In this presentation, Dr. Royal shares the research from her book, Not Paved for Us: Black Educators and Public School Reform in Philadelphia (Harvard University Press 2022), which highlights the experiences of Black educators, as they navigate the racial and cultural politics of urban school reform. Ultimately, Royal names, dissects, and challenges the presence of racism in school reform policies and practices while calling for an anti-racist future. Royal chronicles a fifty-year period in Philadelphia education, and offers a critical look at how school reform efforts do and do not transform outcomes for Black students and educators. Royal interrogates the history of education and educational reforms, recounting city, state, and federal interventions.