We Are
On A Mission
to ensure that every child in America has access to the highest-quality free education from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.
This is personal.
We each have our own schooling experiences, some good, some bad. But here we are—we made it, and we recognize how fortunate we are. Some of us were born into privileged circumstances; some of us were lucky; and some of us had to dig deep to find the grit to keep getting up after we were repeatedly knocked down. However we got here, this is where we converge, behind a single truth that is our mission, our religion, our patriotism, our mantra, our passion.
Excellent education is the right of every child.
We will not rest until this right is within the grasp of each child, each family, no matter one’s means, one’s background, one’s lifestyle, one’s stripes. No one is permitted to take from children this right. We have dedicated our lives to making sure of it.
We repudiate the status quo of decades of educational failure that have plagued our nation. We reject the platitudes of politicians and policymakers, the tomes of solutionizing behind desks and computers and inside ivory towers, and the insane labyrinth of bureaucracy and regulations that obscures and obfuscates the deadliness of the problem of educational failure.
We don’t accept that only those with means can have access to cutting-edge, innovative, self-actualizing, and evolving education that prepares kids for access and leadership in a modern world. We refuse any education that is designed for poor kids. If it isn’t good enough for privileged kids, it isn’t good enough for anyone’s kids.
We believe in the kind of education that is a powerful equalizer. If we do it right, it will shake our very foundation and likely make us uncomfortable as those we educate rise up to confront us as educators, as a nation, as a society, as people, to challenge what we have done, the history we have made, our belief systems, our systemic biases. It will give them a seat at the table or likely even unseat those long entrenched in positions of power.
This is the education that is the right of every child.
We have started with world-class schools in the South Bronx and Upper Manhattan changing the life trajectories of children, and will grow to 25 schools over the next 15 years. We train and prepare teachers, staff, and leaders to operate and grow world-class schools. We bust the educational bureaucracy preserving the status quo. We widely share our work to ensure others can replicate it, igniting fires across our nation spreading excellent education for every child.