Gary Rubinstein took a close look at the Success Academy charter school that kept a list of “scholars” who had to go, get pushed out because they were not the “right fit.” What kind of troublemakers were these children? Babies, actually.

The following appeared in the New York Times:

“Ms. Moskowitz said the school, which then went through second grade, had severe disciplinary problems. Mr. Brown [the principal] previously said in an email that he believed he could not turn the school around if the 16 students remained.”

Gary writes:

“When I think of a school in need of ‘turnaround therapy,’ I picture a school of veteran unionized teachers that has supposedly been ‘failing’ for decades. This school was in its second year when it was in need of being turned around. And the total number of students in the school was about 200, with about 70 kindergarteners, 80 first graders, and 50 second graders. All of these students have been at the school for their entire schooling and all had Success Academy teachers. I have trouble believing that this school needed a radical turnaround plan and if it really did, what does that say about the reform mantra that ‘great teachers’ overcome all if the great teachers at Success Academy were not able to maintain control of 200 5, 6, and 7 year olds?”

To get the real inside scoop, read the reviews of this school by parents, quoted by Gary on this post.