Michael Tipton, a Baton Rouge native, is the executive director of Teach For America–South Louisiana, a charter region operating since 1990. After graduating from LSU in 2005, he joined Teach For America and was a founding staff member of Mott Hall Bronx High School in New York, where he also taught ninth-grade social studies as a corps member. After achieving noted success at the classroom level, he was tabbed by Teach For America–South Louisiana to return to Baton Rouge as executive director in 2007. Read the full Q&A here. Here’s a sample:
Over the last five years, the public education landscape has shifted significantly. What difficulties do the students you work with face now that they did not have to face five years ago? What new opportunities do they have?
“In 2007 I think we, as a community, recognized the need for progress in education but didn’t know what that progress would look like and what it would mean for students. Today I think we are recognizing that every child can and should receive an excellent education; the question for us now is whether we are willing to invest the people, resources and energy to make that potential a reality. I think parents, teachers, communities and our students are holding rightfully high expectations for education in Baton Rouge. The challenge lies in doing the hard work that is needed to meet the needs of our students and communities today and in the years to come.”
