The Mastery Charter School-Shoemaker head takes a hands-on approach to buoy school climate.

The introduction came via an article announced on Twitter: Mastery Charter School-Shoemaker Campus Principal Sharif El-Mekki was taking on the NAACP over its resolution to issue moratorium on charter schools. The full title of the piece was, “The NAACP was founded by white people, and it still isn’t looking out for black families.” Whew.

A few months earlier, the organization had called for a ban on all privately-operated charter schools, saying they only increased segregation in K-12 education, while accusing the network operators of predatory practices, putting disadvantaged students at even greater risk of poor educational outcomes. By some accounts, Mastery was considered one of the worst offenders. Thomas Butler, a Philadelphia education advocate and the director of advancement and operations for the Philadelphia College Prep Roundtable, said “Mastery and KIPP — to a certain extent, they’re perceived as, while they’re education groups, they’re money-making machines.”