The Education of Eva Moskowitz: A Memoir

Eva Moskowitz is a fighter with a reputation for having "sharp elbows"— if that’s a synonym for getting the job done, she’ll take it. A born and bred New Yorker, former City Councilmember, and "charter czarina," Moskowitz has taken on powerful unions and politicians to establish and grow her astonishingly effective and popular charter school program in four of the city’s five boroughs.

In this unabashedly candid memoir, Moskowitz tells of how she became a forward-thinking education entrepreneur and her fight to establish nearly three dozen schools—activism that has made her into one of the most polarizing figures in New York City and beyond. Now, having established a remarkable, even unprecedented, track record for guiding the city’s most disadvantaged children to high academic performance, Moskowitz addresses the battles she has won and lost, writing candidly about the people who seek to undermine her work—most notably New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio—and celebrating the powerful allies who have aided her cause, including former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Moskowitz’s insightful memoir is a deeply felt personal story and an impassioned call to action that bluntly identifies failing policies and the alarmingly powerful forces arrayed against improving an education system that is both deeply dysfunctional and prejudiced. The Education of Eva Moskowitz is sure to galvanize supporters, enrage her opponents, generate headlines, and urgently impact the national conversation on education.

This unflinching political and leadership memoir reveals the inside story of the battle for America's schools:

• The Fight for Education Reform: Go behind the headlines for a raw, firsthand account of taking on powerful unions and political machines to build one of America's most successful charter school networks.
• A Leadership Memoir: Discover the leadership principles and relentless drive required to challenge a failing status quo, navigate bruising political fights with figures like Bill de Blasio, and deliver unprecedented results for disadvantaged children.
• New York City Politics: Step into the rough-and-tumble world of NYC government, from the City Council to alliances with Michael Bloomberg and clashes with the UFT, in a battle to fix a broken system.
• The Success Academy Story: Learn how Moskowitz built the controversial and astonishingly effective Success Academy schools from the ground up, proving what's possible for urban kids when bureaucracy is replaced by high expectations.