The Success Academy Success Story

Everyone knows that we as a nation need to reduce the performance gap between black and Asian students. Everyone knows that black children underperform academically and that this underperformance will manifest itself in later life-- as they become unhireable adults.

The good news is that we know how to overcome this gap. We know what will radically change the odds in favor of these children. The answer lies in charter schools like New York’s Success Academies.

Dare we mention, since we know fairly well what works, our local politicians are doing everything in their power to ensure that there be no new charter schools. Being notably stupid themselves politicians imagine that throwing money at the failing public school system will solve the problem. They should understand that the extra money will merely pay off teachers for doing a lousy job, but, trust me, they do not care.

Other community leaders believe that the solution lies in more protest marches, more broken statues, more indoctrination in critical race theory. As it happens, CRT, as it is called, is profoundly stupid. The issue is less that this form of radical indoctrination will teach children nothing of what they need to know to compete in the marketplace, but will dumb them down to the point where they will not be able to compete. Then, companies will institute diversity quotas, will hire people who cannot do jobs, and will blame it all on racism.

The New York Post lays out the issue in an editorial. (via Maggie’s Farm) It gains its information from a study performed at the Harvard Business School. Thus, this is not some right wing screed.

A new Harvard Business School case study of the Success Academy charter network offers valuable insight into why its schools are so, well . . . successful. New York officials should read every last word.

It begins with the story of New York City public schools, one of the nation’s academic disaster areas:

The study recounts some of the network’s history: These last two decades, New York City public schools were among the nation’s “lowest performing but highest funded” and, despite still more funding from Mayor Bill de Blasio, “there was scant evidence of improvement at underperforming schools.” (Massive COVID aid from DC has bloated spending even more, and Gov. Kathy Hochul is now pumping in boatloads of added cash on top of that, even as enrollment has plummeted.)

We are unhappy to note that Governess Kathy is pumping more money into the schools, at a time when enrollment is dropping. Why is enrollment dropping? Perhaps because parents are waking up to the calamity and are moving out of the city.

Who is responsible for the success of Success Academies. Why one person, by name, Eva Moskowitz, former public official who set her sights on creating schools that would work for the students, not for the teachers.

Of course, she discovered that the fault lay first with the teachers and their unions. Obviously, this occurred with the connivance of Democratic politicians, voted into office by the parents of the children who were being damaged by these schools:

The paper describes how Success founder Eva Moskowitz, as chairman of the City Council’s Education Committee until 2005, had pored over school-union contracts: “No rational person,” says Moskowitz, could read the union agreements “and say, ‘This is the best for kids and learning.’” They were designed “completely for adult interests.”

The unions have been fighting Moskowitz for seventeen years now. And the lady has been winning, as the children enrolled in Success Academies have excelled:

So in 2005, Moskowitz “set out to prove what was possible.” Over the next 15 years, despite opposition from unions, she opened 47 charter schools (publicly funded, privately run schools open to all kids, free).

“With a student body comprised almost entirely of students from low-socioeconomic households, Success Academy Charter Schools had achieved extraordinary outcomes, with superior test scores and college placement results,” the report notes.

Most remarkably, these schools erased the “achievement gap” that plagues regular public schools: Success kids almost invariably scored at the highest levels, regardless of family income or racial background.

So, race had nothing to do with the achievement gap. Bad pedagogical techniques and a culture of failure was to blame. Note that these children were not drilled in leftist ideology. They were taught the basics of language, math and science.

The disparate results were flagrantly obvious:

Last year, amid COVID, SA saw 100% of its seniors accepted to college. As with earlier Success classes, students got into top schools — Columbia, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago. Compare that to just 30% enrollment in bachelor’s programs among minority and low-income students in the city-run school system.

What was the secret of this success? The Harvard study attributes it to an attention to detail. One might also note that these children wore uniforms, were forced to behave well during the school day and studied traditional subjects. One also notes that the schools enlisted all parents and showed them how to help children with their homework. 

The paper also notes SA’s secret sauce: enormous attention to detail. Careful design of classrooms. More training for staff. A well-constructed, challenging curriculum. Close ties with parents.

The schools have defied labor unions and have exposed them for the failures that they are. Unfortunately, unions have reacted by colluding with politicians in ensuring that no more of such  charter schools be allowed to operate in the city:

Another key factor (though the study doesn’t talk about it much): the lack of union and Board of Education mandates. Success teachers aren’t unionized, and Moskowitz, well-versed in the workings of public-school bureaucracy, knew what to avoid.

Alas, despite the fierce demand for SA seats, the school can no longer expand because lawmakers capped the number of charters in the city.

Educrats can certainly learn valuable lessons about how to run great schools from HBS’s study. But if Gotham wants to broaden opportunity fast for desperate kids, it can simply lift the cap on charters and let schools like Success work their magic.

So, if you care about what works, you should stop complaining about racism and start doing something to reduce the achievement gap. We know what works, and we will be judged harshly for not doing it.