Friday, February 2, 2018

Astroturf Phony Parent Group Families for Excellent Schools CEO Jeremiah Kittredge fired

O, the joy!
DUHHHHH! Jeremiah Kittredge has been totally inappropriate in so many ways. Another loser pal of Eva Moskowitz, who had no comment. Et Tu Eva?
JEREMIAH KITTREDGE FIRED — POLITICO's Eliza Shapiro : Jeremiah Kittredge, the CEO of the pro-charter school group Families for Excellent Schools, has been fired following an "independent investigation" into "inappropriate behavior toward a non-employee," according to a statement from FES board chair Bryan Lawrence on Wednesday afternoon. A spokesman for the group declined to comment further. The group is one of the best-funded charter advocacy organizations in the country. It received more than $13 million from the Walton Family Foundation between 2014 and 2016 alone. It has become omnipresent in New York over the last several years, and has served as an unofficial lobbying arm for Success Academy, one of the nation's highest-performing and most influential charter school networks.
More links:

Pro-charter school group CEO booted for inappropriate behavior - NY ... www.nydailynews.com/.

Pro-charter school CEO fired over 'inappropriate behavior' accusations ...https://nypost.com/..

And for an analysis of Kittredge's disastrous venture into the Massachusettes charter debate - see (also below the break).

https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2018/01/31/families-for-excellent-schools-ceo-jeremiah-kittredge-fired-after-investigation-into-inappropriate-behavior-229294


Families for Excellent Schools CEO fired after investigation into 'inappropriate behavior'

Jeremiah Kittredge, the CEO of the pro-charter school group Families for Excellent Schools, has been fired following an "independent investigation" into "inappropriate behavior toward a non-employee," according to a statement from FES board chair Bryan Lawrence on Wednesday afternoon.
A spokesman for the group declined to comment further.
The group is one of the best-funded charter advocacy organizations in the country. It received more than $13 million from the Walton Family Foundation between 2014 and 2016 alone. It has become omnipresent in New York over the last several years, and has served as an unofficial lobbying arm for Success Academy, one of the nation's highest-performing and most influential charter school networks.
Kittredge helped to create the group and served as its founder for several years, earning a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
He successfully engineered large marches in 2014 and 2015 to protest Mayor Bill de Blasio's charter school policies. Kittredge quickly leveraged those logistical victories in New York to turn FES into a national pro-charter brand, expanding into Connecticut and Massachusetts in 2015.
But he soon ran into trouble, potentially accounting for the "other factors" that Lawrence said led to Kittredge's termination.
Kittredge helped push for a ballot initiative in Massachusetts that would have increased the number of charter schools that could open in the state. He pushed Gov. Charlie Baker to champion the initiative, known as Question 2, and directed $20 million in private money to support the ballot question.
It failed by 25 points at the polls in November 2016. A few months later, the state's campaign finance office found that Families for Excellent Schools had illegally concealed its donors. It banned the group from lobbying in the state for four years, and handed down a $426,500 fine.
A report commissioned by the Walton Family Foundation into the Question 2 campaign turned into an autopsy after the initiative flunked.
Multiple sources in Massachusetts have criticized Kittredge's management style and said that his brash, overly confident approach caused them to leave education reform altogether.
And Kittredge has become an increasingly unpopular figure among his colleagues in New York, who have said he doesn't have the experience or credentials to lead on education reform.
But he has been seen as a darling of the nation's top charter donors, particularly Wall Street financiers and hedge fund managers. He is a close ally of Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz.
A spokesman for Mosokwitz said she wouldn't comment on Kittredge's firing.

2 comments:

Michael Fiorillo said...

Glad to see him taken down, but things will be better for all when these people are fired for what they do to schools, children and teachers.

Anonymous said...

Kitteredge has been a scumbag since day one. The NY Post considered him some sort of ed-deform God. I for one am more than delighted to see his fall from grace. Maybe he will crawl back to whatever hedgefund hell hole job he originally came from