Pros
The mission of this organization is to provide support for kids in underserved communities in learning to read at grade level. That is very commendable, but the current upper management doesn't display the passion for this purpose. I clicked "recommend" below because of the mission, but I would warn anyone I referred about the problems with upper level management so they wouldn't be surprised. I also gave a thumbs up to the CEO Michael Lombardo, but the board fired him in June 2016. There is not a CEO as of December 2016. There is a person with a Chief People Officer title working in an interim CEO role while the search for a CEO happens. I will celebrate my one year with RP early in 2017 and I have some regrets, but I really value the kids in these schools. I keep my teaching skills in this sector instead of the private schools of my past because these kids need this kind of program.
Cons
Ever since the board fired Michael Lombardo as CEO, it's been a nosedive to being a horrible place to be. A whole bunch of people who were middle level employees, likely not making much more than $50k apiece, were let go while another bunch of people with Chief as the first word of their title stayed around with their 6-figure salaries. I was new so I was surprised I was kept. Americorps site coordinators try to pay their rent and likely qualify for food stamps. The board isn't paying attention to what is really going on; if they were, there would be a CEO making a modest salary rather than one comparable to a private for-profit company, and a strong Controller to manage the financial side of things. There would be no other Chiefs of Anything. This place does not need a bunch of Chiefs. It needs a bunch of people who care more about children than padding their own wallets. There would be employees hired to push legislators to properly fund public education and programs like this, and a HR department that knows something about HR. I won't even go in to how completely useless my orientation was when I started. Community outreach is critical for this kind of operation and the engagement of volunteers (as opposed to paid tutors) should be a high priority. Instead, the priority is on 6 figure salaries to people with a Chief of Something as a title, and way too many people with a title that starts with Executive. These are children on the free lunch program for God's sake.
