Penn alum turns Houston underachievers into leaders

As Undergraduate Assembly Vice President in the early 1990s, Michael Feinberg battled University Trustee Robert Fox to lower tuition. But 10 years later, Feinberg returned to Penn for the Fox Leadership Program's lecture series, endowed by Robert Fox himself. Since graduating from the College in 1991, Feinberg has played a revolutionary role in urban education -- co-founding the Knowledge is Power Program Middle School in Houston. Currently, he is superintendent of KIPP Houston and CEO of the KIPP Foundation. Wednesday afternoon, 20 Penn students found their way to the Chemistry Building to hear the progressive educator speak. Feinberg shared how he and his partner stayed up nights at Kinko's developing the prototype for their vision -- a high-discipline school that would give inner city students the tools and support necessary for success. "Quit focusing on shortcuts.... There are no shortcuts!" Feinberg said he drills into his students. KIPP students find little time to even worry about shortcuts. They arrive at school at 7:25 a.m. and stay until 5:00 p.m. They go to school on Saturdays and one month during the summer. Feinberg said that students who enter KIPP as fifth graders "are already four to five years behind grade level." KIPP's goal is to bring students to grade level in two years and then help them excel, Feinberg said. His ultimate goal is to give students the foundation to succeed at first-rate high schools, affording them the opportunity to attend college. And the school succeeds. The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills reports that 98 percent of KIPP students pass all sections of the test. Such statistics are impressive, considering that KIPP does not look at students' previous academic records. Feinberg said that last year, high schools from across the country awarded graduating KIPP students $3 million in scholarships. KIPP graduates wind up at the best high schools, from Houston's public institutions to private boarding schools. College and Wharton freshman Tony Tai visited Houston KIPP last summer. "Having been through Houston public schools, I knew their shortcomings," Tai said. "I was amazed at [KIPP's] dedication." According to Feinberg, teachers give students their home phone numbers so they can immediately eliminate any homework confusion. But some Penn students in attendance on Wednesday were also skeptical of KIPP's applicability nationwide. "It's a great initiative with proven results, but not for 50 million students," College freshman Brandon Gersch said.