Success Academy Charter Schools To Get New Chairman

NEW YORK, NY — A financier will take over as chairman of Success Academy, New York City's largest charter school network, this summer following racially charged remarks by the current chair. Steven M. Galbraith will replace Daniel Loeb at the head of Success Academy's board of trustees on July 1, the group announced Monday.

In his new job, Galbraith, the board's current treasurer, will oversee a network of 46 charter schools that serve more than 15,000 students, most of them children of color from poor families.

"From our earliest days, Steve Galbraith has been an extraordinary thought partner and tireless champion of children," Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz said in a statement. "Through his wise stewardship of our finances, Success has been able to grow to meet the demand of parents who are desperate to find a high-quality school for their children."

Galbraith, the co-founder of the venture capital firm Kindred Capital, has led the board's finance committee for five years, according to a news release. He served on the board of Success Academy's second school in Harlem and later founded a Bronx school with his wife.

Success Academy credited Loeb, a billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist, with growing the network from 22 to 46 schools in his five-year tenure and leading it to national recognition, including the 2017 Broad Prize for Charter Schools.

Loeb remained at the helm even after he made a racially charged comment on Facebook last August saying state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins — who is black — of doing "more damage to people of color than anyone who has ever donned a hood," an apparent reference to the Ku Klux Klan.

Loeb reportedly apologized for the comment and ultimately deleted it. Moskowitz said the apology was "appropriate and absolutely necessary," according to Politico New York.

Loeb also chastised then-Deputy Mayor Richard Buery, one of the top black officials in Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration, last year over the city's treatment of black students, according to City Hall emails reported by Politico New York. Loeb told Politico the messages reflected his "exasperation" with the city's school system.

Success Academy's news release did not give reasons for the leadership change.

"There is nothing more urgent for our city and our country than giving kids the opportunities in life that only great schools can provide," Loeb said in a statement. "I look forward to continuing to serve on the Success board and working with Steve Galbraith, who will be a terrific board chair."

(Lead image: Steven M. Galbraith will take over as chairman of Success Academy's board of trustees in July. Photo courtesy of Success Academy)