Can you tell me more about how your charter schools will integrate technology and new ways of teaching? Classrooms will operate around essential questions, such as, “How do we make water more safe to drink?” and, “How do we make the air less polluted?” Unfortunately, schools in America have been moving away from that. Kids will learn programming languages and the latest game design applications. Many of these skills require analytical thinking and critical thinking skills, a level of math and computer science. We want to teach kids these tools, but do so with a level of social responsibility and a critique of the social implications of these games. Do you feel that the success of these charter schools will reflect on your personal leadership? Yes. The onus is on me. There’s no one to blame, no one to put the excuse on, it’s all on me. If I create a school that gives up on kids, that graduates kids that are not ready for college, then that’s all on me. And how does that make you feel? Honestly? In the middle of the night I wake up and it scares the shit out of me. Parents are giving their kids to you. That’s an enormous gift. It’s scary. But if I didn’t feel that I could deliver in spades, then I wouldn’t even think of doing it. (via A matter of principal: Meet Victor Diaz, head of Berkeley’s first Charter Schools | Berkeleyside)