This Sunday, The New York Times Magazine will run a college edition that features an article discussing the need for Teach For America. The writer (Negar Azimi) discusses McReynolds Middle School in Houston. I have many friends teaching there, and I actually presented a professional development session at McReynolds this summer for TFA corps members.
At first this article seems like a good plug for TFA. It mentions many data points that TFA routinely touts as proof of our effectiveness. But, after finishing the article, you see the writer is actually contemplating the need for TFA in general.
In the article, Azimi writes, "[M]ight it be more productive to try to alter the structure that produces failing schools and high teacher turnover rates rather than to spend those resources on pulling in talented young people who tend to leave teaching after a few years?"
So, here's my problem with the majority of TFA's critics. Most of them attack TFA by dumping all the problems of America's educational system onto the shoulders of TFA, saying that since TFA is not fixing everything wrong with education in America, it is accomplishing nothing.
TFA doesn't aim to directly change America's entire system of public education, at least not in the short term. TFA isn't trying to replace every veteran teacher in America with twenty-something newbies that have all the answers to teaching and will remain in the classroom the rest of their lives. TFA is trying to fill a critical gap, and ask some provocative questions (like how best to actually train our nation's teachers) along the way.
TFA isn't trying to single-handedly output all of America's teachers. TFA teachers are only committing to teaching for two years. Many (60%) continue to stay in education after this commitment (which the writer mentions), but just because some don't remain in the classroom doesn't mean that TFA isn't making a significant impact in the schools were its corps members are placed.
TFA is growing a network of alumni teachers who are unabashedly admitting that they will not necessarily stay for longer than two years. However, whatever career path they choose post-TFA, they will carry the experience with them. America's boardrooms, courtrooms, and operating rooms will be all the better for it. For with so many Americans advocating for education reform in non-education professions, we will truly be able to mobilize a nation to attack this multi-faceted problem from many different angles.
A volunteer program for ambitious college graduates is great for the résumé. But is it good for the country?
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