Shortly after landing at Malcolm X Shabazz High School as a Teach for America recruit, Dominique D. Lee grew disgusted with a system that produced ninth graders who could not name the seven continents or the governor of their state. He started wondering: What if I were in charge?<\/p>\n
Three years later, Mr. Lee, at just 25, is getting a chance to find out. Today, Mr. Lee and five other teachers \u201d\u201d all veterans of Teach for America, a corps of college graduates who undergo five weeks of training and make a two-year commitment to teaching \u201d\u201d are running a public school here with 650 children from kindergarten through eighth grade.<\/p>\n
As the doors opened on Thursday at Brick Avon Academy, they welcomed students not as novice teachers following orders from the central office, but as \u201cteacher-leaders.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a fantasy,\u201d\u009d Mr. Lee said. \u201cIt\u2019s six passionate people who came together and said, \u201d\u02dcEnough is enough.\u2019 We\u2019re just tired of seeing failure.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n