Former TFAer Gary has done nationally recognized work in punching holes in the TFA mantra, exposing the bullshit from schools that claim miracle scores and the charter scams. His blog is a must-read.
Here he take on KIPP, a no excuses charter, founded by former fellow TFA alums.
The KIPP network, founded by two 1992 TFA alumni, was once considered the ‘gold star’ of charter chains. For a while their growth seemed inevitable, almost exponential. They were all over the press, on Oprah, in Waiting For Superman, even present at the 2000 Republican National Convention. But over the past two or three years, we haven’t been hearing that much about them. Their growth seems to have flattened out and there has not been much press coverage of note.I love that he takes on the biased Alexander Russo's analysis:
It is funny that Russo doesn’t ever speculate that maybe a chain like Success Academies is getting so much more attention is not just because they have a ‘hard-charging leader,’ but because KIPP is not getting the ‘outcomes’ that reformers require.Gary is a gentleman. He calls it "funny". I call it "Bought."
On average, KIPP has lower test scores than 2/3 of the charter schools in New York City.
For Russo to ignore the uneven outcomes of KIPP schools as a possible reason for their recent lack of attention is odd, but not surprising as reform cheerleaders are often blind to any objective evidence that does not support their narrative.
In New York City, all the KIPP schools funnel into one high school. I actually visited that school a few years ago and witnessed for myself that mediocrity. About two years ago that school moved into a brand new state of the art building. Yet, we hear nothing from KIPP about the amazing things that are going on in that building.Read Gary's entire piece at his blog.
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