Richard Whitmire is an education author. He is a veteran newspaper reporter and former editorial writer at USA Today. Whitmire’s latest book is The Founders, which is the result of visiting many of the top charter schools in the country as a Fellow with the Emerson Collective and as a Kauffman fellow. His previous books include Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Education System That’s Leaving Them Behind; The Bee Eater: Michelle Rhee Takes on the Nation’s Worst School District; The Achievable Dream: College Board Lessons on Creating Great Schools; and On the Rocketship. Whitmire is continuing his work on charter schools and education with a grant from the Walton Family Foundation.