Case 9: KIPP Houston Public Schools C-105The People Problem
Another of Ali’s initiatives as superintendent was to clar-
ify KIPP Houston’s niche in the national KIPP landscape.
According to Chief People Officer Chuck Fimble (respon-
sible for HR and recruiting), in an early leadership meet-
ing, Ali pointed out that many KIPP regions have a unique
emphasis or identity. Some are known for their instruc-
tional expertise; others for their academic alignment.
“What is our regional identity?” she asked.
“We couldn’t come up anything other than being first
and being big,” Fimble says.^35
The answer that was agreed to was that KIPP Houston
would become a first-class leadership development
organization. This emphasis on leadership development
would be important not just for KIPP Houston’s identity
but, more essentially, for its successful expansion.
Although the brakes were put on KIPP Turbo partly
due to the economic downturn, another critical bottle-
neck was in human capital.
“We’re pretty convinced we can find the money and
schools [to grow]. The problem is finding the people,”
Fimble notes.^36
Ali agrees: “KIPP Turbo assumed an incredible bench
depth of talent. It takes more to develop leadership than
we thought... [Between funding shortages and the need
for talent,] talent is the bigger barrier.”^37
Even though KIPP Turbo has been scaled back, it
will still require a large infusion of talent, both in leader-
ship and teaching. Based on growth projections, over the
course of the next five school years, KIPP Houston will
need to hire about 1,300 new teachers (see Exhibit 6).^38
Nationally, 32 percent of KIPP teachers are alumni
of Teach for America,^39 the same route through which
Feinberg and Ali came to the profession, and KIPP
Houston depends heavily on former TFA corps mem-
bers. Other teachers are recruited from the Houston and
other surrounding Independent School Districts, some
go through Alternative Certification Programs (which
are abbreviated routes to certification), and some come
to KIPP straight from college education programs.
Whatever their pathway into teaching, all KIPP
teachers sign the Commitment to Excellence, which lays
out the responsibilities of being a teacher at KIPP:■■We will always teach the best way we know how and
do whatever it takes for our students to learn.
■■We will always make ourselves available to students
and parents for any concerns they might have. [All
teachers are issued a cell phone, which students can
call in the evenings for help with homework.]
■■We will arrive at KIPP by 7:15 a.m. on Monday
through Friday.
■■We will remain at KIPP until 5:15 p.m. on Monday
through Thursday and 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
■■We will teach at KIPP during summer school...
[2 weeks.]^40In addition to the 10-hour daily commitment, most
teachers work additional hours in the evening and on
the weekends to plan lessons and assess student work.
A second-year KIPP teacher reflecting on her first-
year reports, “It was difficult. I think the Power to Lead
principle trickles down to teachers, too, so you have to
find and do everything on your own, especially because
as a region our curriculum wasn’t aligned. Even if I tried
to get help from other teachers, they would be teaching
other things, so I couldn’t use their resources.”^41
As a second-year teacher, she says things became eas-
ier. “I work from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., plus about ten
hours on the weekend, so about 65 hours per week. It’s
easier now that I have my curriculum from last year.”^42
Although the challenge of the work and KIPP
Houston’s social mission are both appealing to manyExhibit 6 Projected KHPS Instructional Staff Hiring NeedsHires to fill existing
positions due to attritionHires to fill new
0 positions due to growth
'14 '15 '16 '17 '18100200300400Source: Internal document used with permission.