Jay Mathews is an education columnist and blogger for the Washington Post, his employer for 40 years. He is the author of seven books, including three about high schools and his most recent, a New York Times bestseller, about the birth and growth of the KIPP charter school network. He created the annual Challenge Index rankings of high schools (formerly in newsweek.com, now at washingtonpost.com). He has won several awards for education writing and was given the Upton Sinclair award as “a beacon of light in the realm of education.” He has won the Eugene Meyer Award for distinguished service to The Washington Post.