The Broad Foundation's Influence on New Orleans Schools

An interesting feature on the ColorLines website maps out the national influence on the Broad Superintendents Academy, an organization that is not well-known to the general public, but has had a large influence on US education, policy, including here in New Orleans (Current RSD Superintendent John White is among their trainees). Below is an excerpt from the article. Go to this link to see more:

Who’s running your school district? If you live in a big city or urban area, chances are decisions have been influenced by someone who’s been groomed with a specific ideology of education policy. In 2002 the Broad Foundation, one of the largest and most influential philanthropies dedicated to school reform, established the Broad Superintendents Academy, a ten-month program to provide corporate-level management and skills development to folks they hoped would go on to decision makers in school districts across the country.

The Broad philosophy has become mainstream in the school reform landscape. The foundation advocates shutting down schools whose test scores have designated them as “failing;” instituting accountability mechanisms for teachers that tie their job evaluations to their students’ test scores; and advocates for more school choices outside the traditional public school through charter schools and vouchers. Former graduates from the Broad Academy have gone on to do just that in the cities they’ve arrived in, and not without a storm of controversy often following in their wake.