The 74 Million – Mark Keierleber
“In a year-and-a-half, Candido Brown was the third principal to lead the Success Academy charter school in the city’s Fort Greene neighborhood. Despite frequent suspensions to address misbehavior, Brown described a school where kids were out of control, preventing other children from learning. So he called for the creation of a list of students who have “got to go.” Created last December, the 16-student list became publicly known last week through a scathing New York Times article alleging school officials used punitive disciplinary policies to push out problem students.
“I was not advised by my organization to put children on the list, I was not advised by my organization to push children out of my school,” Brown said on Friday during a press conference where he failed to hold back tears. “I was doing what I thought I needed to do to fix a school where I would not send my own child.” Admitting Brown was in the wrong for creating the list, Success Academy Founder and CEO Eva Moskowitz said Friday his actions were inconsistent with the organization’s policies and he was punished within days after the list was created. But she argued the Times mischaracterized the charter network’s intentions behind school discipline and failed to explain how quickly officials punished Brown.”(more)