Rethinking Schools
Rethinking Schools is a Milwaukee-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1986 that publishes a quarterly social-justice education magazine (Volume 40) and a catalog of equity-focused pedagogy books for K-12 educators, teacher educators, and schools through subscriptions, book sales, and institutional site licenses.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1986
- HeadquartersMilwaukee, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Rethinking Schools does
Rethinking Schools is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization founded in 1986 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that produces a quarterly print magazine and a catalog of trade books focused on social justice, racial justice, and equity in K-12 education. Its flagship magazine, now in Volume 40, is positioned in source materials as the country's leading grassroots publication for social and racial justice in education; the book catalog includes titles such as Teaching Palestine (2026 IBPA Gold Award winner), Teaching for Black Lives, Transgender Justice in Schools, Rethinking Multicultural Education, Teacher Unions and Social Justice, A People's Curriculum for the Earth, The New Teacher Book, and Rethinking Ethnic Studies. The organization generates revenue from annual magazine subscriptions ($24.95 per year), individual PDF article downloads ($4.95 per article), one-time book purchases, and institutional site licenses that grant schools and districts unlimited web access to the magazine archive.
The business operates with 1-10 employees from a single Milwaukee headquarters, distributing products through a direct e-commerce storefront, institutional direct sales for site licenses, inside sales by phone and email, and traditional wholesale/retail book distribution to reach educators and consumers globally. The go-to-market is content-led, supplemented by email newsletters, organic social media on Facebook/X/Instagram, and participation in education-justice conferences; community-driven fundraising events (house parties) and donations supplement the commercial revenue base. No proprietary technology platform, mobile app, or public API is offered, and there is no disclosed AI/ML capability beyond standard accessibility-compliant EPUB production. The competitive basis is brand authority, a 40-year content archive, and an established community of K-12 educators, teacher educators, and education activists who contribute to and evangelize the publication.
Rethinking Schools firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rethinking Schools
- Legal name
- Rethinking Schools
- Website
- https://rethinkingschools.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1986
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Rethinking Schools is a Milwaukee-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1986 that publishes a quarterly social-justice education magazine (Volume 40) and a catalog of equity-focused pedagogy books for K-12 educators, teacher educators, and schools through subscriptions, book sales, and institutional site licenses.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rethinking Schools industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Educational Publishing
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (513130), Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Children’s Educational & Curriculum Publishing (MPAJAFAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Social Sciences (Psychology, Sociology, Political Science) (EDAGABAD), Children’s Nonfiction Educational (Science, History, Nature) (EDAGAIAC)
Keywords
Where Rethinking Schools is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Milwaukee
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Rethinking Schools business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Magazine Subscriptions: Annual magazine subscriptions providing quarterly print and/or digital access to the social justice education magazine. Subscriptions continue until cancelled.
- Book Sales: One-time purchase of books on social justice education topics including teaching for Black lives, multicultural education, ethnic studies, transgender justice, and teacher unionism.
- Individual Article Downloads: Digital PDF purchases of individual magazine articles from the archive.
- Institutional Site Licenses: Site-wide digital access licenses for schools and institutions to access all magazine articles on the web platform.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Annual magazine subscription - print and digital access |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Individual digital article download |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Rethinking Schools product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rethinking Schools is a nonprofit publisher that produces a quarterly print and digital magazine on social and racial justice in education, alongside an extensive catalog of trade books covering topics such as multicultural education, ethnic studies, Black lives, transgender justice, Palestinian solidarity, and teacher unionism. It sells annual magazine subscriptions, individual books, EPUB e-books, individual article PDF downloads, and institutional site licenses that grant unlimited web access to the magazine archive. Revenue is generated primarily through subscription fees, product sales, licensing, and donations supporting its advocacy mission.
Product overview
Rethinking Schools is a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization offering a portfolio of educational products centered on social justice teaching and education activism. Its core offerings consist of the quarterly Rethinking Schools Magazine (currently Volume 40) and an extensive books catalog featuring titles such as Teaching Palestine, Teaching for Black Lives, Transgender Justice in Schools, Rethinking Multicultural Education, Teacher Unions and Social Justice, A People's Curriculum for the Earth, The New Teacher Book, and Rethinking Ethnic Studies. Digital products are available in EPUB (meeting WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards) and PDF formats. Supplementary offerings include annual magazine subscriptions, institutional site licenses providing unlimited web access to magazine articles, and individual article downloads. The magazine archive spans from Volume 1 (Winter 1986) to the present, covering social and racial justice in education across nearly 40 years of publication.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Rethinking Schools Magazine Quarterly flagship publication covering social and racial justice in education, currently in Volume 40. Features articles, lessons, stories, and voices from educators and activists. Published seasonally (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). Available by subscription and individual issue purchase.
- Rethinking Schools Books Trade books and educational publications on social justice pedagogy, racial justice, multicultural education, LGBTQ+ topics, environmental education, and teacher development. Titles include Teaching Palestine, Teaching for Black Lives, Transgender Justice in Schools, Rethinking Multicultural Education, A People's Curriculum for the Earth, The New Teacher Book, Rethinking Ethnic Studies, and Teacher Unions and Social Justice. Available in print and digital (EPUB/PDF) formats.
- Annual Magazine Subscription Annual recurring subscription to the Rethinking Schools print and/or digital magazine priced at $24.95 per year, providing quarterly issues and digital access. Subscriptions continue until cancelled by the subscriber.
- Institutional Site License Provides unlimited access to web-accessible versions of all Rethinking Schools magazine articles for institutional use. Allows schools, districts, and educational institutions to share content across their organization on a recurring license basis.
- Digital Article Downloads (PDF) Individual PDF downloads of magazine articles and resource compilations available for purchase. Individual issues priced at $4.95 per digital copy; some older articles priced at $1.99. Available through the product catalog.
- EPUB E-Books E-book versions of Rethinking Schools publications provided in EPUB format. Frontlist EPUBs meet DAISY Consortium's ACE standards and WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility requirements, including alternative text. Available through the website and eBook distributors.
- Teaching Palestine: Lessons, Stories, Voices A book featuring lessons, stories, and voices related to teaching about Palestine. Winner of the 2026 Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Gold Award in the education category.
- Science Teaching for Social Justice A forthcoming book sharing stories of educators and students exploring how social and political systems shape science from preschool through graduate studies. Available for pre-order.
- Transgender Justice in Schools A book addressing transgender justice topics for K-12 and educational settings.
- Teaching for Black Lives A book exploring teaching about Black history and racial justice in education.
- Teacher Unions and Social Justice A book examining the intersection of teacher unionism and social justice movements.
- Rethinking Multicultural Education (3rd Edition) Third edition of the foundational text on multicultural education pedagogy.
- The New Teacher Book (3rd Edition) Third edition resource guide for new and beginning teachers with social justice teaching strategies.
- Rethinking Ethnic Studies A book on rethinking ethnic studies curricula in K-12 and higher education settings.
- A People's Curriculum for the Earth An environmental education curriculum resource for teaching about climate change and environmental justice.
Companies that use Rethinking Schools
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Rethinking Schools technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Rethinking Schools partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- Zinn Education ProjectminorRelated organization mentioned on the website. The Zinn Education Project shares similar social justice education missions.
- Teaching for ChangeminorMentioned as partner in resource reviews section. Teaching for Change develops and distributes teaching resources for social justice education.
- MAPSO Freedom SchoolminorCo-hosted a 40th Anniversary Rethinking Schools House Party in Montclair, NJ with MAPSO Freedom School.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Rethinking Schools competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Teaching for Change: Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that develops and distributes teaching resources for social justice education. Listed as a partner on Rethinking Schools' website and operates in the same mission-aligned K–12 equity curriculum space.
- Zinn Education Project: Nonprofit initiative coordinating social justice teaching resources, including People's History materials for K–12 classrooms. Named as a related organization on Rethinking Schools' website and operates in an overlapping editorial and curricular space.
- Learning for Justice (Southern Poverty Law Center): Provides free K–12 resources on social justice, anti-bias, and civil rights education, with a magazine and classroom materials. Closest large-scale peer serving the same equity-focused educator audience as Rethinking Schools.
- Haymarket Books: Independent radical publisher of progressive and social-justice nonfiction, including education-adjacent titles. Comparable as a mission-driven nonprofit/progressive book publisher with overlapping author communities and library/educator buyers.
- Edutopia (George Lucas Educational Foundation): Publishes online articles, videos, and resources on innovative K–12 teaching practices. Comparable as a content-driven, mission-oriented K–12 educator publisher, though delivered primarily as free digital media rather than paid subscriptions/books.
Emerging players
- Rethinking Mathematics: Small social-justice math education publishing initiative in the same Rethinking* family of projects, focused specifically on math pedagogy. Comparable as a niche, mission-aligned educator publisher but with narrower subject scope.
Broad incumbents
- Heinemann Publishing: Established educational publisher of professional books and classroom resources for literacy and teacher development. Comparable as a K–12 educator publisher but with a broader, less mission-aligned catalog and larger distribution scale.
- Teachers College Press: Columbia-affiliated academic publisher of education research, curriculum, and teaching resources. Comparable as a publisher serving teacher educators and K–12 practitioners, but with a research-academic rather than grassroots-advocacy orientation.
- ASCD: Major association for curriculum, instruction, and supervision professionals; publishes books, journals (Educational Leadership), and PD resources for educators. Comparable as a K–12 educator publisher and PD provider but with a broader, less advocacy-driven mission.
- Phi Delta Kappan: Long-running education policy and practice journal with a K–12/educator readership. Comparable as a subscription-based education publication serving practitioners and policymakers, though more mainstream and research-oriented.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Rethinking Schools social profiles
Digital presenceRethinking Schools financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rethinking Schools leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Rethinking Schools funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rethinking Schools M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Rethinking Schools
What does Rethinking Schools do?
Rethinking Schools is a nonprofit publisher that produces a quarterly print and digital magazine on social and racial justice in education, alongside an extensive catalog of trade books covering topics such as multicultural education, ethnic studies, Black lives, transgender justice, Palestinian solidarity, and teacher unionism. It sells annual magazine subscriptions, individual books, EPUB e-books, individual article PDF downloads, and institutional site licenses that grant unlimited web access to the magazine archive. Revenue is generated primarily through subscription fees, product sales, licensing, and donations supporting its advocacy mission.
Is Rethinking Schools a public or private company?
Rethinking Schools is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Rethinking Schools founded?
Rethinking Schools was founded in 1986. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Rethinking Schools based?
Rethinking Schools is headquartered in Milwaukee, United States, in the North America region.
How does Rethinking Schools make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Magazine Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are book Sales, individual Article Downloads and institutional Site Licenses.
Who are Rethinking Schools's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Teaching for Change, Zinn Education Project, Learning for Justice (Southern Poverty Law Center), Haymarket Books and Edutopia (George Lucas Educational Foundation). Rethinking Mathematics is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Heinemann Publishing, Teachers College Press, ASCD and Phi Delta Kappan.
Does Rethinking Schools have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rethinking Schools.
What industry is Rethinking Schools in?
Rethinking Schools's product category is Educational Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAFAF, Children’s Educational & Curriculum Publishing, with a secondary code of EDAGABAD, Social Sciences (Psychology, Sociology, Political Science). Its NAICS code is 513130 and its SIC code is 2731.