School Hopes to Recruit the
Best
Principal of new KIPP charter school travels country
seeking top teachers for its opening
The Times Union, By Rick Karlin
(November 26, 2004)
ALBANY -- As principal at
the planned KIPP Tech Valley Charter school, Dan Ceaser is traveling
the nation in search of his dream team of teachers.
Literally.
"We're looking all across
the country," said Ceaser, 27, who was recently named to head Tech
Valley, which is scheduled to open late next summer in Albany with
90 fifth-graders. "I hope to go wherever I can find qualified
teachers."
In addition to Washington,
where Ceaser was meeting with prospective teachers, he has been in
New York City, home of one of the original KIPP charter schools.
And as part of his training
to be a KIPP principal, he has served residencies, similar to what
medical students do, at KIPP schools in Oklahoma City and Newark,
N.J.
Ceaser also will be looking
for teachers in Albany. He and other KIPP staffers plan this winter
to knock on doors in Arbor Hill, meeting parents and helping to
recruit students for the new school, which will eventually serve 360
youngsters in grades 5-8.
Tech Valley will be located
on Northern Boulevard across the street from the Albany city
district's Livingston Middle School. It is one of two charter middle
schools scheduled to open next year. The Achievement Academy, which
will serve 75 fifth-graders, is the other.
Charter schools are
publicly funded by the school districts where their students live
but operate independently of the districts. They have been
controversial because they drain money from the districts, critics
say.
Additionally, a recently
released study by the federal Department of Education found that
charter schools in five states -- Texas, Colorado, Illinois,
Massachusetts and North Carolina -- were lagging behind mainstream
public schools.
KIPP, however, has gained
national attention for what observers have said are the school's
high test scores, with students typically outperforming their public
school neighbors.
For example, the Bronx KIPP
school, one of the originals, has for seven years boasted the
highest math and reading scores of any taxpayer-funded middle school
in the borough.
Founded a decade ago in
Houston by two young teachers who worked with Teach for America, a
program that recruits motivated college graduates to work in needy
schools, KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) has grown to 38 schools
nationwide.
Like others who use the
KIPP system, Ceaser stressed that there is no "magic bullet" to
KIPP's success other than long hours, hard work and careful hiring
of the most energetic, talented teachers they can find. KIPP's
school day runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and there is a half day
twice a month on Saturdays. Additionally, they aim for 200 days of
school a year, compared to 180 days in most public districts. KIPP
teachers, Ceaser said, also get cellphones so their students can
reach them to discuss issues such as homework questions.
"Our teachers are the heart
and soul of KIPP," said Ceaser.
For that extra work,
teachers are generally paid 15 percent or 20 percent more than their
counterparts in the public districts. Precise salary levels in the
Albany city district where not immediately available from the
district earlier in the week, but average salaries are more than
$50,000.
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