Category Archives: Uncategorized

Fifty years after the publication of her first book, ‘The Great School Wars’, author and historian Diane Ravtich has released her long awaited memoirs.  In ‘An Education: How I Changed My Mind About Schools and Almost Everything Else’ Ravitch takes … Continue reading →

It has been 20 years since Hurricane Katrina wiped out the New Orleans schools system causing it to be replaced with all charter schools. And it has been over 15 years since former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, based … Continue reading →

According to the latest US News & World Report high school rankings, a New York City KIPP High School is the 18th ranked high school in New York State. Strangely, a different New York City KIPP High School is ranked … Continue reading →

From 1990 until 2013, the CEO of TFA was the founder, Wendy Kopp. Under her leadership the program grew from a small organization that struggled to make payroll into a powerful player in the education world. When Wendy left in … Continue reading →

According to Teach For America, the average teacher in this country is pretty bad. The main deficiency of the average teacher, they say, is that the average teacher in this country does not believe in kids as much as Teach … Continue reading →

Starting this September, nearly every Algebra teacher in New York City is expected to follow a new curriculum called ‘Illustrative Math.’ This is part of a $34 million investment in a program called ‘NYC Solves’ which aims to improve math … Continue reading →

About four months ago I received an unusual DM in my Twitter account. Though over the years several different Success Academy parents have reached out to me, this was from someone who claimed to be either a current employee or … Continue reading →

In my first book ‘Reluctant Disciplinarian’ I made a big deal about how it is risky for a teacher to be too nice or too fun or, in some ways, too ‘human’ as it might cause students to lose respect … Continue reading →

[Note: This post draws from an interview I conducted with an anonymous source who identifies as a KIPP alum from the late 1990s. I consider this person credible based on the evidence they provided. Additionally, the post relies on publicly … Continue reading →

Success Academy is the largest charter school network in New York State. Starting in 2006 with one school, there are now around 40 Success Academy schools with around 20,000 students. And with a recent $100 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, … Continue reading →