Scholastic CEO talks civil unrest, pandemic
NEW YORK (AP) — When the pandemic shut down schools nationwide in March, Scholastic Corp. immediately pivoted, offering a free online learning hub for millions of families with kids. Two months later, civil unrest caused the company to quickly jump in and ramp up coverage on racial inequality for teachers, parents and students.
Tackling turmoil and cultural change is nothing new for the 100-year-old company, now the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's literature and education materials. Founded as a single classroom magazine by Maurice R. Robinson, Scholastic has covered such topics as class warfare during the Depression era, civil rights riots in the 1960s and recent transgender issues in a way that it says encourages critical thinking and discussion.
Under the 46-year stewardship of CEO, chairman and president Richard Robinson, Scholastic brought “Harry Potter” to readers, embarked on a global expansion and launched 32 classroom magazines, in all formats, reaching more than 25 million readers.
The publicly traded company, with sales of $1.65 billion, distributes one out of every three children’s books purchased in the U.S. through school-based Scholastic Book Clubs and Book Fairs, instructional programs, non-profit partners, retail outlets and online.
The 83-year-old Robinson, a Harvard graduate and son of the founder, had worked as a teacher and took on such odd jobs as a bricklayer before joining Scholastic in the mid-1960s. During a recent interview with The AP, he talked about a wide range of issues, including COVID-19's impact on its business, online learning and tackling the issue of racial inequality. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Q. How has COVID-19 affected Scholastic's business?
A. Like other companies, responding to COVID-19 has been extremely...
