Great Inner-City High Schools April 3, 2018March 31, 2018 Low-income kids go off to college at twice the rate they did 40 years ago; but — stubbornly — still only about only about 1 in 5 graduates with a four-year degree. We can do better, says Success Academy founder and CEO Eva Moskowitz. Having already achieved astounding results in the lower grades . . . If Success Academy were its own school district, it would rank No. 1 in New York state, outperforming the second highest by 10 percentage points in math and 3 percentage points in ELA . . . all the more significant, given that 73% of Success Academy’s testing students are economically disadvantaged. . . . Success now hopes its high schools will become a model as well. Eva writes: Success Academy has spent the past four years intensively focused on creating a rigorous and innovative high school model that fully prepares graduates from all backgrounds to thrive and triumph in college and beyond. We are proud to share this virtual experience of our high schools, which documents our approach and values, and the core components that we feel are essential to achieving excellence with a nonselective student body. You can enter classrooms, meet teachers and scholars, and explore the sophisticated academics, diverse extracurricular and summer programs, and robust advising and college preparatory programs that are designed to propel students to and through selective colleges. Closing the college completion gap is a crucial step in achieving equity for poor children and ensuring the future strength of our country. We hope our virtual high school will inspire and support educators and public officials across our nation as they work toward this goal, and ultimately advance the national movement for educational justice. Twenty-five thousand visitors from 47 states and 80 countries have already taken virtual tours of the Success lower grades. Now they can tour the high schools. The goal is not to denigrate the many already-wonderful high schools around America; let alone to denigrate the enormous numbers of wonderful teachers — or to threaten their unions. But if schools that are not so wonderful, and students who are struggling, could do better — and at no greater taxpayer expense — don’t we owe it to our kids to take a look? *Success got a big boost from wealthy donors to help develop and scale its model. I’m proud to have contributed to the first school; there are now 46. But they operate on no more taxpayer funds, per capita, than New York spends to fund its traditional public schools.