Achievement First reviews

I do not recommend working for Achievement First (AF). While the organization once thrived under its founding leadership, it has unraveled under the current administration. There’s a persistent lack of transparency—leaders claim to care about staff, but repeated actions show otherwise. In 2024, AF conducted a major layoff that impacted many network leaders, followed by another in 2025 that eliminated key roles, including the Chief of Schools. These decisions point to deeper financial and organizational instability. More troubling, the organization seems to have lost its identity. There’s no clear sense of who they are or what they stand for. As a result, there are constant shifts in direction, as leadership chases the latest trend rather than building a stable, mission-driven foundation. The culture is unstable, and the lack of consistency makes it a difficult environment to work in. Proceed with caution.

- White "leaders" leading for racial equity by signaling and oppressing others. There's a lot of identity politics at play here. White people being so afraid to be called racist they actually become racist themselves. - The schools are a mess. Dirty facilities, incompetent leaders and teachers are either fine with doing bare minimum or working super hard. - This is not a place for young people or for people who want a family. There is a reason why charters have young people as employees, so they can churn and burn through them. - Traumaville. People here can tear you down with their lies, gossip and talk a good game. - Bad hiring and promotion procedures. People with no teaching experience can become principals. People who should not become leaders become leaders then fail and flame out. And everyone acts all shocked but ignored all the warning signs and kids suffer. -It's basically OK to be bad at your job if enough people like you, or the right people like you and you keep your head down. You shrink as a person here. -Don't have any original ideas or share any outside knowledge, they don't want to hear it. They think they have cracked the code.