Why do some teachers and schools success and others fail?

Prior to his appointment as Tennessee's Commissioner of Education, Kevin Huffman spent nearly two decades working with public education systems as a teacher, lawyer, non-profit executive and non-profit board member.

Huffman began his education career as a first- and second-grade bilingual teacher in the Houston Independent School District, teaching students in English and Spanish. After attending law school, Huffman represented school districts, state departments of education and universities, working on policy and litigation matters at the Washington D.C. law firm of Hogan & Hartson.

Huffman then joined the senior management of Teach For America in 2000, serving as the general counsel, the senior vice president of growth strategy and development, and the executive vice president of public affairs as Teach For America grew into the largest provider of new teachers in the country. Huffman also wrote opinion columns for the Washington Post and other publications and won the Post’s national writing competition to find “America’s Next Great Pundit” in 2009.