Stop Stealing Dreams (what is school for?) - Seth Godin

The two advantages most successful schools have are plenty of money and a preselected,
motivated student body. It’s worth highlighting that the HVA doesn’t
get to choose its students, they are randomly assigned by lottery. And the HVA
receives less funding per student than the typical public school in New York.
HVA works because they have figured out how to create a workplace culture that
attracts the most talented teachers, fosters a culture of ownership, freedom and
accountability, and then relentlessly transfers this passion to their students.
Maestro Ben Zander talks about the transformation that happens when a kid
actually learns to love music. For one year, two years, even three years, the kid
trudges along. He hits every pulse, pounds every note and sweats the whole thing
out.
Then he quits.
Except a few. The few with passion. The few who care.
Those kids lean forward and begin to play. They play as if they care, because they
do. And as they lean forward, as they connect, they lift themselves off the piano
seat, suddenly becoming, as Ben calls them, one-buttock players.
Playing as if it matters.
Colleges are fighting to recruit the kids who graduate from Deborah’s school and
I have no doubt that we’ll soon be hearing of the leadership and contribution of