowing a pair of Brookline High School teachers for a longer project on their class about race. Over a few classes, they taught about the ‘alt-right movement’ and how it has become better known due to the 2016 election of Donald Trump. But how common is it to teach such a controversial topic? My story in the Atlantic looks at how it is taught and who is willing to teach it. Read it.
Students and the Middle East Conflict
Aug. 3, 2016
A look at how Tufts University is trying to respond to tension over the Middle East on its campus. This story ran in Education Life, a New York Times education section. Read it.
A Test of Faith: One School’s Determination to Stand by Its Religion Curriculum
During the latter half of the 2010-11 school year, I shadowed a sixth-grade Wellesley Middle School class as students learned about world religions. The class had been under scrutiny because of a past field trip to a mosque, where a handful of boys ended up praying. Read it.
Son Teaches Mom How to Be a Jew at Christmas
Dec. 7, 2012
The New York Times Motherlode blog posted an essay of mine about a common dilemma for Jewish parents or parents of any children who are not in the Christian majority. How do we teach our children to be proud of their religious identity and customs, yet still respect the traditions of others? Read it
In this literary essay, I chronicle how being the only Jews in public school bonded my brother and me. This piece was published in March 2012 in Tiferet Journal’s Fifth Bridge edition, a collection of winning essays from the publication’s 2011 contest. Read it