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Richard Whitmire is a veteran newspaper reporter and former editorial writer at USA Today. He is author of Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Education System That’s Leaving Them Behind (Amacom, 2010); The Bee Eater: Michelle Rhee Takes on the Nation’s Worst School District (Jossey-Bass, 2011); and The Achievable Dream: College Board Lessons on Creating Great Schools with Gaston Caperton (The College Board, 2012). His latest book, On the Rocketship: How Top Charter Schools Are Pushing the Envelope (Jossey-Bass, 2014), follows leading charter school network Rocketship through a challenging school year to discover the key factors in its success and explore the ongoing challenges to its expansion. The book looks also at the national charter school scene, focusing on high-performing charter schools in such cities as Denver and Houston. For more information, visit the author's website at http://richardwhitmire.com.