Excellence is the accumulation of hundreds of minute decisions; it is execution at the most granular level. Once you accept the idea that you should give in to things that make no sense because other people do those things and you want to appear reasonable, you are on a path towards mediocrity.
Eva Moskowitz
We must renew our commitment to instilling high moral character in our students, to teaching them to treat each other with kindness, to stand up for what is right, and to respect the diversity of backgrounds and experiences that strengthen our country.
In New York City, the idea that district schools advance equality is a myth.
It's one thing to have a president with whose politics you disagree; it's another to have a president who doesn't even seem to care about your welfare.
I wouldn't be educating children if I did not believe in human potential.
I am a Democrat and disagree with virtually all of President Trump's policy positions, including those on healthcare, LGBTQ rights, civil rights, immigration, global warming, gun control, and tax 'reform.'
I want kids to be able to escape failing schools that trap them. And it's an unequal trapping of children. The most affluent find a way to escape. They move to a great suburban district or send their kid to a private school. The people who are trapped in the worst schools that have been terrible often for half a century? Those are the poorest kids.
One of the biggest reasons that teachers have trouble with student-centered learning is that they have to give over a level of control to the kids. And, when you do that, you can have chaos, or you can have high levels of learning. Often, teachers are afraid of the chaos.
If the day ever comes when I think something is okay simply because district schools do it, I hope my board fires me.
Success isn't ideal for every child. If we think a child would do better in a different school, whether it's a specialized program or just a school with a different approach, we'll tell a parent that, as we should.
Rule number one of journalism is that trying to get in between a journalist and a story he wants to tell is like trying to stop a herd of stampeding cattle.
Schools can ebb and flow. It can be phenomenal one day, and then you hit fractions, and it falls apart.
If student A 'impacts' student B with a fist, they shouldn't 'dialogue as equals.' Student A should be disciplined. When you assault your co-worker or curse out your boss, you don't get a 'restorative circle' - you get fired.
Self-delusion is rarely a good strategy for effective management.
I believe Betsy DeVos has the talent, commitment, and leadership capacity to revitalize our public schools and deliver the promise of opportunity that excellent education provides, and I support her nomination as U.S. Secretary of Education.
What you get is what you see, which is suspending kids doesn't lead to high attrition rate. That is what the data shows.
I'm troubled by what I see as a sort of rooting for Trump's failure, because that is rooting for our own failure.
I am from an F.D.R. liberal-Democratic family. With proximity to government, I have become more libertarian.
Attacking school segregation requires all hands on deck. We in the charter sector must move beyond our traditional comfort zone, serving disadvantaged students, and meet the demands of parents who have other high quality options.
Sometimes when kids look like they're daydreaming, it's because they are, and we can't allow that possibility.
Suspensions convey the critical message to students and parents that certain behavior is inconsistent with being a member of the school community. Pretend suspensions, in which a student is allowed to remain in the school community, do not convey that message.
It is very challenging to have a kind of data-driven, performance-oriented culture and to do progressive pedagogy. These things don't naturally, or easily, go together.
I thought I was leaving elected office and politics in order to focus on schooling, but as you know, schooling turns out to be frankly even more political than politics.
I'm very, very focused on not only creating world class schools at scale, but changing the public policy in this country that every day prevents children from getting access to the American dream.
As I explained when I announced that I was turning down a potential opportunity to serve as Secretary of Education, I voted for Hillary Clinton and was sorely disappointed she didn't win.
Like so many of you, I am deeply distressed both by the hateful violence in Charlottesville and by President Trump's refusal to clearly denounce it. Nobody with any empathy for the plight of people of color in this country could respond the way he did.
I love working with teachers and principals; they are my heroes. They are very dedicated to children, and it's very impactful.
I have always been very open about my respect for public service.
I assure you: If I were to hear a teacher raise a voice at a kid or anything, that goes against the model, and I would immediately address it.
I took my teaching responsibilities very seriously... I taught some great courses: Legal history to feminist theory, courses in American mass culture... I love teaching - I mean really love it.
I think it's fairly unique to define the end goal of K-12 schooling as helping students become better thinkers, more creative thinkers, and to organize the whole school around creative and critical thinking.
I've never believed the charter movement was exclusively for socially and economically disadvantaged kids.
I didn't design schools for poor kids. I'm designing schools to be world-class.
Whatever you think rigor looks like, you should go up a few notches.
Most teachers in America could dramatically improve their teaching if they just made every second count.
No matter how good a teacher is, if that teacher won't play as part of the team, you're better off without her.
Parents who don't like Success should find a school they do like. For someone to enroll their child at Success and insist we change our model is like a person walking into a pizzeria and demanding sushi. If you want sushi, go to a sushi restaurant!
Part of me would love to be mayor for the simple reason that I love my city.
I believe education is a bipartisan issue, and I intend to support those educational policies of President Trump with which I agree.
Any elected official who asks to visit my schools is welcome to do so; there is no political litmus test.
Why doesn't anyone care that the schools in Harlem have been unsuccessful for half a century? Why is this not a big deal? To me, it's a terrible deal.
To me, that is really fundamental to social justice: to have choices in life.
