Opinion Blog

Finding Common Ground

With Peter DeWitt & Michael Nelson

A former K-5 public school principal turned author, presenter, and leadership coach, Peter DeWitt provides insights and advice for education leaders. Former superintendent Michael Nelson is a frequent contributor. Read more from this blog.

School & District Management Opinion

Why Bad Bunny’s Half-Time Performance Was a Case Study for School Leadership

7 takeaways
By Peter DeWitt & Michael Nelson — February 17, 2026 3 min read
Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Did you see Bad Bunny’s half-time performance at the Super Bowl? Not the next day on social media, but truly watched it when it was happening? Did you watch it with open eyes or with a mindset of criticism because most of it was in Spanish and you don’t speak the language?

Music is the universal language of love, and Bad Bunny’s half-time performance was a celebration, resistance, and a call to action that focused on loving our neighbors and ourselves. Additionally, the performance offered a case study for leaders in schools and districts, because it offered numerous lessons that we can all learn as leaders and use starting today.

If we treat leadership as performance, we’ll miss the point. This was leadership as invitation. An invitation to widen who belongs, whose language counts, and what love looks like in public. School leaders do this same work every day through what we spotlight, what we tolerate, and what we choose to protect. Before you judge a community, ask what you’ve truly tried to understand. Before you “go neutral,” ask who neutrality harms. And before you speak for others, make space for them to speak for themselves. This week, pick one lesson below and act on it—then collect evidence of impact.

Here are some of those lessons:

Know your story. The setting was beautifully done. From the beginning of the performance, Bad Bunny shared his story, and that story continued all the way through the performance. He knows where he came from, has not forgotten it, and shared it in the most beautiful way. As a leader, how often do you share your story? How often do you share the story of your school in ways that will last days, weeks, and months after you tell it?

Embrace your community. Bad Bunny stopped at a wedding and different business along his route to the football field during his concert to highlight his love for Puerto Rico, which is very much a part of the United States. How do you, as a leader, embrace the different parts of your community in ways that make them smile when they see you coming?

Celebrate diversity. So many people had an issue with the performance being mostly in Spanish. First of all, music should have no boundaries when it comes to language. Many of us listen to music that is non-English, and it adds to the richness of our lives. The United States is a diverse country, and so many Black and brown people saw representation during a time when the presidential rhetoric around the diversity of culture or sexual orientation is not just unkind but cruel.

Do you celebrate diversity or did you cancel diversity, equity, and inclusion for your school? If your immediate reaction is to say that your school is mostly white, then that is part of the problem. Too many white Americans are afraid of diversity and believe the negative rhetoric because they haven’t been exposed to diversity in authentic ways that can help educate them.

Highlight the voices of others. Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga, a small version of Bad Bunny receiving a Grammy from Bad Bunny, a couple actually getting married, and so many others. The performance was not about shutting down voices but raising them up. How often as a leader do you celebrate the voices around the table and raise up those that often feel silenced?

Honor students. That moment, when Bad Bunny took time to hand one of his Grammys to a younger version of himself was one filled with great hope. So many students within our schools need a Bad Bunny moment from you as a leader.

Choose unity over divisiveness. We need not spend more than 10 seconds on social media or watching television without being exposed to countless messages of hate. Whether it was being supported by numerous people holding flags high and proud, spiking a football that says, “Together, we are America,” or the Jumbotron that said, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” he delivered a message that is contrary to the one others want us to believe. Some want us to believe that we are divided and should continue to be so, because it means we buy what they are selling. Bad Bunny said otherwise.

Call out the inequities. Climbing up on the utility pole to highlight the inequities when it comes to building a stable infrastructure in Puerto Rico. As a leader, are you aware of the inequities within your school community? Do you call them out?

In a world of conflict, as leaders, we should be more like Bad Bunny.

The opinions expressed in Finding Common Ground With Peter DeWitt & Michael Nelson are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Personalized Learning Webinar
Differentiation That Delivers: Proven Practices From High-Growth Districts
Make every minute count. Proven strategies from educators and leaders driving real student growth. Save your seat!
Content provided by i-Ready, Curriculum Associates
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Exposure to Experience: Designing Accessible Work-Based Learning
Learn how schools can create meaningful experiences that help every student build skills, connections, and a clearer path to their future.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
A Tale of Two School Districts: Forecasting Enrollment
Forecasting enrollment is hard. Here’s how two different districts are navigating times of change with data that considers the whole picture.
Content provided by Zonda Education

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Quiz Quiz Yourself: What's Driving the Early Childhood Education Market?
Test your knowledge of early childhood education funding, curriculum trends, purchasing decisions, and market opportunities.
Watercolor illustration of a diverse group of young kindergarten through 3rd grade school children all holding their own digital device.
Illustration by Gina Tomko/Education Week + Canva
School & District Management Q&A 'Top-Down Decisions' Are Out. See What This School District Leader Does
This superintendent is convinced that solving complex problems requires effective listening skills.
4 min read
DaVinciCentralAllentownPA 051826 SDL042
Carol D. Birks, the superintendent of the Allentown, Pa., school district, watches over a 1st grade class at Central Elementary school on May 18, 2026. Birks is a big believer in "listening tours" to fully understand the needs of her school district.
Scott Lewis for Education Week
School & District Management Teachers' Unions Face More Competition for Influence in School Board Elections
A study suggests that parents are perceived as more influential by board members than unions.
4 min read
Yair Lev, center, attends a Lower Merion Board of School Directors meeting in the Lower Merion School District Administration Building on Monday, May 11, 2026, in Ardmore, Pa.
A school board meeting of the Lower Merion school district in Ardmore, Pa., is shown on May 11, 2026. A new study finds that teachers' unions are competing with a growing array of actors for influence in school board elections.
Joe Lamberti/AP
School & District Management Download Fire Drill? Reheated Coffee? You Just Won Principal Bingo!
School leaders, this game is for you.
1 min read
A ghosted bingo card, random shoe, and coffee mug stains in the background with scrapbook-style letters spelling out the word BING and an overhead shot of coffee in a mug that is taking the place of the "O" to spell out BINGO.
Illustration by Gina Tomko/Education Week + Canva