Free Republic

Kids attending New York City's Success Academy charter schools do remarkably well. "We are No. 1 in student achievement in the state," says founder Eva Moskowitz, "outperforming all the wealthy suburbs." They do. Although they teach mostly poor kids, 95 percent pass the state math test, and 84 percent pass the English test. Pass rates at government run schools are 38 and 41 percent. How does Success Academy do it? "China and India are not worrying about the length of the school day," she replied. "We have to toughen up." From what I saw, "toughening up" doesn't make kids hate...

All four Harlem Success Academy charters serve primarily minority student populations (all are 93.5 to 97.1% black and Hispanic) and low-income households (75 to 80% of students at these schools qualify for free or discounted lunch), and yet all are ranked academically higher than about 97% of all schools in New York state based on 2013-2014 standardized test assessments in math and reading. What a truly amazing academic success story! Harlem Success Academy 3, an elementary school where 95.2% of the students are black or Hispanic and 80% are from poor households who qualify for free or discounted lunch, performed...

The Democrat who represents Manhattan's East Side on the City Council, Eva Moskowitz, made a courageous move in declining the Independence Party's line in her race for borough president. 'snip' the party's failure to repudiate an anti-Semitic remark by one of its activists, Lenora Fulani. 'snip' Eliot Spitzer, Governor Pataki, Senator Schumer, Mayor Bloomberg, and State Comptroller Alan Hevesi all now have a choice of following Ms. Moskowitz's lead or letting be known the compromises they are willing to overlook in exchange for a ballot line.