Essay On Forced Integration

Sadly, as a result of forced integration, Wheatley went from being a top school to one of the bottom schools in the district in a period of less than 10 years. There was some re-zoning in Houston, specifically in the fifth ward that placed white students in the zone of Wheatley High School territory which led to many white students leaving who were not in favor of the integration.

Popular opinion was that the integration efforts were moving too slowly, and there were several board members and protestors in favor is speeding up the efforts. One of those leaders was the first African American School Board Member, Hattie Mae White who spoke fervently in favor of desegregation despite strong opposition and some threats. Fortunately, Houston desegregation

It started as a program which was created by two Teach for America corps members teaching fifth grade in Houston Independent School District (HISD). Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin were disappointed with the mediocrity that pervaded their classrooms and schools and wanted to form a program to push students to reach their greatest potential. This program was called the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) and started with a fifth grade class. Shortly after formation of the program, they realized simply running a program would not be enough, so Feinberg sought independence through a state-granted Charter authorization in 1995. At the same time, Levin relocated to the Bronx, NY to replicate the model in New York City. The no excuses culture and college bound vision of the founders is what separated KIPP from other schools. Awareness of the KIPP school model spread throughout Houston and eventually throughout the country with some strong media coverage in the late 90s including 60 Minutes and Oprah. When San Francisco-based philanthropists and Gap Founders Don and Doris Fisher learned about KIPP, they were compelled to help scale the school model nationwide.

The story of KIPP Schools is known by many, but an interesting aspect of being placed in Houston is working closely with one of the founders, Mike Feinberg who is still very involved in our day to day operations. This unique element gives me intimate knowledge of the origins and inner-workings of

In order to run the KIPP program as an independent school, they had to break away from HISD. Rod Paige was the Houston ISD Superintendent in the mid-1990s when Mike and Dave were turning KIPP from a single program into a full-blown school. Although Paige was eventually won over on the idea of KIPP and became a champion, eventually the vision for KIPP Schools outgrew what the district could offer in terms of building space and resources, so this is when KIPP sought the state charter in 1995 from the Texas Education Agency. A difference of opinions on key issues between the HISD Superintendent, school board and KIPP founders was rooted in the growing city and state-wide debates on charter schools taking funding from local public schools and the overall philosophy of standardization versus KIPP’s philosophy of “Power to Lead” which gave school leaders (principals) autonomy to run their schools in the best way they saw fit to serve their student population.

During the early years of KIPP schools in both Houston and New York, the student population was mostly African American and Hispanic with 90% below the poverty line. This population had very low historic high school and college graduation rates. Today, the demographic of KIPP students is largely similar across the country, but