When Charter Schools “Pick” Their Way To Success

There have been a number of stories in the media lately highlighting charter schools for doing what others in the past have failed to do: raising test scores and having near perfect graduation records among mostly disenfranchised minority and poor populations… But sometimes the focus on the end result, including high scores and near perfect graduation rates, will mask what is often the less acknowledged reason for a particular charter school’s ability to outperform traditional public schools. And that is the ability to pick and choose the type of kids they want to teach. For most school districts, selective-based practices are considered illegal. But that doesn’t mean that some schools haven’t found crafty ways around the rules… the Success Academy is a network of 34 charter schools based in New York City. Last year, the network of schools came under fire for using a “Got to Go” list, as well as other tactics, to allegedly weed out undesirable students…

[MadameNoire]

Being Passive Aggressive In The Workplace Is Killing Your Career

… “People that are passive aggressive become known for being nice to your face and then behaving differently when their back is turned. This is bad for your career because it prevents you from building relationships with your co-workers and relationships are the currency of how people get things done at work,” said Karlyn Borysenko, principal of Zen Workplace. Speaking of currency, this type of behavior can also cause you to get passed over for promotions and raises. “Passive aggressive communication is wildly detrimental to your career because it can bring the entire team down, lower overall performance of the team, lead to missing deadlines or losing business,” said career and business coach Rachel Ritlop. Passive aggressiveness can also lead to lowered annual raises and even getting fired in some cases.” While many people don’t consider themselves to be passive-aggressive, Muse warns the real issue might be lack of self awareness…

[MadameNoire]

Pharrell Buys Back Control Of Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream

Pharrell Williams has taken back a controlling interested in the Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream. The Neptunes produced repurchased a 50% stake in the clothing brand’s he founded. Reports WWD: WWD has learned that the musician and his partners from BBC Miami have repurchased Iconix Brands Group Inc.’s 50 percent interest in BBC Ice Cream LLC, owner of the Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream streetwear brands. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. An Iconix spokeswoman acknowledged the ownership shift and said, “The sale of our interest in BBC and Ice Cream was a strategic decision to rationalize smaller noncore assets in the Iconix portfolio, allowing us to focus our time and resources on the larger cash flow generating brands. BBC and Ice Cream represented less than 1 percent of our total business.”

[HipHopWired]

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