Light Shines in Harlem: New York's First Charter School and the Movement It Led

Mary Bounds · Wyatt Walker

Sep 2014 · Chicago Review Press

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A Light Shines in Harlem tells the fascinating history of New York's first charter school, the Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem, and the early days of the state's charter school movement. Told through the experiences of those on the inside—including a hero of the civil rights movement; a Wall Street star; inner-city activists; and real-world educators, parents, and students—this book shows how they all came together to create a groundbreaking school that, in its best years, far outperformed public schools in the neighborhoods in which most of its children lived. It also looks at education reform through a broader public policy lens, discussing recent research and issues facing the charter movement today, describing what makes a public charter school—or any school—succeed or fail, and showing how these lessons can be applied to other public and private schools to make all of them better. The end result is not only an exciting narrative of how one school fought to succeed, but also an illuminating glimpse into the future of education in the United States.

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Mary C. Bounds is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, the New York Times, the Shreveport Times, and other publications. She lives in Chappaqua, New York. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker is a renowned civil rights leader and pastor. He was chief of staff for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Virginia state director of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and helped organize the 1963 March on Washington. For 37 years he served as senior pastor at Harlem's Canaan Baptist Church of Christ. He lives in Chester, Virginia.