On June 23, Elizabeth Baker, a press associate for the Success Academy Charter School Network, resigned. In a letter to Michael Smith, the network’s director of Human Resources, she stated that she could no longer defend the network’s “racist and abusive practices” and charged that “attending any Success Academy school is detrimental to the emotional wellbeing of children.” Baker worked at the Success Network for almost a year and a half. Her responsibilities including responding to media inquiries.
The latest Success Academy scandal, the one that put Baker over the edge, involved a bulletin board display at one of the Network’s schools. It showed life size effigies of headless black children suspended from tree branches under the heading “Hang in there … It’s almost summer!” The display was taken down after complaints of racial insensitivity by staff and the assistant principal responsible for creating it was removed. The student population in Success Academy charter schools is 83% Black and Latino.
In response to escalating criticisms of the Success Network, CEO Eva Moskowitz was forced to hold a series of five one-hour virtual town hall meetings. But questions about the display were removed from the chat board before they became visible to participants. In an email, a different Success Academy spokesperson, claimed they were dropped because there were just too many questions to address.
In the townhall meetings, Moskowitz apologized for her delayed response to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police that has promoted a global anti-racist protest movement. According to a report in Chalkbeat, Moskowitz said “I was late, and I really regret that. There was no attempt to be silent on the issue. I feel very, very strongly that Black lives matter.”
Moskowitz’s “apology” followed an email she received from a first-year Success Academy teacher at its Flatbush school sent four days after the murder of George Floyd. Fabiola St Hilaire wrote Moskowitz “I am deeply hurt and shocked by your lack of words on the topic that affects so many of your employees, children and families in communities that you serve. All of your black employees are paying attention to your silence.” An hour later, Moskowitz responded to St. Hilaire claiming that on twitter“I actually opined on this subject early this am.” She also claimed she was too distracted “running remote learning in the middle of a world economic shutdown has kept me focused on SA’s immediate needs.”
After St Hilaire posted the exchange on social media, Instagram exploded with complaints from parents, students and staff about a racist culture at Success Academy. They charged that Success called 911 to have police remove students with behavior problems, had racially insensitive policies about appropriate student hair, and that it maintained a climate where white teachers and administrators felt free to publicly embarrass minority parents for minor infractions of school rules.
Erika Johnson, a former Success Academy educator, accused the Network and Moskowitz of repeated suspending “young Black males” for “non-compliance” with its stringent rules. According to Johnson, “The change needs to start with Eva and the network office.” A Change.org petition with over 4,600 signatures (as of June 25) in demanding “a formal investigation of . . . the litany of accusations of misconduct and abuse of students, parents, and staff committed by Success Academy under the leadership of its Chief Executive Officer, Eva Moskowitz.”
Success Academy and Eva Moskowitz have repeatedly been charged with inappropriate and sometimes racist activities since the network was established. In 2014, a first-grade teacher was videoed humiliating a young girl for incorrectly answering a math question. At the time, the teacher was considered one of Success Academy’s model teachers. Moskowitz argued the video was an “anomaly,” but teachers interviewed by the New York Times claimed it was standard procedure at Success Academy to embarrass students for wrong answers by ripping up their work in front of the class. A year after the video was released, Moskowitz placed the videoed teacher in charge of developing “system-wide best practices” and generating “professional development courses.” In a memo to staff, Moskowitzaccused the New York Times of a vendetta against her and the charter network for reporting the story and declared “We must not allow the haters to bully us or stop us from re-imagining public education.” Moskowitz also attacked the PBS News for reporting that Success Academy suspended five and six year-olds for misbehavior.
In 2015, the New York Times reported that a Success Academy elementary school in Brooklyn had a “got-to-go” list of students who they wanted thrown out of the school. After a brief leave of absence when the list was exposed, the principal was promoted to Network Manager, School Culture and Student Learning.
In January 2018, seniors at Success Academy High School went on strike against unfair disciplinary codes. In June 2018 students complained about onerous summer assignments that interfered with their ability to hold jobs. That year the high school celebrated its first graduating class of sixteen students. The sixteen were the survivors of an initial cohort of 73 children who started out together in first grade. Success never explained what happened to the other 57 students.
In July 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that a “wave” of teachers were quitting Success Academy High School. Fewer than a third of teachers and administrators were returning for the Fall 2018 school year. Six former teachers accused the network of harsh disciplinary policies that include inappropriately forcing fifteen high school students to repeat a grade. They also charge the network disregards and disrespects staff input.
Also in 2018, the chair of the Success Academy board, Daniel Loeb, resigned after being accused of racist remarks on twitter. Loeb accused an African American State Senator who supported the teachers union of doing more damage to “people of color” than the Ku Klux Klan. Moskowitz thanked Loeb for his years of service and expressed sadness that he was leaving Success Academy.
On balance, a “got-to-go” list may be a good idea. Eva Moskowitz and Success Academy “Got-to-Go.”
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