Press Release: 5/22/2025

GO Tutor Corps’ Michael Duffy on Charter Public Schools & High-Dosage Tutoring

 

May 21, 2025by Editorial Staff

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng, speak with Michael Duffy, President of GO Tutor Corps, a nonprofit dedicated to closing achievement gaps through high-dosage tutoring in low-income communities. Mr. Duffy shares insights from his distinguished career in public service and education reform, beginning in Massachusetts state government under Governor Bill Weld and later in Boston’s charter school movement. He reflects on the influence of the book Reinventing Government and the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act, which helped make the Bay State a national leader in K–12 outcomes. Mr. Duffy also discusses Boston’s charter sector, its formative leaders, and how its successful model migrated to New York City, where he worked under Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg to scale innovation in public education. Now leading GO Tutor Corps, Duffy describes the organization’s intensive, relationship-based tutoring model as a powerful tool for addressing pandemic-related learning loss. He offers lessons for policymakers and educators across the country seeking to improve equity and academic outcomes for students most in need.

Stories of the Week: Alisha analyzed a report from KCUR on the number of Missouri teachers who have considered leaving education; and Albert shares a piece from Politico on charter schools pressing for space in the reconciliation debate.

Follow on Apple Follow on Spotify

Guest:

Michael Duffy is the President of GO Tutor Corps, whose mission is to give students access to a quality education through high-dosage tutoring. Duffy had previously worked at the New York City Department of Education, under the leadership of Chancellor Joel Klein during the Bloomberg administration. Prior to that, he worked in Boston at two different high schools, one a start-up, the other a turnaround of a troubled school. Duffy also served in the MA Governor’s cabinet as the Director of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, where he oversaw the Division of Banks, the Division of Insurance, and the Department of Public Utilities. He earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity College in Connecticut with a degree in Economics.