Deborah Kenny

Deborah Kenny
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania Columbia University
Occupation	Founder and CEO of the Harlem Village Academies

Dr. Deborah Kenny is an American educator and the founder and Chief Executive of Harlem Village Academies, a network of charter schools in Harlem, New York.

Background

Dr. Kenny started the Harlem Village Academies charter schools^[1] shortly after her husband died from leukemia in 2001.^[2] She was the founding principal of the flagship Harlem Village Academy in 2001. Previously, Kenny served as Group President of Sesame Street Publishing, and as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development of Time Warner's Parenting Group. She is a former classroom teacher with expertise in youth leadership training and curriculum development. In starting the schools, Dr. Kenny was heavily influenced by Jack Welch’s approach to leadership and accountability.^[3]

Education

Dr. Kenny holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from Columbia University in comparative international education, and a B.A. Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

Work with Harlem Village Academies

Deborah Kenny is the founder and CEO Of Harlem Village Academies, a network of charter schools in Harlem. Kenny believes that there is an overemphasis on "The program elements…things like curriculum and class size and school size and longer day.” She believes that none of these program elements are nearly as important as the quality of teaching in the schools.^[4] "If you had an amazing teacher who was passionate and given the freedom and support to teach well that was just 100 times more important than anything else."^[5] Kenny believes that the emphasis on program elements is one of the main reasons it has been so hard to repeat the successes of good schools "They were trying to replicate programs instead of trying to develop people.” Instead, Kenny said, “I became obsessed with how to develop great teachers. You put all of your focus on finding great people, and you establish a culture that helps them constantly learn and grow and become better at what they do. You have to provide a community in the school that supports and respects teachers. And you have to give them the kind of freedom that allows their passion for teaching to flourish.”^[6]

Some of the country’s most powerful leaders in business, finance, media and entertainment have become close with Kenny and involved with her work in Harlem, including Hugh Jackman,^[7], Barry Diller, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Bloomberg,^[8] Dick Parsons, John Legend,^[9] Jack Welch, Katie Couric, Leon Black, Steve Forbes,^[10] Jonathan Gray, Edward Lewis, and others. President George W. Bush visited the flagship Harlem Village Academy in 2007 calling it “a model of excellence.”^[11]

Educational Philosophy

Dr. Kenny’s educational philosophy is built on her vision to create schools that she would be happy to send her own children to. “I had five core things in mind for my kids, and that’s what I want for our students. I wanted them to be wholesome in character. I wanted them to be compassionate and to see life as a responsibility to give something to the world. I wanted them to have a sophisticated intellect. I wanted them to be avid readers, the kind of person who always has trouble putting a book down. And I raised them to be independent thinkers, to lead reflective and meaningful lives”.^[12]

Her strategy for how to achieve this vision was presented in a Wall Street Journal article in 2010 called "A Teacher Quality Manifesto" in which she discusses workplace culture and how it impacts public education. In this, Dr. Kenny sets out her approach to creating workplace culture. She describes three components of culture: ownership, teamwork and learning that have been the key to elevating teacher quality at her schools, and she believes the only way to fundamentally change public education is to build a culture in schools that attracts talent, brings out passion and holds teachers accountable for results.^[13]

She has spoken out against an overemphasis on teacher evaluation. “The government is building a bureaucracy that used to be around compliance, I fear that we’re now building a bureaucracy around evaluation. Instead we need … to think deeply about human motivation. How do you bring out in someone the desire and drive to do their best, to hold themselves accountable.”^[14]

Kenny is a proponent of the charter model and has said in order to promote education reform we need to “charterize” the country: “What’s really critical is the freedom that you get with the charter to do whatever it takes to make it work. The secret is not the processes or systems that come out of the freedom and accountability. So we truly need every school in the country to have those underlying conditions of freedom and accountability. And then you’ll see people on fire in the classroom.”^[15]

She coined the phrase “authentic accountability” and she believes that authentic accountability can only happen in schools that have employment at will. “How do you provide all that trust and collaboration that all teachers need and deserve? The only way is authentic accountability. It’s not a top down bureaucracy, it’s not a checklist. It’s restoring humanity to the classroom by restoring human judgment to schools.”^[16]

Kenny is currently writing a book about her life and the founding of the schools.^[17]

Awards and Media

Dr. Kenny was selected and profiled by Bill Cosby in Oprah's 2010 power list. In addition, Kenny was featured in Esquire's annual Best & Brightest. Dr. Kenny is a frequent contributor to education reform discussion on MSNBC's Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough. In 2008 she was a panelist at the Allen and Company Sun Valley Conference.^[18] Dr. Kenny was honored as "Educator of the Year" presented by [[New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein,^[19] and received the national "Educators who Perform" award at the Center for Education Reform gala in Washington, DCCenter for Education Reform gala in Washington, DC.

References

1. ^ O, The Oprah Magazine 2010 Power Issue, October 2010
2. ^ Esquire, The best and Brightest, December 2007
3. ^ Esquire, The best and Brightest, December 2007
4. ^ The New York Times, Tuesday Feb 23, 3010 “Where the Bar Ought to Be”, Bob Herbert
5. ^ The New York Times, Tuesday Feb 23, 3010 “Where the Bar Ought to Be”, Bob Herbert
6. ^ The New York Times, Tuesday Feb 23, 3010 “Where the Bar Ought to Be”, Bob Herbert
7. ^ Diane's Diary Blog, May 2009, Diane Von Furstenberg
8. ^ The New York Post, March 12, 2009 "Bloomberg: Harlem School is 'Poster Child' for U.S.", David Seifman
9. ^ Diane's Diary Blog, May 2009, Diane Von Furstenberg
10. ^ Forbes, April 13, 2009 "Cowardly Pols Crucify Pilot Program for Kids", Steve Forbes
11. ^ CBS EVENING NEWS, APRIL 2007
12. ^ The New York Times, Tuesday Feb 23, 3010 “Where the Bar Ought to Be”, Bob Herbert
13. ^ Wall Street Journal, ‘A Teacher Quality Manifesto” , Deborah Kenny September 22, 2010
14. ^ MSNBC, September 28, 2011 "Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough", Joe Scarborough
15. ^ MSNBC, September 28, 2011 "Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough", Joe Scarborough
16. ^ MSNBC, September 28, 2011 "Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough", Joe Scarborough
17. ^ Wall Street Journal, ‘A Teacher Quality Manifesto” , Deborah Kenny September 22, 2010
18. ^ Business Week, Charter Schools get the Test scores Up, July 2008
19. ^ http://edreform.blogspot.com/2007/06/deborah-kenny-named-educator-of-year.html

Persondata
Name
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death