Charter Schools Going Woke

As everyone knows and no one is allowed to say, the solution to black and minority underperformance is a cultural transformation. Not a cultural revolution, not tearing down America’s past, but an educational system that values learning and that imposes rigorous standards-- and that does not just do it in the classroom but that enlists parents as co-teachers so that the educational experience does not end at the end of the school day.

Such has been the approach of the Success Academy schools in New York City. They have consistently succeeded where public schools have failed. Their students can compete against anyone in science, math and algebra.

For now they are sticking to their program. The Wall Street Journal editorialized this morning:

... Eva Moskowitz, the founder and CEO of Success Academy charter schools in New York...announced measures to address concerns about racial diversity and prejudice, but she also reaffirmed the schools’ mission and values.

“We seek to reverse racial inequity and upend power dynamics by equipping children of color with a world-class education,” she wrote.

And then there are the Kipp academies, a group of charter schools that was much lauded by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers. The Journal explained that Kipp schools have succeeded:

Today the Kipp network educates 100,000 students in 242 college-prep, public charter schools. More than 95% of its students are black or Latino. Kipp has succeeded when so many traditional public schools fail precisely because it has high expectations for students.

But now, it appears that Kipp is going woke.

In a tweet Wednesday, Kipp put it this way: “We are retiring ‘Work hard. Be nice.’ as Kipp’s national slogan; it diminishes the significant effort to dismantle systemic racism, places value on being compliant and submissive, supports the illusion of meritocracy, and does not align with our vision of students being free to create the future they want.”

As the Journal explains:

This is woke nonsense. 

And yet, it is frightening to see a successful enterprise, one that has greatly improved the education of minority children cave to the mob and denounce meritocracy. Children at these schools, like children from Success Academy schools excel and can compete against anyone. Why compromise their ability to achieve in favor of the stupid notion that they should be “free to create the future they want.”