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Wednesday, May 25, 2005
The WAY of KIPP
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Yesterday, several parents expressed dismay at KIPP WAYS Academy, a charter school on the West End affiliated with the national Knowledge Is Power Program. Among the complaints: students have to sit on the floor for the first few weeks of school and earn their desks and chairs, and if one student gets in trouble, the whole class is punished.
I called Steve Mancini, KIPP’s national spokesman, for response.
The earning of desks and chairs is part of KIPP’s “culture of earning,” he said. “We live in an entitlement society,” he said. “What KIPP is saying is you have to earn opportunities. Ultimately it takes hard work to succeed in society.”
Different KIPP schools use different methods to reinforce the “culture of earning,” he said. At a school in Harlem, for example, students must earn their shirts with a KIPP logo.
As for the punishing the whole group for the misbehavior of one, this is also part of the KIPP culture that emphasizes teamwork. KIPP’s founders were basketball players, and their love of the game influenced their philosophy, Mancini said. Coaches often make the team run laps when one player makes a mistake. The founders believe “The team always beats the individual,” and “We’re climbing the mountain to college collectively.”
Nationally, about 80 percent of KIPP kids have gone onto college, Mancini said. He also noted that all KIPP schools are offered as a public school option. Any parent who does not share their philosophy is free to enroll at a traditional school. Because the school is “counter-cultural,” it’s not for everyone, Mancini said.
“We’re not going to make it by holding hands and singing ‘We Shall Overcome,’ ” Mancini said. “It’s about hard work and building character.”
