The New York Times recently published a blockbuster report about a leaked sixteen student “got to go” list created at a Success Academy school in New York City.  The school, Success Academy, Fort Greene opened in September 2013.  In a press conference, Eva Moskowitz apologized for the “got to go list’ scandal, said it was an anomaly, and the principal who created it, Candido Brown, offered a teary eyed ‘mea culpa.’  What caught my attention was this paragraph from the New York Times follow up article published a day after the initial report where Moskowitz, the ultimate ‘No Excuses’ proponent, offered this bizarre excuse for the principal’s decision:

Ms. Moskowitz said the school, which then went through second grade, had severe disciplinary problems.  Mr. Brown previously said in an email that he believed he could not turn the school around if the 16 students remained.

When I think of a…