A Teach for America teacher asks why she and her colleagues are unwelcome in Cobb
I ran a shorter version of this heartfelt essay on the education page in the AJC, but wanted to share the full piece here. This piece was written by math teacher Emily Desprez, a Teach for America teacher, after Cobb County’s decision not to proceed with plans to hire 50 Teach for America teachers.
By Emily Desprez
It’s 2:10 and the high school release bell just sounded. I arrived at school this morning at 6, but I won’t leave until 5. My students’ futures are at stake and are worthy of a few extra hours of my time. I am a 22-year- old high school math teacher at a Title 1 school in the Atlanta area. Less than five years ago I was a student at Sandy Creek High School in Fayette County.
It was then my passion for equal educational opportunities launched. I sat in an AP Calculus class taught by an inspiring teacher whose students consistently passed the final AP test –thereby automatically earning college credit. I looked around and saw mostly white faces. Conversely, the demographic mix of my non-AP English class reflected the black majority of Sandy Creek. I was puzzled. Why so few non-whites in my AP math and science courses? This question lingered in my head during my remaining time in high school and at Georgia Tech, where as an honors graduate, I earned a degree in business management.
While in college I received numerous scholarships, immersed myself in cultural events, volunteered around Atlanta and started an awareness group that focused on hunger and homelessness. I also studied abroad for a year. Much of my success at college was a direct result of the education I received at Sandy Creek.
As a senior at Tech, I applied for a position with Teach For America. TFA’s goal is to ensure that children, whose life circumstances put them at a disadvantage, are not denied an excellent education. TFA accomplishes this goal by identifying and fast-tracking leaders into teachers who are expected to put the education of children above all else. They reinforced this expectation by driving home a startling fact: only 8% of kids growing up in low-income communities graduate from college by age 24.
Only after filling out an application, writing an essay, participating in phone interviews, teaching a sample lesson, and attending a day-long interview was I accepted into the program. A program in which less than 10% of the applicants are accepted. To top off my joy, I was thrilled to learn that I would be teaching high school math in Atlanta.
Following my acceptance, I attended what TFA euphemistically calls “summer institute,” but is more like teacher’s boot camp. At “camp” I taught eighth grade math in an Atlanta Public School to middle school students who failed the CRCT. These summer school sessions focused on CRCT math to help the kids pass the CRCT and then move on to high school.
Each day, after teaching these classes, I attended intensive training workshops on topics that ranged from high-rigor lesson planning to classroom management. I learned about the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, Lee Canter’s Behavioral Management Cycle, special education practices, and differentiation based on student needs—many of the same topics discussed by my friends who studied education in college.
Although boot camp gave me the tools and knowledge I required as a first-time teacher, nothing could have fully prepared me for the day-to-day challenge of teaching algebra to 180 students of diverse backgrounds.
Still, on that first day of school in August, I entered my classroom knowing that every child has potential, and it was my mission, and as a teacher, my responsibility to ensure they would receive the education necessary to unleash it. I had come full circle from that day years ago in my high school AP Calculus class. I was ready.
During my first semester I built strong relationships with my students, some of whom had never passed a math class in high school without taking it multiple times, or were soon to be the first high school graduate in their family. I teach students who walk to school when they miss the bus, who live in two-bedroom apartments with 10 family members, who hated math for the first 16 years of their lives, or who never believed they could “dominate” (as we say in my classroom) every math problem they encounter — if they only believed in their potential and trusted that every problem has a solution.
I learn much from my students each day about the impact that growing up in a disadvantaged environment has on their school life. I’m reminded daily that poverty, broken homes, working parents, etc., are added hurdles that they and I, as their teacher, must overcome.
From this I’ve learned that success in the classroom is as much the teacher’s responsibility as it is the student’s. Each day when the 6:45 a.m. bus unloads my first period class of Math I repeaters, I’m reminded of the relationships we have built, of what I’ve learned from them, and what it takes to close the achievement gap between low-income schools and those in more affluent areas.
And so I was puzzled to read in The Atlanta Journal Constitution that the Cobb County Superintendent “averted a fight over Teach for America, withdrawing, at least for now, his proposal to hire 50 teachers from the program.” The article stated that Superintendent Michael Hinojosa wanted to hire TFA teachers to help close a gap in achievement at schools in South Cobb, where test scores have consistently lagged the district average.
Unfortunately, teachers and some board members were critical of the proposal, saying it undermined staff morale. How, I wondered, would hiring Teach for America teachers undermine staff morale?
I teach at a school where veteran teachers fully embrace my optimistic and exuberant personality, and consistently assist me in becoming a better teacher. Few know that I am not a “traditional teacher.” To them, I am a young college graduate who wanted to jump right into the heart of public education’s largest downfall: not offering equal opportunity to students from difficult circumstances. Many teachers I collaborate with also come from non-traditional backgrounds, such as accountants, journalists, and even a few with law degrees. I’m just another teacher.
I passed the GACE (Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators) for high school math in the 98th percentile. I immediately enrolled in an alternative certification program in which I will earn my renewable teaching certification by the end of this year. I attend almost every available staff development workshop because I want to do everything possible to ensure that my 180 students are receiving a rigorous math curriculum delivered with engaging and real-life applications.
Between my math department mentor at my school, my manager of teaching and leadership development at Teach for America, and my alternative certification program adviser, I am constantly receiving and reflecting on feedback from their observations of my teaching, lesson planning, and classroom management. Interestingly, my presence in my high school isn’t decreasing teacher morale.
So, I’m a typical TFA teacher and my co-teachers accept me as one of their own. Why won’t you, Cobb County teachers and board members, hire me? What is more important when it comes to hiring educators: a teaching degree or an individual who believes that the achievement gap must be closed, and is willing to do anything necessary to make that a reality?
If the Cobb County Board of Education put student achievement first, the question of whether or not reducing a few teachers’ level of morale in exchange for 50 Teach for America teachers wouldn’t even be asked. The answer is obvious.
To those opposing teachers in Cobb, I would like to share with you an excerpt from a thank-you note from one of my students: “You are my favorite math teacher ever! You always have patience and try to explain things so clearly. Thank you for having such a positive attitude toward students and trying to get us to do well and get good grades. Thank you for making me end my day in a good mood by always having a smile on your face and being so outgoing and understanding about things. Thanks for always being here for me when I need help, encouraging me to set and reach goals, for all the nice and kind things you have done to help me accomplish things at school. I had never made above a C in math before now. You motivate me to want to achieve my goals so I can be someone in life.”
“So I can be someone in life.” Talk about high morale. If I ever stop taking steps toward ensuring increased levels of student achievement I will stop teaching.
Should not the teachers in Cobb County have the same attitude –for the students? For high morale?
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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199 comments Add your comment
KIM
February 27th, 2012
9:44 am
Here’s a thought: thousands of young adults who were empassioned about teaching for years, went to university to be as well as possibly prepared to teach children face a difficult time for getting a job. Maybe you do as good a job, maybe you think you are as well prepared, maybe you underestimate the disillusion one gets who works like crazy to go into a job that has little room for advancement without going into administration. Well, think how a parent feels, too. Knowing there are well-prepared teachers out there taking jobs they did not want in other professions and the parent’s child gets a less than optimally prepared TFA. I am a parent, an administrator and a person who has hired TFA. Some are fine; many struggle. Do I have traditionally prepared teachers who struggle? Yes. But they are NOT taking the jobs of other teachers. There is a path for support and development. Why should anyone hire TFA who has options? Cobb has the option of hiring great, prepared teachers. Why would Cobb want to do otherwise? You are smart. Why didn’t you choose teaching as your profession? Too many times we find TFA candidates are taking the job because they can’t find other work and the three year or so guarantee (more or less) is tempting. No sympathy here and no district owes TFA candidates anything. My suggestion to Cobb would be stick with your great hiring and don’t add more to your plate to support. And, TFA, the districts that hire TFA have to provide a LOT of support to those teachers. Also, I too am totally unsypathetic when yo ustart discussing race. Why don’t you work as hard to prove your character and not your color? I don’t buy any of this a truly being rooted in concern for race–too many white teachers are killing themselves to help minority students succeed. Look at Gwinnett’s data. I think this is rooted in desire for salary.
White Elephant
February 27th, 2012
10:03 am
“I’m reminded daily that poverty, broken homes, working parents, etc., are added hurtles that they and I, as their teacher, must overcome.”
Emily, “hurtles” is not a word. “Hurts” is a word, and “hurdles” is a word. Using incorrect English is only going to further damage your credibility.
As one other poster suggested, go back and get your 4-year education degree (with a tutorial on proper English). Then perhaps you will be able to make a stronger, more accurate argument for yourself, coupled at that point with education and maturity.
Maureen Downey
February 27th, 2012
10:12 am
@White, Hurtles is a word, but not the right one here. You are correct. I went into her piece and changed to hurdles.
Maureen
Raquel Morris
February 27th, 2012
10:21 am
Much like in the public charter debate, it’s clear that the teacher union mafia is not at all interested in seeing anyone outside of their gang succeed. This enthusiastic teacher, educated at the top university in our state, is undesirable to the union folks because she’s succeeding where they fail. It doesn’t matter that she has been able to make her students enthusiastic about learning or to feel like they can “be someone in life”. What a sad state of affairs for our children, not that too many posters here are that concerned about the children.
Ole Guy
February 27th, 2012
10:23 am
While reading this fine story, I can almost hear the background of sad violins as they generate misty eyes and welling tears.
All the teacher programs in the world will mean absolutely nothing…UNTIL…teachers are placed in ABSOLUTE COMMAND, both of their classrooms and, more importantly, of their PROFESSIONS. As long as teachers must face the unbriddled wrath of parents, kids, and the mico management of administrators who do not seem to have much faith in teachers’ FINAL evaluations of their kids…NOTHING WILL CHANGE. All the alphabet soup programs: TFA, MACE, ABC, XYZ, etc, ad nauseum…don’t mean poo poo. The classroom teacher should be the first and final word on student evaluations. This parent/principal _ hit is nothing but another political circle jerk designed soley for the attainment of “feel good” “and they lived happily ever after” results.
Some/many out there may not care for my expressive tactics, but you cannot dispute my end objective: RESTORE THE CLASSROOM TEACHER TO FULL CLASSROOM AUTHORITY.
William Casey
February 27th, 2012
10:29 am
@Raquel: although I can see the point of your argument, your use of the term “union” just makes you seem silly and uninformed.
no name used
February 27th, 2012
10:33 am
Sometimes, it is about loving the kids and the job, and wanting to make a difference. We were all young once, and full of enthusiasm like Miss Emily. I say if she truly wants to teach, let her teach. Kids need someone in their corner that will make learning a priority, and interesting. If she can help a child discover that they LIKE TO LEARN SOMETHING, then that is a job well done. Sometimes, gifts like that don’t come with degrees in teaching, but they are gifts worth sharing.
Tonya C.
February 27th, 2012
10:34 am
Good Mother:
Just an FYI, APS is the LARGEST recipient/participant in the TFA program in the state of Georgia. Just so you know. How’s that been working out?
no name used
February 27th, 2012
10:34 am
Ole Guy, you are so right. Let the teachers TEACH and let the admin do the administrating. Back the teachers up, and let the kids know that they will be loved, but that with love comes discipline and rules and consequences as well as rewards.
William Casey
February 27th, 2012
10:35 am
@KIM: you can have your “went to university” guys. Emily graduated from GEORGIA TECH!!! I’ll take her and teach her the finer points of instruction in about a semester. Why the hostility toward a competent person who is fired-up about teaching? She knows MATH!!! Get it?
Raquel Morris
February 27th, 2012
10:38 am
@William Casey,
I am very well informed on the state of the teaching profession in Georgia. I realize that PAGE, GFT and the others don’t negotiate teacher compensation or work conditions. However, those groups of teachers are UNITED towards common purposes and have tremendous influence over public policy. Since the term “union” is such a sensitive one, how about we refer to the “teacher lobby” instead? As in:
“Much like in the public charter debate, it’s clear that the teacher lobbyists are not at all interested in seeing anyone outside of their gang succeed. This enthusiastic teacher, educated at the top university in our state, is undesirable to the teacher lobby because she’s succeeding where it fails. It doesn’t matter that she has been able to make her students enthusiastic about learning or to feel like they can “be someone in life”. What a sad state of affairs for our children, not that too many posters here are that concerned about the children.”
William Casey
February 27th, 2012
10:42 am
The best compliment I ever receive from former students is: “Coach, you made me love (or even “like”) history.” They will then go and study it on their own. Learning doesn’t have to be bitter medicine.
William Casey
February 27th, 2012
10:43 am
@Raquel: “lobby” works. It exists.
MiltonMan
February 27th, 2012
10:46 am
Good God Emily how about trying some humility??? 90% of the article is about how wonderful you are & that we all should bow down to you. So you had a problem with being in a class that had nothing but white faces but you do not have any problem teaching in a school where there a no white faces???? A business major teaching math & we wonder why the American kids are far behind their peers from other countries.
How about proof-reading your letter before bashing others like Cobb County:
“…where as an honors graduated…” should be “…honors graduate…” Good thing I am not grading your paper.
Ole Guy
February 27th, 2012
10:56 am
Noname, thanks for the comment; only problem…it’s a whole lot easier said than done. The obstacles…daunting, to be sure…are potential career “boat-rockers”, something which no sane individual embarks upon without some sort of plan. I’M not a teacher; my interests lie in wanting to be able to “pass the baton” to a generation POTENTIALLY capable of “climbing the mountain”; perpetuating whatever gains may have preceeded them. I remain extremely doubtful that the current educational system; moreover, the prevailing attitudes of instant gain inr return for minimal effort will only result in a dismal future, at best, for anyone under the age of 30.
Some, like Prof, seek out specific answers to non-specific problems. Creativity and daring in adressing the issues du jour in educationland seem all but non-existant. The ball’s been fumbled and no one seems ready able nor willing to pick it up.
no name used
February 27th, 2012
10:56 am
William Casey, if you are who I think you are, you ROCK!! You had my husband and myself for different history classes in different schools, but you made it come alive for both of us, and made the time in your class enjoyable, educational, and valuable!!! We knew what was expected, and what would happen if we got out of line. You also let us know that we as people were worth the time and aggravation it took to teach us. Thank you.
William Casey
February 27th, 2012
10:57 am
@Bootney: bringing up Joe Hamilton is a spurious argument and you know it. Graduating from GT means something whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. I seriously doubt that there are thousands (even hundreds) of All-Star math teachers beating down the doors to get jobs in South Cobb. And, how many of them have a GT degree?. Yes, it takes more than content knowledge and enthusiasm to make a good teacher. It’s a good start, though.
Blue dog
February 27th, 2012
10:59 am
The colleges “Schools of Education” should take the majority of blame for teacher quality, plain and simple. The problem is they don’t have to change. Colleges overall fail to adapt to change.
They are a “business” without real oversight other than a legislature who view them as “sacred cows”.
Then, we “elect” a local school board to oversee public education. This is, by in large, is a popularity contest…see how that’s working for Cobb and Clayton counties.
Back to the article…
My favorite and most effective High School teachers both came from outside the “colleges of Education”. One was a former wildlife biologist, the other a retired Navy officer.
The “cradle to grave” control of education only serves to protect it’s own members.
That is why a PHD in physics is not “qualified” to teach Junior High math.
No real change will occur as long as members of this great impenetrable “Education Monopoly” decides who gets hired and professionals start running local school boards.
Concerned Resident
February 27th, 2012
11:00 am
I live in S. Cobb and applaud the classroom efforts of Emily Desprez. I equally thank her for taking the time to write this letter. When I read comments that talk about how we have a large pool of certified teachers who are assumed to be better and/or more qualified than a TFA teacher would be, I find that quite interesting. Interesting because I recall a town hall meeting a year or so ago where a father stood up in a town hall meeting with anger in his voice and tears in his eyes, and talked about how awful his daughter’s math teacher was that year. He talked about how the teacher had an obvious lack of sufficient content knowledge in the course material because he could only seem to explain things in one way. He said that he had spoken with the principal about it and apparently there was no ability to move his daughter to a different classroom with a better teacher. This was NOT a TFA teacher, and quite frankly I am not sure if this wasn’t some teacher who came through an alternative education program. The teacher was, however, certified and had been teaching for years according to the father’s comments.
My point in all of this is I really wish that we can stop taking these extreme, conspiratorial views on anything that vaguely sounds like some “reform.” Cobb was talking about bringing in 50 TFA teachers who would be spread across several schools in South Cobb. I would venture to guess that we have several hundred if not more than a thousand teachers in school in the south cobb area; so the percent of teacher that would be “displaced” is minimal. I would argue that there are at least 50 certified, with years of experience who should probably not be in the classrooms anyway. Furthermore, let’s be honest and agree that no matter whether we are talking about traditional Ed Schools educated, TFA, or other alternative teacher certification programs, there’s no real guarantee that one will be more successful than the other. If there was a known formula for recruiting, training, and then placing teachers that guaranteed success for the students, then my guess is that there would be no TFA or alternative certification programs, and that the likes of Bill Gates and others who seem to have a bad name in traditional education circles would be giving the money that they now give towards education causes to some other worthy initiatives.
Ole Guy
February 27th, 2012
11:02 am
The last time Coach taught me history, it was the history of last weekend’s Auburn/Alabama game. Of course, all us football cement heads aced the class…that was a long long time ago. Six munces later, while a helicopter instructor pilot was yelling at me, I thought of the Coach.
HS Public Teacher
February 27th, 2012
11:05 am
@rascal – Wow. Are you still really confused? Are you really that ignorant? Even after post after post have attempted to educate you, are you just that stubborn?
Georgia has no teacher unions. Ergo – there is no teacher union mentality. A teacher union is illegal in the State of Georgia. There are none – zippo – nada.
There are no protections for our jobs. Although we must sign an annual “contract” to work, there is nothing, not even one clause, in it that protects us. The contract is entirely one-sided to protect the school system. The school system can fire us for any reason on any day during the contract.
Please understand this. Please don’t post your ignorant lies again.
Mom
February 27th, 2012
11:08 am
As a parent, I look askance at TFA teachers because I question their genuine committment to education. If they really have a passion for teaching, why are they in this program that allows (maybe encourages?) them to drop into teaching for a couple of years and then move on to their real passion. I question whether they really want to educate my child, or if this is just a lark–something to do that will look good on their resume while they are waiting to start their chosen career. Or worse, maybe they are dropping into teaching for a year or two because the economy is bad and they need a place to hang out while they wait for it to turn around and they can find a “real” job.
Further, I question their motivations and their committment to my children. I am one of those parents who looks for more in a teacher than just a person who transmits information well. I think the best teachers are people who are committed to working with young people because that is their passion–their calling. These young people were not called to teach originally. Emily was called to Business–so what changed her mind? I understand mid life career changers who major in Business, have kids of their own, realize they are on the wrong path and pursue teaching certificates–my children have had good experiences with these older career changers. But I do not understand very young adults, either still in school or just out of it, who get degrees in Business, then attend a summer camp and decide to teach. If they want to teach, why not take the classes they need to become certified to teach while they are still working on their educations–is it because they are not really committed to teaching for the longer term? If all they will commit to is a summer camp training session, that indicates to me that they are not serious about teaching. (I do realize Emily says she is taking certifcation classes beyond the camp–but I think she is the exception with TFA.)
In short, it seems to me like these TFA recruits are just playing at teaching–and that is not what I am looking or in a teacher for my children.
HS Public Teacher
February 27th, 2012
11:10 am
I wonder….
Where is the person that always posts that teachers “whine.” This write up has a lot of this “whine” in it and yet no one points it out? Is it because they are TFA?
Just asking….
GT Alumna
February 27th, 2012
11:12 am
Yes, a degree from Georgia Tech does mean something, and it should. I was a Chief of Staff for a major bank and hired many Tech alumni b/c I knew the amount of brains, effort, and dogged determination it took to earn a degree from Tech. I practically bleed gold and black.
That said, I am also a Cobb County taxpayer and parent to three CC students and I know that Cobb County made the correct choice in not going forward with the TFA contract. Today is not the time or place to engage in another contract that would cost the county money long-term, especially considering the “surplus” of teachers the county will have due to economic circumstances.
The TFA model may have some appeal (especially on those days when I re-teach my youngest her math lesson since her teacher is unable to do so correctly). However, the sneaky and underhanded way Hinojosa tried to pass this contract off really frosts my backside. I did my research and knew he was a bad hire from the get go. He seems to be proving me right all the time.
Mountain Man
February 27th, 2012
11:21 am
“But could it be that Teach for America’s real secret is starting with the smartest college graduates?”
Maybe – I don’t think we are going to cure that problem with $40,000 a year starting salaries and furlough days ( and no support in discipline).
I do have a probleth teachers getting education degrees but not having a MASTERY of the subject matter. The teacher should be a “Subject Matter Expert”. If he/she is teaching math, ideally she should have a math degree, but at least have a mastery (not just a working knowledge) of the subject. And school systems should not be putting an english teacher into a math teacher slot and expecting them to teach effectively. There is more to teaching than just presenting material someone else has created. YOU have to understand the subject and be prepared to answer questions.
Raquel Morris
February 27th, 2012
11:24 am
@HS Public Teacher,
You’re posting lies as well. It is the teacher’s contract and all of the employment protections within that has allowed 100+ APS teachers to collect their full pay without going to work a single day, even those teachers who actually confessed to CRCT cheating. You get plenty of job protections.
Inman Park Boy
February 27th, 2012
11:25 am
I think Elizabeth answered the question fully and perfectly.
Mountain Man
February 27th, 2012
11:27 am
“It is the teacher’s contract and all of the employment protections within that has allowed 100+ APS teachers to collect their full pay without going to work a single day, even those teachers who actually confessed to CRCT cheating.”
I agree that the teacher’s contract includes protection, but I was unaware that the teachers who are stillon the payroll ever “confessed to cheating”. If they had, I believe they could have been easily and summarily fired.
Raquel Morris
February 27th, 2012
11:31 am
@Mountain Man,
Some of the teachers have confessed to cheating, others are fighting the allegations. ALL of them are still on the payroll and NONE of them have done any work for it.
Mountain Man
February 27th, 2012
11:32 am
Of course, why should a math major go teach, when they can make probably double the salary with their math degree and just skip the education degree.
HS Public Teacher
February 27th, 2012
11:40 am
@Raquel Morris – I do not lie. You are ignorant to the facts.
It is certainly NOT the teacher annual contract that is protecting the APS teachers. Please get YOUR facts straight before calling someone a liar.
The APS teachers are protected under State law – not the contract. This law protects all State employees with “due process.” In other words, the APS teachers are innocent until proven guilty and given their day in tribunal (not a literal legal court).
Please stop calling people liars when you don’t have your own facts in order!
HS Public Teacher
February 27th, 2012
11:43 am
@Raquel Morris and Mountain Man….
Beyond what I have written, what APS has done or not done is thier choice/decision. If that school system wants to pay those teachers forever, they are allowed to do just that.
The fact is that APS has drug their feet on these teachers in arranging for tribunal. I don’t know why. It doesn’t make sense to me.
Raquel Morris
February 27th, 2012
11:45 am
@HS Public Teacher,
And the teacher’s contract is subject to state law. The fact remains, you enjoy job protections that are unavailable to other employees in the marketplace. Those job protections, whether they stem from federal law, state law or your local teacher’s contract, combine to make it difficult to separate a teacher from the school system. Must be nice.
Hillbilly D
February 27th, 2012
11:46 am
however well meaning, people like me, 50+, really don’t like being lectured to by 20 somethings just out into the work force.
That goes for just about any subject, not just education.
paulo977
February 27th, 2012
11:46 am
teacher &mom ….Stick it out. Don’t be a five year statistic. Thirty years from now, you’ll be tired and ready for a well-deserved retirement. You can look back with pride at all the lives you have touched and the difference you made in helping them achieve their dreams.
______________________________________________________________
Retired teacher , mom of teachers ,& grandmom.: great encouragement .Emily has the necessary potential and I can assure her that it is the MOST important profession in the world .
HS Public Teacher
February 27th, 2012
11:46 am
@Raquel Morris – Again, you are incorrect. You state:
“The fact remains, you enjoy job protections that are unavailable to other employees in the marketplace.”
This is untrue. ALL State employees have this protection UNDER STATE LAW. It is not in the school system contract.
Why is this so hard for you to understand?
HS Public Teacher
February 27th, 2012
11:48 am
@Raquel Morris –
Finally, I have known many teachers to be escorted out of the door in the middle of their contract. There are different situations with various consequences…. JUST LIKE IN THE BUSINESS WORLD.
How do I know? I was in the business world for 15 years before teaching!
Raquel Morris
February 27th, 2012
11:50 am
And there’s the rub, HS Public Teacher, all STATE employees. Believe it or not, there are some people in this economy who don’t work for a government agency.
The bigger question is, how many ineffective teachers at your school were fired for nonperformance over the past year, 5 years or 10 years?
Hillbilly D
February 27th, 2012
11:59 am
I’ve worked with a lot of ineffective people in the private sector, who never got fired either.
Josh
February 27th, 2012
12:20 pm
A Georgia Tech grad is much better prepared to teach than any education school graduate.
Teacher
February 27th, 2012
12:20 pm
Thank you, Emily for providing a thorough view of Teach for America.
No matter your view on TFA, you have to understand that only 5% of applicants are selected. This process selects the best from the nation’s universities that choose to give up AT LEAST 2 years to teach in a low-income school.
I’m appalled at how some people say they won’t call TFA teachers “teachers” because of inexperience. TFA Teachers have classroom responsibilities just like those that went through a traditional teaching program. They are responsible for teaching curriculum, grading, differentiation, parent involvement, faculty meetings, classroom management, and everything else that “traditional” teachers go through. To answer a question- YES, TFA teachers have the same class size and load as “traditional teachers”.
Yes, TFA has a bad reputation. But that is because people do not understand the mission of TFA. Teach for America has NEVER said that the GOAL or MISSION of TFA is to keep teachers in low income schools.
If you are a reasonable adult, especially one that has teaching experience, you know firsthand that the achievement gap can’t be narrowed by classroom teachers alone.
The purpose of Teach for America is to expose leaders to the realities of the achievement gap so they can go work in educational policy, administration and government to actually DO SOMETHING to close the gap.
The achievement gap can’t be closed by teachers alone. It just can’t. That’s why TFA alumni leave teaching. To grow their impact beyond the classroom.
In fact, about 30% of Metro Atlanta Teach for America members DO stay in education for at least 5 years. Another 30% go on to graduate school majoring in educational policy or administration. About 10% work for Teach for America professionally- working with new teachers, coaching, training, district strategy and outreach. Some teachers even go to med school so they can go back and work in low income areas where they taught.
Yes, TFA teachers are young. But who said all experienced teachers are good teachers? TFA teachers go through extensive training before the classroom experience.
Would you like to go teach at a low income school? Then by all means, please go ahead and sign up. We’d love to have you. The problem is that most people want to complain or judge instead of actually doing something. At least TFA teachers sign up voluntarily to make some kind of change instead of just posting about it on an online forum.
Oh, and one more thing- TFA teachers MUST enroll in a certification program and complete it by their second year. Most teachers choose to go on for their Master’s in education. Why would TFA teachers enroll in these programs if they didn’t want to do SOMETHING about the achievement gap?
Please, before you judge what you think Teach for America is, I urge you to contact a teacher or call the Teach for America office.
@ Tonya C.
February 27th, 2012
12:22 pm
Fact: None of the teachers implicated in the APS cheating scandal were TFA corps members.
Frustrated
February 27th, 2012
12:24 pm
Please, before you judge TFA teachers, give the office a call. Would YOU like to go teach in a low income school? No? Then stop attacking teachers who volunteered to do so.
Frustrated
February 27th, 2012
12:25 pm
Also, TFA never said that the mission was to have teachers in schools. You know just as well as I do that the achievement gap can’t be fixed by classroom teachers. TFA teachers become leaders in education and government so they can actually DO something about it.
Elizabeth
February 27th, 2012
12:27 pm
Maureen: Why did you change hurtles to hurdles? It was not a typing error ( I make plenty of those in this blog!). It was a usage error that any college graduate should not make. It only demonstrates my point about the lack of real knowledge coming from young people who do not regard correct grammar and usage as significant workplace skills.When you change these, you are helping her to misrepresent herself and her skills.
And for those of you who blasted me about not wanting to “llearn” from a 22 year old, I have learned plenty from some of them. But when they suggest things that I know do not work, yes, I do resent the smugness and superiority.Being told that I am an “old, burned out, bitter Betty.” because of my years of experience is an insult. I am not. Experience counts. I happen to work for a principal who was 26 when he became principal of our school 5 years ago.. Too young, you say? Not this man! He is the best administrator I have EVER worked under, and he has taught me plenty. But then, he hired me BECAUSE of my experience, and he values me also.
HS Public Teacher
February 27th, 2012
12:36 pm
@Raquel Morris –
You ask, “The bigger question is, how many ineffective teachers at your school were fired for nonperformance over the past year, 5 years or 10 years?”
I would wager that the percentage is the same or larger compared to other “businesses”.
The actual bigger question is…. why are you so very negative regarding teachers?
HS Public Teacher
February 27th, 2012
12:39 pm
@Raquel Morris -
The funny thing is that you have not admitted that you are wrong. You have danced around the facts and have slightly changed your story from post to post. Yet, you pretend to ’stand firm’ on your position.
You said that IN THE CONTRACTS teachers are given some sort of job protection. That is a lie. Can you admit that part?
Maureen Downey
February 27th, 2012
12:54 pm
@Elizabeth, On essays and columns that I post, I follow the AJC policy of correcting errors. I don’t have a copy desk reading behind me so I often miss errors. But I do edit the pieces that I post. Very few pieces go up without any changes, as we have style formats that we must follow.
Maureen
Raquel Morris
February 27th, 2012
12:56 pm
@HS Public Teacher,
I am not negative regarding teachers. I am negative on teachers who don’t perform. My life was very positively impacted by the effective public school teachers I had. Of course there are terrible employees in the private sector who manage to skate through and keep their jobs, but unlike teachers, the paper-pusher down the hall is not working in a field with life or death consequences. I just find it very troubling that the teacher lobby would be so opposed to motivated and effective teachers, like the TFA in this blogpost, just because they don’t fit a certain mode.
If one ineffective teacher is allowed access to our children year after year, that is one too many. The children don’t have time to wait on the teacher’s employment protections to run out. If there is a TFA who can step in and reach that student, right now, then we need that TFA.
2 in college; 1 left to go
February 27th, 2012
12:58 pm
What idiotic rhetoric are you all spewing? Here is a young, motivated, engaging teacher who is obviously having a positive impact on somebody’s kids and all you people do is turn your bitter tirades on her. She by her own admission has just started teaching, so whatever gripes you have didn’t start nor will they end with her. You SHOULD be encouraging her to continue her efforts AND to bring her friends along as well.
It is likely that you treat and engage with your students the same way you interact on this page. Who wants to be around a bitter, cynical teacher who not only hates their job and has a negative perspective on the benefits of their own efforts.
You all are the very teachers who need to be replaced.