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How to reverse alarming education decline in U.S. and around the world: Teach for All founder Wendy Kopp
How to reverse alarming education decline in U.S. and around the world: Teach for All founder Wendy Kopp

CNBC

time6 days ago

  • Business
  • CNBC

How to reverse alarming education decline in U.S. and around the world: Teach for All founder Wendy Kopp

Wendy Kopp grew up as a member of "the me generation," during a period of time when she says young, highly educated Americans were "convinced that we all wanted to go to work on Wall Street." But that ideology didn't resonate with Kopp, who graduated from Princeton University in 1989. When firms were trying to recruit graduates who could commit two years to work at their firm, Kopp asked herself, "Why aren't we being as aggressively recruited to commit just two years to teach in our country?" She became heavily invested in answering that question. "It's a big, complex, systemic challenge, and we know that no one thing will solve this problem, that ultimately it will take many things, which means it will take a lot of leadership, at every level of the system, the whole ecosystem around kids," Kopp told CNBC's Julia Boorstin in a recent interview for the CNBC Changemakers Spotlight series. Kopp was named to the 2025 CNBC Changemakers list. "We need what we've come to call collective leadership, meaning enough people who are on a mission to make the system work for kids, who are all working together, exercising leadership in their individual positions, as teachers, as school leaders, as school system leaders in government, as social innovators, as advocates, but who are also stepping up from their individual pursuits and working together." Kopp began making that mission a reality decades ago as founder of Teach for America, but the mission has grown. "There was a particular year when we met 13 people from 13 different countries who were determined that something similar needed to happen in their countries," said Kopp. Teach For All, the newer organization where Kopp is also founder and CEO, oversees a network of 15,000 teachers reaching 1.3 million students around the world, from the U.S. to India, Zimbabwe, and Afghanistan. She shared with CNBC her ideas on leadership and what needs to change in the way we educate children, including the role of AI. And she made clear there is still a lot of work left to be done. "We are really in the midst of this very depressing, huge educational decline," Kopp said. "Educational outcomes on average in the developed countries, the OECD countries, have been declining since before Covid, and for something like 30 years-plus, they've been declining in low to middle income countries." Education is not failing students for lack of trying, according to Kopp. "A lot of people are throwing a lot at the issue," she said, but added that a key lesson she has earned is that focusing on the technical practices of education, the curriculum, the technology, and getting the buildings open, is important but not sufficient. "We need to figure out how to foster the sense of purpose throughout a system so that all those things are done with intention, and that's really where we've been lacking," she said. Kopp says AI is a good example of how this lesson can go heeded, or if not heeded, lead to disappointing outcomes. Despite widespread fears about AI, the most important positive from her perspective is that AI has given every teacher a personal assistant. "That's game-changing," she said. "These are some of the most overworked professionals, and now they can do many, many things much more easily. So that is already a revolution," she added. But she stressed that it is only the technology "in the hands of an extraordinary teacher" that is an "incredible accelerant of good things for kids." However, technology in a school "where there's no sense of purpose and where you don't have engaging teachers, becomes the world's biggest distraction." "We need to be really careful about assuming that the technology will solve the problem, because everything we've seen tells us that if we want to have change in education [and] we want to have positive things happening for kids, we need to first think about the people in the puzzle and cultivate what we've come to call collective leadership, cultivate the teachers and the school leaders and the whole system to be on a mission to ensure that all kids learn and to get kids on that same mission." It is only in that context, Kopp says, that technology can be revolutionary. In her early days at Teach for America, Kopp would send handwritten letters to investors and organizations, an era when email did not exist. From 10 letters, she might get one or two positive responses and one meeting with the goal of funding Teach For America. "I just kept telling myself, as long as I get two yesses, or even one yes ... Because then one person connects you to the next person," she said. Kopp said right now there is plenty of evidence of current young generations' commitment to justice, and environmental sustainability, and platforms like social media make the world's challenges more visible than ever. She said the "most valuable asset" these generations have is their time and energy to take on the world's biggest challenges and to be part of collective movements to actually solve them. And she says key to this "boots on the ground" mission will be selling the idea just as she did to the doubters. Back when she was getting Teach for America founded, people in schools and school systems were supportive of the need, but also told her, "this will never work. You will never get college students to do this." That only made Kopp double down on her mission. "That was the feedback, I thought, 'Okay, well, I know we'll get the college students.' I had real confidence in pursuing it." But Kopp also stressed that conviction isn't at its best alone. "We've got to walk the right line between confidence and humility," she said. "We need to act on our convictions, on our values, on our big ideas, but also be open to learning and build the relationships and ask for feedback. I think it's getting that intersection right." As her educational mission has scaled across the globe, Kopp has seen how young graduates from engineers to political science majors can quickly develop a track record of leadership after enlisting for just two years. "Those two years are so important for their students and so important for the leadership trajectories of those teachers. They're completely transformative. They lead to a lifetime of leadership," she said. Dating back to the founding of Teach for America, the organizations have brought in 120,000 people who committed just two years "but have never left the work," Kopp said. "75% of them never leave the work after their two-year commitment to teach. They may leave the classroom, but they become those leaders who are working throughout the system, who have the networks and relationships to work with each other and with many others in the system to affect the changes that we need to see," she said. That has stayed true as the organization's mission expanded globally, and to countries where Kopp worried it would be hard for people to stay long-term. "Yet we saw the same results everywhere, even the same data points. You could be in Chile or Peru or Austria or India, and no matter what, you commit two years, and 75% of you will never leave," she said. If at first young educators came into the mission thinking of it as a "kind of a technical problem and solution," and they would emerge as civic leaders in other segments of society, Kopp says they came out "really understanding the complexity, the systemic nature, the adaptive nature of the solution." "What we saw through that research is they really become the leaders we need, who have such a sense of possibility, such a deep understanding of the issues and their solutions, and we also saw that their career trajectories and priorities completely shift," she said. Kopp says "once you get obsessed with an idea, you can't let it go." "And that's why we need young people tackling big challenges," Kopp said. "They'll ask big questions and dive in without being held back by all the experience." Kopp has traveled the globe as a result of her work, and as a result, she has logged plenty of hours failing to solve a problem unrelated to education: jet lag. But she finally figured it out. "I used to have such severe jet lag when I would go from East to West, back home, and I heard from someone the trick is you don't eat on the plane, and when you land, you go on a run before you eat anything. And for many, many years, I didn't do it. I finally just resorted to it, and I've not had jet lag since." "I travel so much, and it really has solved my problem."

New York City Democrats face a clear choice: Socialist, or Cuomo?
New York City Democrats face a clear choice: Socialist, or Cuomo?

Yahoo

time23-06-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

New York City Democrats face a clear choice: Socialist, or Cuomo?

A Zohran Mamdani victory in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary would give progressives much-needed energy as they try to keep the party's center of gravity from shifting to the right. And the nervous Democratic establishment is acting accordingly to make sure he doesn't survive Tuesday's ranked-choice vote. Mamdani, a progressive state assemblyman, is running as a 180-degree turn from scandal-laden incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who declared himself 'the future' of his party just four years ago. The 33-year-old Muslim has promised New Yorkers free buses, rent freezes, and disinvestment from Israel — and he could become one of the most prominent Democratic figures in the US, should he win the nomination to take on Adams, a centrist who's now running on the independent line. He'll have to beat back a broad alliance of opponents, many of whom dislike his criticism of Israel's war in Gaza and some of whom are openly supporting his primary rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The Democratic Majority For Israel rebuked Mamdani for his 'long-standing enmity towards Israel' and urged New York Democrats to reject him; the center-left group Third Way called his potential victory 'a devastating blow in the fight to defeat Trumpism.' Whitney Tilson, a mayoral candidate and former hedge fund manager who helped start Teach for America, has campaigned extensively against Mamdani. He echoed the pointed criticism he has faced for his amid the war in Gaza. 'I think he's a particular threat to both the Jewish community and the business community, with his radical socialism and hatred of Israel,' Tilson told Semafor, after stopping at a Ukrainian festival in Brooklyn where he talked about sending aid to defend the country from Russia. A defeat for Cuomo, whose lead stretched as high as 32 points when he entered the race, would be a remarkable upset — and prevent a comeback that many city leaders had made peace with. 'Eight months after being at 1%, we now stand just a few points away from toppling a political dynasty,' Mamdani told supporters on Sunday, at one of his final pre-vote rallies. New York Democrats are filling out ranked-choice ballots that allow them to pick up to five candidates, out of 11, using the same electoral system that narrowly gave Adams his 2021 victory. That's loomed as a challenge for Cuomo. Universally known by voters, he's consistently led the field; more than a third of New York Democrats are calling him their first-choice candidate, dominating the expected vote in the Bronx and Staten Island. But Cuomo entered the race with the highest negative ratings of any Democratic candidate and his own scandal-marked record. His many enemies, including progressives who fumbled their 2021 campaign to stop Adams, had more time to plan. In February, before Adams quit the race and Cuomo entered, a group of progressives launched 'Don't Rank Eric Adams for Mayor,' or DREAM, to advertise their strategy. When Cuomo tagged in, the acronym was changed to Don't Rank Evil Andrew. Mamdani's campaign surged ahead of every Cuomo alternative, despite some liberal worries about whether he could build a winning coalition. By early June, they had accepted reality: The Working Families Party put Mamdani at the top of its slate, as did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as Comptroller Brad Lander cross-endorsed Mamdani and Bernie Sanders announced his own support for him. In the final days of the race, as public polling showed Mamdani with a real chance to win, Cuomo picked up endorsements from centrist Democrats who describe him as the most experienced candidate. But early voting was higher in the neighborhoods where Mamdani has run the strongest — and where his campaign has concentrated its volunteers. On Monday, centrist Democrats fretted that the 33-year old could beat Cuomo, with a combination of lower Election Day turnout during a heat wave, solidarity from most of the anti-Cuomo candidates, and an unapologetically progressive campaign that made no mistakes. The New York Times, which declined to endorse in the race, instead published an editorial (that would immediately be quoted in a Cuomo ad) labeling Mamdani's agenda 'uniquely unsuited to the city's challenges.' A Mamdani victory, argued Matt Bennett, senior vice president for public affairs at Third Way, would put Democratic Socialists for America under the spotlight at a weak moment for the anti-Trump opposition. 'The stuff in the DSA platform is insane,' Bennett said. Third Way, which usually ignores mayoral contests, weighed in against Mamdani because they saw his membership in DSA as an enormous optics problem. 'Open the prisons and shut 'em down? Open the borders and make everything free? It's like a 9th-grader's idea of what a Marxist fantasy would be. It's packed with ideas that could be weaponized by Republicans,' Bennett one sure thing about this race is that it won't be over on Tuesday night. It will take some time to count ballots until one candidate has crossed the 50% win threshold; polling suggested that this could take five rounds of ranked-choiced math, or more. If Cuomo wins, there will be pressure on the Working Families Party to give Mamdani its ballot line for November, and to elect him in a contest with Cuomo as the Democratic nominee, Adams as an independent, businessman Jim Walden as another independent, and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa as a Republican. The late angst about a Mamdani win suggests another possible five-way contest: Mamdani as the Democratic nominee, and Cuomo as the nominee of his Fight and Deliver Party. (Cuomo's father Mario, who lost the 1977 Democratic mayoral primary, lost again in November as the defunct Liberal Party's nominee.) The bigger question is what it means for the Democratic Party's brand. Outside New York, Cuomo's comeback looked inevitable until the last couple of weeks. Before that, Mamdani's rise as his chief rival gave pro-Cuomo Democrats hope. Surely, they thought, a less left-wing candidate like Lander or City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams would be more formidable. They viewed the choice the way Jeb Bush's campaign viewed Donald Trump's rise 10 years ago — a distraction that would get the anti-establishment bug out of voters' systems, preventing a challenger who might be able to win. Surely, a socialist who refused to acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a 'Jewish state' or condemn the slogan 'globalize the Intifada' would punch himself out before anybody voted. He didn't punch himself out. National Democrats have barely started to consider what it would mean if Mamdani can secure the nomination in New York — for their party's internal politics, for how their voters want to fight Trump, or for how ready they might be to throw off old Politico, Jonathan Martin a Mamdani campaign that made 'affordability' its 'heartbeat' and became more robust than Cuomo et al expected. In New York, Errol Louis stock of the mistakes the city's Democratic elites made on the way to the primary. Earlier this month, I looked at the lessons Mamdani was from Bernie Sanders, in campaigning and in governing.

Have California Republicans finally found their spines on Trump?
Have California Republicans finally found their spines on Trump?

San Francisco Chronicle​

time09-05-2025

  • Politics
  • San Francisco Chronicle​

Have California Republicans finally found their spines on Trump?

Like many California Republicans, Rep. Kevin Kiley has gone out of his way to show he's not just on board with President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's priorities — he's eager to help make them happen. Since Trump's election, Kiley, of Rocklin (Placer County), has introduced bills to eliminate funding for California's high-speed rail, to allow law enforcement officers to ignore the state's sanctuary law and to reverse its law to phase out gas-powered cars. He even introduced a measure to reform Federal Aviation Administration bureaucracy that he made clear would benefit Musk's SpaceX. So, it was a surprise to see a far more measured statement from Kiley on Friday asking his House colleagues to 'provide robust funding for AmeriCorps' in the upcoming budget. It was a gentle way of acknowledging the obvious: Trump's cuts are hurting his constituents. Musk's Department of Government Efficiency recently cut $400 million from AmeriCorps, the national volunteer program that connects young adults to volunteer opportunities in poor neighborhoods. Kiley, a veteran of AmeriCorps' Teach for America program, did not directly mention Musk, Trump or the cuts in his plea. But he gave a nod to DOGE's purported mission by touting the programs as 'proven, cost-effective solutions to longstanding workforce challenges.' Kiley isn't the only California Republican who is beginning to speak out as popular programs and agencies are unceremoniously gutted. Some state lawmakers this week joined Democrats in defending programs that have been gutted. More than a dozen Republicans in the state Legislature signed onto a letter pleading with their congressional colleagues to preserve funding for Head Start, which provides free early learning and support services across the state, which they called 'foundational to our state's early childhood education, home visiting, and family support infrastructure.' About two-thirds of the state Legislature signed on while doing something exceedingly rare under Trump — it stated that the bipartisan group is 'deeply aligned' on the 'shared goals of advancing opportunity, equity, and economic resilience.' (Nobody tell the Republicans who signed the letter that they just put to paper their commitment to the 'E' in DEI.) Meanwhile, a separate discussion in the state Assembly this week further exemplified the tightrope Republicans are walking as they take pains to avoid disparaging Trump — even as they oppose his efforts. Lawmakers were discussing a resolution calling on Trump to honor his commitments to wildfire mitigation projects and urging him to veto any legislation that would defund the U.S. Forest Service. It's a symbolic gesture that doesn't include any action or spending. Still, Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher scolded Democrats for their 'rhetoric' regarding the president even as he admitted he supported the measure. Another Republican, Assembly Member Carl DeMaio, likened Democrats criticizing Trump to 'the devil complaining about sin.' Yet he, too, voted for the resolution. It passed unanimously. None of these actions by Republicans were particularly courageous; they all involved wildly popular programs. Head Start is supported by a whopping 74% of Trump voters, according to a recent survey. And California Republicans, unlike their colleagues in red states, have to navigate their allegiance to Trump while representing a state where he is deeply unpopular. One recent poll found that '68% of registered voters in California disapprove of the president's job performance and believe the country is on the wrong track,' according to the Los Angeles Times. The same phenomenon is happening in New York, where some of Trump's top allies in Congress pushed back aggressively against a proposal to raise the cap on state and local tax deductions, known as SALT. 'A higher SALT cap isn't a luxury. It's a matter of fairness. We reject this offer,' they wrote in a letter. Defending noncontroversial programs is an easy way for these politicians to show they're attuned to their constituents' needs. And the sheer breadth of the Trump-led cuts makes it possible for Republicans to pick and choose the most appealing programs to defend. Is anyone in favor of being blindsided by an atmospheric river? Anti-preschooler? Yet the increasing frequency with which Republicans appear to be taking public stands against Trump suggests that the missing-in-action Congress might be awakening to his most egregious actions. This week, Senate Republicans — the ones who welcomed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth into top leadership positions — forced Trump to abandon his nomination of Ed Martin, an extremist who defended Jan. 6 rioters, as U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. It's against this backdrop that Republicans in Congress will be wrestling with budget cuts, including, potentially, cutting billions from Medicaid. Republicans in swing districts, including California Reps. David Valadao of Bakersfield and Young Kim of Anaheim, told House Speaker Mike Johnson in a letter that 'we cannot and will not support a final reconciliation bill that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.' Of course, letters are one thing; standing up to Trump in a contentious budget showdown is another. It's far from clear whether these lawmakers would buckle under meaningful pressure from Trump. Still, their pushback this week offers at least an acknowledgment that Trump's moves are impacting many of their constituents' livelihoods — and perhaps soon, their own.

Three finalists named to lead Massachusetts education department
Three finalists named to lead Massachusetts education department

Boston Globe

time15-04-2025

  • Politics
  • Boston Globe

Three finalists named to lead Massachusetts education department

'We're excited to have three highly qualified and passionate leaders as finalists for the next DESE commissioner,' said Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler in a statement. 'This public interview process will allow the Board and Massachusetts families and educators to hear from each candidate about their vision for equity, excellence, and innovation in our public schools. We look forward to an engaging and transparent discussion.' Tutwiler sits on the state board and in recent weeks has served Related : Advertisement The education commissioner oversees day-to-day operations of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which regulates public and charter K-12 schools. The commissioner's duties include creating long-term plans for the department, providing technical assistance, guidance, and training to school districts, collecting and publishing data, and implementing the school accountability system. Here's more about the finalists: Jack Elsey Elsey, an administrator for education non-profits, is the founder and chief executive of state shortages. Advertisement Early in his career, he worked as a middle school social studies teacher with Teach for America in New York City and in media and school relations for Teach for America. He later worked as an administrator in Detroit Public Schools and Chicago Public Schools, then served as chief schools officer for Michigan's Education Achievement Authority, a state-run program to turn around Detroit's lowest-performing schools. The agency appears to have shut down at the end of Elsey's tenure. Elsey spent the next five years running the Detroit Children's Fund before founding the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative in 2022. Elsey has a master's degree of education in educational leadership from the Broad Center at the Yale School of Management. Lily Laux Laux spent nearly seven years at the Early in her career, Laux was a middle school teacher in Memphis City Schools at a Title I middle school for nearly two years from 2006-08. Starting in 2008, she worked for about nine years for Teach for America as an advisor and manager of a training institute, Laux is currently the Laux has a PhD in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in history, political theory, sociology, and education. Related : Advertisement Pedro Martinez Martinez is the recently fired CEO of Chicago Public Schools, a district of more than 325,000 students with a budget of more than $9 billion. In 2015, he was a finalist for Martinez has led multiple school districts, previously serving as superintendent of Reno, Nevada's Washoe County School District and as superintendent of the San Diego Independent School District. He also served as 'superintendent in residence' for the Nevada Department of Education. Twice in his career, Martinez has ended up in a public dispute with his employers, including Chicago Public Schools. While working as superintendent in Washoe County, Nev., he was fired in 2014 by that school district after about two years on the job, after building tensions with the teachers union. He took legal action against the board and will stay until June, under the terms of his contract. Like Elsey, Martinez is an alum of the Yale's Broad Center. An immigrant from Mexico who arrived in Chicago with his family when he was 5, he was the first in his family to graduate high school and attend college. Globe staff writer James Vaznis contributed to this story. This is a developing story and will be updated. John Hilliard can be reached at

Former school board member officially wins seat in SC House
Former school board member officially wins seat in SC House

Yahoo

time26-03-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Former school board member officially wins seat in SC House

Courtney Waters was officially elected to the represent the House's 113th District on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Courtney Waters) South Carolina's newest legislator is a former Charleston County school board member and the state's Teach for America director. Democrat Courtney Waters, 35, officially won a seat Tuesday representing North Charleston in the state House. She was unopposed in the special election after defeating a pair of opponents in January's Democratic primary. She expects to be sworn in Tuesday. Waters paints herself as a Democratic voice willing to reach across the aisle. She said her focus will be education, affordable housing, child care, abortion access, and the environment. 'I'm just looking forward to knowing the system better and figuring out how to make it work for District 113,' she told the SC Daily Gazette Tuesday night. She will assume the seat left vacant by former Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, who resigned in September amid a state investigation into claims he settled a former client's lawsuit without telling him, then tried to buy him off to prevent the allegations from becoming public. After SC legislator resigned, he won anyway. Now a special election is set. Pendarvis won re-election anyway in November as the only candidate on the ballot. He declined to re-take the seat, triggering the special election. Waters served on the Charleston County school board from 2020-2024, an experience that she said served as a catalyst for her new role. 'After my time on the school board, I was fortunate that enough people appreciated my service there that folks asked if I'd consider running,' Waters said. The North Charleston native received nearly 70% of the vote in a three-way primary in January. Michelle Brandt, the state Democratic Party's third vice chair, was far behind at 28%, followed by Kim Clark, with less than 2% of votes cast. No Republican ran for the heavily Democratic seat. Waters' supporters included two Democratic state senators: Deon Tedder, who won a special election in November 2023 for a district that includes North Charleston, and Ed Sutton, who last November won a seat representing areas including downtown Charleston and West Ashley. Tedder, who first met Waters at a training event held by the Legislative Black Caucus on how to run a campaign, was elected to the state House as Waters won her seat on the school board. He described Waters as a well-respected, outspoken person who can explain complicated issues to constituents. 'I knew she was the right person for the job,' he said.

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