I was born in Valparaiso, Indiana. My mother is an immigrant from India. My father is African-American and grew up in South Carolina and New York City. I have one sister and two nephews.
I moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane University when I was 18 and lived there for most of my adult life. Time away from New Orleans has included: Ghana (studying abroad), New Haven (law school at Yale), Sierra Leone (working at a war crimes tribunal), India (working with the Tibetan Government In-exile), and San Francisco, where I currently live.
I was part of the founding team, and eventually became CEO, of New Schools for New Orleans. In this role, I helped build the nation’s first school system where over 90% of students attend charter schools. As a result of this structural transition, New Orleans students are achieving at the highest levels in decades. A recent study found these reforms to have achieved a .2-.4 effect size, an effect previously unseen in city based reform. Yet, despite this growth, the school system is far from excellent.
Currently, I’m a Senior Fellow at the John and Laura Arnold Foundation and CEO of the Hastings Fund.
This blog represents my views only.
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Mr. Kingsland: I intend no personal slight here, nor do I mean to be acrimonious but your “work” is reprehensible. You may be a good guy and a decent human being, but your actions, judgments and values are indicative of a sickening privatizer mentality.
Your postings about the “gains” made by the charter “schools” in New Orleans are highly mendacious and deliberately deceptive.
You define the word “sellout” and you’re shamefully joining up with those who consciously and intentionally are denying average, working people the right to organize in their workplace; a fundamental human right recognized by every human rights convention since the Holocaust.
Shame on you.
Now, you’ve accepted the job of “Intellectual Bagman” A.K.A. “Obsequious Shill,” doing Reed Hastings’ dirty work in a dirty war to phase out our public schools and eliminate publicly elected school boards.
Do you think we’re unaware of The Internet? Or YouTube? Did you and your source of $$$ just forget that we can view Mr. Hastings gleefully tell people how he plans to trick the “dumb public” into letting him do away with taxpayer and citizen control of our public schools? Is Mr. Hastings obtuse on some fundamental level, or just arrogant to the point of being delusional? For a Bowdoin and Stanford graduate, he certainly has a stupid side.
And you—another academically gifted individual—is lining up to sell your soul for a few pieces of silver. I feel sorry for you and the bad associations that will forever be linked to your family name.
We are using deep learning AI to develop tools for the next generation of teachers. We think we have revolutionary game changing technology….It’s already been developed. Would very much like to talk to you about deploying it.
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Congratulations Neerav! This is great. I for one think the author of the previous comment is somewhat overstating how much of a monster you are. Judas Iscariot? sure. But bringing up the Holocaust might be a stretch. Plus, anyone who has to put quotes around dumb public clearly isn’t up on his PT Barnum. Good luck with the new job, and it’s fun to see old classmates making good.
From extensive Human Services work over the past decade, a few PK – 12 insights have presented themselves to us: children do not exist in a vacuum, strategic partnerships provide for the most comprehensive supports, opportunity youth have a value system all their own that IS penetrable, and skill development leads to success.
We use proprietary achievement algorithms to factor in real life (social determinants). We are experts in Human Services and adult education. What if we could build better bridges between at-risk youth and their teachers? Teachers and families? Schools and the community?
Crane can. Talk to us.
Neerav Kingsland
I am hoping you can help point me in the right direction thru your foundation or beyond in an effort to bridge a funding gap for Fiber to the Schools.
This could present a very unique opportunity for not just Vallejo but also as a template and hopefully a model for other communities to seek answers beyond the world of incumbent companies providing the old same Less for More less service higher price. We need disruptors not just in the marketplace we need them in our communities as well. Which of course is the reason you are so well respected.
I have been contacting many helpful people across the country, though most of them are foundations such as the SHLB and CLIC fighting the war on ignorance (the new feds) and policy (all important Work)
Though what seems sadly lacking throughout the country are the signposts of what can be accomplished in the trenches.
Since in your world of deeds and solid evidence showing results, I am hoping that you might counsel, advise or direct us how to navigate your world so that we might make a real difference in ours.
Basically in the short version, we have thru the leadership of our City Manager Daniel Keen, Mentor Jory Wolf (Former CIO of Santa Monica and the hard work of Will Morat , the City will be lighting up our fiber Optic network, fortunately laid down for traffic lights from a grant in late 90’s.
The City and and it’s partner provider are seeking to provide the School District with Fiber to all the schools and beyond that to provide those same students free internet access from their homes as well.
After E Rate funding to the school district for cost of infrastructure which according to John Harrington from Funds for Learning a very respected consultant for E Rate who had been recommended by the Director of SHLB.ORG. I believe E Rate funds 80%,of Infrastructure and there is a shortfall of approximately 500,000.00 that would need to be picked up by the School District. It seems the City is willing to pay about half of that.
While in a long range world this would be the smart and only choice,especially when access will extend to those students’ homes, it is nearly impossible to make in a moment to moment struggling school district.
I apologize I’m just a citizen so others from the City can correct my inaccuracies and clarify the facts. I appreciate your time to read this and all consideration you might guide me in this process. I want to be clear that I am not necessarily looking for you as the source of funding though hoping for sure but in the least hopefully you can be a resource to the next step along our way.
I look forward to hearing back from you or a conversation.
Sincerely,
Robert Brekke cell