A Teach for America Member writes:
Without the shiny bow, Teach for America would not experience unprecedented levels of growth and funding. Remember, people with money always love a shiny bow. (Just look at the Yankees organization). At the end of the day, you can keep your shiny bow. I’ll never get down on two knees and polish my resume for the sake of making things look better. I’ll stand on my own two feet and let my life speak for itself. As a result of this, I may not achieve certain things or earn certain degrees of recognition. But as a result of my grit, you get to keep putting your shiny bow on projects to earn the accolades.
5 responses so far ↓
jharlow07 // September 18, 2008 at 2:42 am |
Just to let you know, as the author of this piece, I believe deeply in Teach for America and think that its mission is critical to the social issues facing our world today. They employ the tactics that I mention in this post for a reason, without the efforts put forth by TFA several thousand teachers would not be in the system pushing students forward towards ambitious goals.
In fact, this piece is more about the failures of the public education system to actually understand its own ideals. More often than not in the fully public system, the most inept individuals are advanced through the system.
Case in point, a teacher teaches for a few years, and never gets more than half of his students to pass the regents. He then becomes a principal. As a principal, he is so terrible that he continually has over a 50% turnover ratio. He is then promoted to a “better” principal job. Because of his leaving the school, and an effective principal being hired, the turnover stops in the school.
This promotion of completely inept individuals such as this in the public school system has nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with TFA, and nothing to do with private corporations. The public school systems are failing. This is why Teach for America and programs like it are needed.
Thank you for reading our blog though, I’m sure it will provoke rich discussion regarding this important issue.
debunktfa // September 18, 2008 at 12:00 pm |
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Unfortunately, the ineptitude that you describe can be found in every profession and is in my opinion, a sad testament to human nature.
Having recently been dealing with a family member who is ill, I came across several incompetent doctors, many of whom were considered to be “the top” of their profession.
In regards to why we need Teach for America, I would offer this simple suggestion. Let’s fix the problems that are causing public education to fail. They go beyond the teachers, yet are rarely addressed.
This is my main problem with Teach for America.
Noelia // September 18, 2008 at 5:23 pm |
I want to apply for TFA, but I don’t think I’m what they are looking for. I am from an underrepresented area and feel that I was cheated out of something we all deserve. I am almost positive I will not be selected. What do you suggest I do? Regardless of what happens, I know my passion lies in education and hope to contribute to the TFA mission.
jharlow07 // September 20, 2008 at 7:44 pm |
If you don’t think that Teach for America is trying to address the problems of the system as a whole then you have not had enough interaction or done enough research into Teach for America to actually “Debunk” it.
Teach for America recognizes that the achievement gap comes as a result of a societal problem. This problem permeates into education, especially with the system itself. To use a metaphor, the dike of education has become riddled with holes because of the way that we run our society and likely needs to be replaced as you say.
However, does that absolve us from our responsibility to try and hold back the floodwaters while we try to fix the whole system? Teach for America attempts to empower individuals with intellect and drive to begin and reform the system. For some of us that comes in the form of teaching at schools for two years, and then taking that experience into the world and having an impact on our broken society in whatever career we choose. For some, they stay teaching and trying to close the achievement gap in the classroom. Some become principals and other administrators. Others go into educational research and policy making.
It’s strange that you advocate for the reform of the system and say that Teach for America does not try to accomplish that when in fact, that is the ultimate goal of Teach for America. TFA does not want to privatize schools or give them a corporate structure. TFA wants to reform public education so that all have access to an excellent education. The means to that end may appear differently than what you have in mind, but trying to “debunk” TFA does not seem to be productive to the interest that you claim to have started this blog about.
Deb // December 13, 2008 at 9:02 pm |
I have been teaching for 25 years. The first few years are the hardest and that is for young people who have graduated with teaching degrees, and have done a year or so of student teaching. Putting in young people who have no experience is failing our students..I know people think that anyone can teach..that is so false ..to change young peoples’ lives.. is a gift that very few people have. ..another thing is that they hound the top students..make them feel as though they “have the job” and do not tell them that in this school year 2008-09 year they have had 14,181 applications and expect 23,00 more for 5,000 teaching spots. info found in Washington Post story by Megan Greenwald