Two Super-Dope Educators

All of the Above is hosted by two life-long educators who have each spent their entire career serving in marginalized communities. Jeffrey and Manuel first met while studying at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Through divergent paths they each landed in Los Angeles where, when not working in LA-area schools, they get together to offer unstandardized takes on education today.

Jeffrey Garrett & Dr. Manuel Rustin

jeffrey garrett

When not co-hosting All of the Above, Jeffrey Garrett works in public education supporting school transformation in Los Angeles' highest needs communities.  He directs leadership development for principals, APs and teacher leaders for an education non profit. Jeffrey spent most of his career in urban education working in New York City, most recently as principal of a public secondary school serving grades 6-12 in the South Bronx. He began his career in K-12 education as a high school social studies teacher in East Harlem and the Bronx, eventually moving on to work as an instructional and leadership coach for a network of small, themed public schools throughout New York City, before returning to a school site as an assistant principal. He began his career as a college admissions officer at his alma mater Dartmouth College (Go Green!). A native of Saint Paul, Minnesota and having attended public schools from K-12 himself, Jeffrey firmly believes in the importance of a quality, public education in a democratic society.

manuel rustin

Dr. Manuel Rustin is a veteran educator currently in his eighteenth year of teaching high school social science in California. A proud believer in the promise of public education, Dr. Rustin has spent all eighteen years of his career teaching marginalized populations in underserved public high schools. He currently teaches Ethnic Studies, United States History, American Government, Economics, and a Hip Hop Studies course that he developed in 2012. In addition to teaching, Dr. Rustin also serves as Chair of the California Department of Education’s Instructional Quality Commission, a body that directly advises the State Board of Education on matters pertaining to curricular frameworks and resources. He is also a proud member of EdTrust West’s Educator Advisory Council. Dr. Rustin earned his doctorate in educational leadership at UCLA where his dissertation, Teacher-driven Change: Developing an Intervention for Street-life Oriented Youth through Action Research, received the UCLA Outstanding Ed.D. Dissertation Award. In 2012 Dr. Rustin was awarded the Milken Educator Award by the Milken Family Foundation and was recognized by the Pasadena NAACP with the Ruby McKnight Educator Award.