Charter Schools Get the Test Scores Up

Village Academies founder Deborah Kenny is racking up remarkable successes with young black and Latino students in New York's Harlem

Deborah Kenny with Village Academies students in Harlem.

by Tom Lowry

When investment banker Herb Allen's annual gathering of media executives kicks off in Sun Valley on July 8, plenty of familiar faces will be seen strolling the picturesque grounds in the shadow of Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains. This year, however, the star of the show may not be Time Warner's (TWX) Jeff Bewkes, Walt Disney's (DIS) Robert Iger, or IAC's (IACI) Barry Diller. It may very well be a 44-year-old educator from Harlem.

She is Deborah Kenny, founder and CEO of the Village Academies charter schools. Allen invited Kenny to speak at the conference about education reform. She is one of the few educators ever to address the group, and unlike most of her audience of media moguls, Kenny may actually have some positive results to brag about. In just five years, test scores have improved dramatically at her schools, in a part of New York that historically has had 75% failure rates.

"The state of education in this country is an epidemic. Thousands and thousands of kids are trapped in failing schools with no chance in life," says Kenny. "But it is not like a disease you can't cure. If it can be done in Harlem, it can be done elsewhere."

Ill-Prepared Employees

In the more than two decades that Allen & Co. has hosted the Sun Valley conference, the scene has evolved from a hothouse of dealmaking to a forum where broader issues, economic and social, are discussed. And while media moguls may not be talking much about hiring this year, a great concern remains that the workforce is ill prepared for a globalized economy. That's why education is a live topic in corporate headquarters and why, when reformers such as Kenny come along and have a good story to tell, executives listen.

Kenny clearly knows how to exploit that. One talent that should make her feel right at home in Sun Valley is an ability to schmooze. Village's board of trustees and its ardent supporters include a bevy of big names, such as former General Electric (GE) Chairman Jack Welch, IAC's Diller, Essence Communications founder Ed Lewis, Bill Cosby, Charles Bronfman, Tiki Barber, Rupert Murdoch, Richard Parsons, who is chairman of Time Warner, and Steve Forbes. Many have donated money individually to Village Academies. "She's remarkable and has an incredible self-confidence," says Welch. "Deborah is single-minded about her mission at the schools. She runs a meritocracy that doesn't tolerate lackadaisical performance."