Neeraja Deshpande
- Senior Contributor
Neeraja Deshpande is a senior contributor at IW Features, and a policy analyst at Independent Women, where she works primarily on issues related to education and gender. Additionally, Neeraja serves as an editor for Independent Women’s op-eds and related publications.
Her work has appeared in outlets including the Washington Post, City Journal, the Hill, Real Clear Education, Fairer Disputations, the Federalist, the Richmond Federal Reserve’s Econ Focus, the Free Press (where she previously worked as a staff researcher), and Pirate Wires, among others. In the past, Neeraja has taught middle school and high school English, math, and financial literacy.
Neeraja is originally from Somerville, Massachusetts and graduated magna cum laude from all-women’s Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts with a B.A. in Russian.
Stories by Neeraja
Profile
This Portland Mom Asked Questions. The School District Banned Her
Allison Roberts questioned politics in her son’s elementary school, which led to a her…
Commentary
Documentary
America’s Elders Need Community, Not Bureaucracy
America’s aging population needs more care, but another federal entitlement won’t solve the loneliness…
Commentary
New Mexico Is Failing Students by Failing Parents
New Mexico schools are using a federal law to keep parents in the dark,…
Profile
Why Cheryl Daley Walked Away From a Six-Figure Government Career to Homeschool Her Kids—With No Regrets
After questioning pandemic-era policies, this mom of two got curious about alternatives to conventional…
Commentary
Why Charter Schools Have Succeeded Where Traditional Public Schools Failed
This National Charter Schools Week, we should learn from charter schools and the ways…
Commentary
You Can’t Appreciate Teachers While Systemically Undermining Them
Flowers and thank-you notes can’t pacify a profession that has been weighed down by…
Profile
From Lesbian Mother to ‘Father’ for 30 Years, Here’s Why Jessi Harris Detransitioned
A 70-year-old detransitioner says she lived as a man to survive homophobia and warns…
Profile
Texas Mom Challenges Library’s ‘Trans Kids’ Narrative, And Demands Detransition Stories Be Heard
After her local library refused to remove an ideologically charged children’s book, Brenda Howard…
Profile
This Education Major Discovered Her Textbook Indoctrinates Educators to Support Liberal Politicians and Gender Ideology
A freshman in South Dakota says her program pressures future teachers to adopt partisan…