The League for Education Voters, LEV, that same Broad-backed, Gates’ funded organization that brought us Kevin Johnson, a big proponent of charter schools who spoke to a mostly African-American audience in an African-American church in Seattle and by the way, the only event that was not held at the MOHAI Museum, Steve Barth with KIPP, and my personal favorite, Ben Austin with the Parent Trigger, is now sponsoring an evening with Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America, Inc. (TFA), to extol the virtues of her organization.
Sue and I have written on this blog about Teach for America, Inc. and how recruits recently graduated from college are used to populate charter schools with cheap labor after five weeks of training to work specifically in low-poverty schools for two years before continuing on in their chosen professions which is usually not in the field of education. The privatizers call this the panacea that will cure all that ails the educational system in our country, that and charter schools.
For posts on this blog specific to TFA, Inc., please read:
More School Board Testimony Regarding TFA
Controversial TFA Back on the Agenda in Seattle
The Lines of Influence in Education Reform
Now we are beginning to wonder about the money for TFA, Inc. and where all that money is going. Our school board president along with our Broad-trained superintendent pushed through at the 11th hour a highly contested proposal to hire TFA recruits in Seattle, a town with four reputable colleges of education with graduates who have trained for several years to become teachers and now might lose an opportunity to work in our school system because a TFA, Inc. recruit might take their spot.
The kicker is that we have to pay TFA, Inc. $4,000 per year to have these recruits in our school system on top of the salary that they are to be paid. What is most interesting about this is that there seems to be a sliding scale for the cost of having these young grads in our schools. Ms. Kopp charges some districts $2,000 per year per head and other school districts $10,000 per year per recruit. On top of that, the Department of Education is giving Ms. Kopp $50M for her organization, and the Broad Foundation, on which Ms. Kopp sits as a Board Director, has recently promised Wendy Kopp another $25M, along with three other donors, for a total of $100M.
We haven’t done the numbers yet but it seems that there is a lot of money that this non-profit is receiving from all sources including donations from other foundations and the unsuspecting public through their website and yet there is not much in terms of cost except for a five-week training program and of course lots of marketing on the behalf of this organization. An organization that, because of its’ non-profit status, does not pay taxes.
The financial aspect of TFA, Inc. is a subject for another post that we should have up by the time of Ms. Kopp’s arrival in Seattle this March.
In the meantime, check out the video below from a TFA, Inc. recruit who had second thoughts about TFA, Inc. and shares his experiences.
Dora
And this is what Mr. Bilby states on his YouTube site.
My name is John Bilby and I was a TFA teacher in the New York region from September 2009 until March 2010. I left the organization because I felt that it does not adequately prepare its people to serve the poorest children in public schools. I also think that TFA is more interested in power, access, and influence in the federal game of education than it is concerned with resolving educational inequity. Its “corps members” are merely a means to this end, providing the organization with a front while it pursues the goals of its donors, namely to remodel public education in this country in order to favor a high-turnover, non-unionized workforce in charters run by hedge-fund managers for tax breaks. I foresee this further stratifying our current system into one in which children with disabilities, children who don’t speak English, and children who do not do well on standardized tests are funneled into substandard schools in a constant state of crisis due to continuous budget cutting.
I still believe, however, in the democratic power of education and the right of the people to vote out those who might infringe upon it. I am beginning a traditional route teacher certification program and I am looking forward to getting back into a city classroom soon.
Another TFA story was shared during the forum in Seattle with Dr. Ravitch. Our own Jesse Hagopian spoke of his experiences as a TFA recruit in Washington DC.
Go into the video 9 minutes to hear his testimony regarding Teach for America, Inc.
Dora
Update: 2/14/2011
Check out the live blogging that was done during the TFA summit last weekend. Some very revealing insights written by a former TFA recruit.
Seattle Education 
Dora,
Yea, that “alternative-certification” provision sounds pretty similar to what was pushed through in Michigan right before TFA came back here. I suppose that was the writing on the wall. If I had to guess, I would say they will set up some kind of pseudo-master’s/certification program through UW (that would be my best pick for the college) that will just make Corps members’ lives that much more hectic and miserable without providing much in the way of good learning or observations, etc. to actually help them become better teachers (Not that TFA teachers would have time to implement much of their learning during their first year in the classroom anyway – even if it was valuable).
Your first year (or two or three) with Teach For America is really very trial by fire – some Corps members make it through in varying stages of misery and exhaustion – others don’t. The program’s boot camp-esque summer training is set up much the same way – it’s geared towards survival of the fittest with 15-20 work days, endless lesson planning and presentations, etc. – a very unhealthy model in my mind; particularly if you’re concerned about teacher retention/development (For example, I had a 105 degree fever and strep throat during the first week of TFA’s summer training Institute – before the summer school ‘teaching’ even starts – and they wouldn’t let me take a day off from the presentations/training. I had to wait to see a doctor until the weekend and was popping 10-20 Advil a day to make it through that week – that probably should have been my first sign of impending disaster :-).
John,
This is all very valuable information.
In our state, legislation was passed last year thanks to the efforts of the Seattle PTA and the Broad backed, Gates funded faux-roots groups that provided language that anyone who wanted to could apply for alternative certification. The spin was that retired people and others with a lot of experience and knowledge could apply to teach in the public school districts. I haven’t challenged that one yet by applying myself but I and others thought all along that it was the prelude to TFA coming to our state.
Sure enough last year, with the help of our Broad trained school board president, directors and superintendent, they pushed through TFA based on the new law regarding alternative certification.
It will be interesting to see how these TFAer’s in Seattle manage to prepare for their classes, “teach”, go through the faux certification process and get a Masters degree all at the same time.
This TFA deal is starting to look more like a flim-flam outfit than anything else to me. A very expensive flim-flam operation at that.
Dora
In Detroit, we had “graduate courses” we were required to attend during our two-year committment, but rather than actually being enrolled in a normal university’s education program, we had this special set-up with the University of Michigan (since alternative certification was very new to being allowed in the state) so that we were ‘sponsored’ by UM, but weren’t actually enrolled in the real UM education graduate courses.
Basically, they set up a fly-by-the-seat of their pants TFA-only alternative cert program where we gave UM $1,000,000 ($10,000 each – from our education awards/stipends, so those were used to pay for the alternative certification program) and they gave us ‘interim’ teaching certificates and put us on the path to alternative certification (although we are required here to teach a third year to get certified, which I doubt very many TFA-ers will do).
By most TFA-ers here, these ‘classes’ was pretty much viewed as just extra worthless busy work on top of our already insanely hectic schedules. It consisted of some worthless weekend professional development days, some observations and extra classes/assignments by other UM-related education people (during the first and only meeting I attended before I resigned, the people with UM didn’t even know anything about TFA or our situations) and they also got a separate Master’s program (actually through the real UM education department) going that started this January that is optional for Corps members (costs extra I believe) and I think only a relatively small percentage are doing it.
I do know that the graduate classes/Master’s/certification programs set up for TFA Corps members vary greatly from region to region and most more established regions offer Master’s or certification classes through an actual school of education (some regions – like NYC – require their Corps members get Master’s degrees). A lot of fellow Corps members were pretty upset with how things were set up with Detroit (no guaranteed Master’s at the beginning – the program was set up later, no certification until three years of teaching, etc.) – this helped prompt some Corps members to quit sooner rather than later actually.
Not sure what they’re putting together for Seattle TFA-ers, but I imagine it might be something similarly worthless, second-tier and thrown together last minute.
Woo!
I thought that the money might go for paying the required coursework that the recruits are to take during their two year stint and maybe that is why the amount of money required by TFA varies from one district to another.
We haven’t heard which school will sponsor the TFA recruits in Seattle. Our guess is UW where one of the head honchos was a TFAer.
One thing that I did read is that between managing their new job as “teacher” and all of the prep work that has to be done as a teacher, there is little time to carry a full load of classes towards obtaining a graduate degree in a two year period. Maybe that’s another reason that TFA recruits drop out so quickly.
Thinking back on working on my masters full time, there would not have been enough time to teach full time also.
Dora
Been thinking–maybe for $4000 per CM, you only get the basics–the TFA summer boot camp training program. Maybe the Seattle CM’s won’t get the masters degree. One more thing: each CM walks away after the two-year stint with a stipend. Around $8,000-10,000, to further their education. Like law school, med school, and MBA.
Oo-Oo! I know the answer to this one Miss Dora! I know what the $4000 per corps member (known as CM’s) will go for–some of it goes to TFA to cover administrative costs and the rest goes to a local university that has agreed to provide a master’s degree–most likely a master of education leadership–to each CM during the two years that he/she is under contract. My district pays $10,000 per CM per year for a two year contract. We now have 12 TFA CM’s in schools that have never had difficulty finding qualified teachers. A former superintendent signed a three-tear contract for $300,000 WITH NO BOARD APPROVAL. AAs yiour colleague Sue put it, this is like “drive-by teaching.” And yes, the positions will be held for the TFA CM’s to the ultimate disadvantage of any applicants from genuine teaching degree programs. The amazing thing is that the local university in Delaware providing the free masters degree also has a full-fledged program for a teaching degree. Wonder what mum and dad would think to know that little Janie’s job as a second-grade teacher would be going to an uncertified, unlicensed, unqualiifed and non-experienced TFA CM rather than their daughter whose education at the very same university they have not yet even finished paying for.
John,
Thank you for sharing your story.
As you know, Seattle is no Detroit, New York or Chicago. Yes, there is poverty in Seattle but not to the depths and breadth that you see in other urban locations around the country. We don’t have that inner-city decay that creates the worst emotional and physical environments for children to live in. Because of that, the TFA recruits who push out a qualified teacher and land in one of our “low performing” schools here in Seattle should have an easier go of it. Unfortunately it will still impact the students in a negative manner.
A teacher at Rainier Beach High School spoke up at a rah-rah for TFA promotional meeting at his school saying that the school had received 3 students in a pilot program a few years ago. All of them needed to learn the ropes of basic teaching and administrative tasks which the other teachers had to assist them with. He said that one TFAer adjusted but that the other two did not and quit the program soon after beginning their two year stint.
TFA is not what our students need in Seattle. Our students need qualified teachers who want to devote their time to teaching and make a commitment to our community for the long haul.
Dora
Teach For America is a horrible organization – I foolishly joined the organization in 2010 and was assigned to the new charter region in Detroit. I started out well, as I was placed at a brand new charter school teaching 5th grade (even though I was ‘trained’ for high school), but was a victim of budgets cut at my school (as we didn’t get enough students enrolled). I was then switched to 2nd grade after one month (and I really was doing a great job with the 5th grade class, largely because it had pretty well-behaved students and was a very small class size) and had a horrible experience there before I was asked to resign from the school (since the 2nd grade class was so outrageously out of control and I clearly had no clue what to do with seven-year-olds, the school wisely got the old teacher to come back and since it was a charter school, I was an at-will employee with no recourse even if I had wanted it). Then TFA refused to let me defer and be a teaching aid and then come back to
the school to teach 6th grade (which myself and the school wanted) and instead threw me into a public school 7th grade classroom that had ripped through four teachers already. I made it about a week in that out of control classroom before I admitted myself to the hospital with the symptoms of having a complete mental breakdown from the stress/anxiety of everything. I ended up in the Detroit psych ward, got on numerous anti-psychotic/anxiety meds (which I had never been on before and am no longer on) and then finally resigned from TFA once I realized how horrifically unprepared I was for the situations I was put in and how unhealthy it was for my mental, emotional and physical well-being – I only wish it hadn’t taken me so long. All told, I made it until November.
So far in our region (seven or so months in and TFA brought in 100+ of us to Detroit), multiple Corps members have ended up hospitalized in Detroit-area psych wards due to the stress of the program and how little support they offered us, about 15-20% of our Corps has already resigned at various stages in the program and many more will gone before the two years are up (no doubt) and I know that relatively few will be staying in teaching beyond two years (except those handful who were placed at better schools and hence are doing fairly well due to the strong systems already in place). TFA’s statistics saying that 2/3’s of their Corps members are still in education are based on self-selected survey results that doesn’t count participants like me who drop out of the program (we would never see that survey) and only 45% or so of the alumni they send the survey to respond (presumably mostly those who had a decent experience with the program and don’t hate TFA with all their being and
thereby immediately delete all TFA alumni emails). So those numbers are immensely exaggerated and inaccurate.
It’s especially frustrating to me that TFA is coming to Seattle, where real teachers are being laid off all the time and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. My mother has been teaching for decades in the Seattle area and even her job isn’t necessarily safe anymore nor does she get regular cost of living increases, etc., which is very sad and frustrating.
Teach For America’s boot- camp-esque summer training is also woefully inadequate and does not have any components dealing with child psychology, the history/philosophy of different teaching movements/ideas, minimal emphasis on behavior management (which is honestly what destroys most TFA teachers who aren’t successful – it was certainly my problem, although I got thrown into absolute war zones) – we practiced experimenting (I mean, teaching) for an hour a day on summer school students and the rest of the time was devoted to learning how to do ridiculously excessive lesson plans that no one ever used again as well as being brainwashed with TFA-isms and other garbage.
Here are my predictions for the 2011 TFA Seattle Corps – out of the 50 or so TFA teachers that are supposedly coming, I bet 1-2 end up hospitalized for mental/stress reasons, 10-20% resign before their two years are complete, the vast majority of the remaining teachers get the heck out of teaching after their two year committment is up and a handful of TFA teachers who are placed at more well-established/supportive schools with stronger parental involvement and a less disruptive student population in the first place will manage to survive and will then be hailed by TFA as amazing success stories (based on bogus, inaccurate purported ‘teaching data’ for the most part) and go on to star in the up and coming privatization of education movement (KIPP CEO’s, here we come!). There is a chance the numbers in Seattle might be slightly better than that since a smaller number of Corps members are coming in, Seattle schools are probably slightly less insane than inner-city Detroit schools and
hopefully TFA hires staff people for Seattle who aren’t incompentent TFA robots like most of Detroit’s staff is, so keep your fingers crossed.
Good luck Seattle schools – you’ll need it. And good luck incoming TFA Seattlites – you’ll definitely need it :-).
Check out my website – ‘recoveringfromTFA.wordpress.com’ if you want to read my resignation letters…you can also email me at j.asher.williamson@gmail.com. I’d love to chat more.