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Morgan Craven, J.D.

National Director of Policy, Advocacy and Community Engagement

Morgan Craven, J.D., is IDRA’s National Director of Policy, Advocacy and Community Engagement. She supports the integration and coordination of national and state policy reform efforts impacting school finance, school discipline and safety, education for emergent bilingual students, preparation and access to higher education, and community-led, culturally-sustaining schools.

In addition to crafting community-centered policy positions and advocacy strategies, Morgan spearheads IDRA’s critical work to expand access to policymaking spaces for impacted communities, particularly for students and families of color, families with limited incomes, and recent immigrant populations. She presented expert testimony in a hearing by the U.S. House Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee on banning corporal punishment. She also provided invited expert testimony on school safety before the U.S. Congressional Children’s Caucus in its listening session on federal relief for children, teachers and parents in Uvalde.

Morgan received a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Stanford University, with a secondary focus in African and African American Studies. She received a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Previously, Morgan directed Texas Appleseed’s School-to-Prison Pipeline Project. In that role, she led and supported local- and statewide campaigns to address the practices and systems that push young people out of school and into the justice system. She has presented research and data to policymakers, collaborated with community-based, state, and national advocacy organizations, and developed policies related to school discipline, school policing, and school climate.

Prior to her work at Texas Appleseed, Morgan served as a briefing attorney for Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson at the Supreme Court of Texas and as a staff attorney at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, where she represented students with disabilities in school discipline and court cases, and individuals and families in housing and public benefits cases.

Media featuring Morgan Craven

Lawmakers across U.S. push for harsher school discipline as safety fears rise, by Patrick Wall, Chalkbeat, March 28, 2023

Mississippi Used Corporal Punishment in Schools 4,300 Times Last Year, by Julia James, Mississipi Today, February 10, 2023

School police forces are common in Texas and Florida. Is Boston next?, Abby Patkin, Boston Globe, January 23, 2023

Civil Rights community details Education Landscape in 2023, Insight News, January 19, 2023

Discussing the Use of Corporal Punishment in K-12 Schools, NEPC Talks Education podcast, April 28, 2022

‘Critical race theory’ is latest lightning rod in Texas, Bill Whitaker, commentary, Waco Tribune-Herald, June 19, 2021

Historians, parents say Texas bill limiting instruction about race and current events hurt, by Gabriela Vidal, CBS Austin, May 21, 2021

Critical Race Theory Ban in Classrooms Approved by Senate Committee, Stripped of Democrat Changes, by Isiah Mitchell, The Texan, May 19, 2021

San Antonio Declares Racism A Public Health Crisis, Some Find Proclamation Divisive, by Joey Palacios, Texas Public Radio, August 21, 2020

Eradicating the School-to-Prison Pipeline through a Comprehensive Approach to School Equity, Arkansas Law Review, by Morgan Craven, J.D., Paula Johnson, Ph.D., & Terrence Wilson, J.D.

Is the Texas Legislature doing enough for English learners in HB 3?, Julie Chang, Austin American-Statesman, April 19, 2019

How The Texas House School Finance Bill Could Shortchange Many Children Learning English, Laura Isensee, Houston Public Media, April 3, 2019

Amid School Finance Overhaul, Educators Say Funding for Programs That Teach English Won’t Benefit – Though one-fifth of Texas public school students are English learners, funding levels have remained the same since the 1980s, Laura Isensee, Texas Standard, April 3, 2019, 9:33 am

Bill targets Texas charter school admissions, Julie Chang, Austin American-Statesman, March 21, 2019

Parents worry students struggling with STAAR test won’t graduate, Alyssa Goard, KXAN Austin, March 20, 2019

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