Teach for America

Those who do it enthusiastically profess how spending two years working with kids in low income neighborhood changed their lives, while those who chose not to get involved can recite extensive lists of the program’s many flaws. 

“Prior to entering I heard it was for rich kids before they went to Med School or Law School, so I didn’t apply prior to the final deadline,” remarked Nathan Kurisu, a Teach For America alumnus and current sixth grade math teacher at Valor Academy. 

“But as the deadline grew closer, I decided to apply after hearing stories about how past participants have made lasting impacts in local communities,” added Kurisu.

Since its inception in 1990 with 500 teachers working in six communities, Teach For America has drastically expanded. 

“In the 2012-13 school year, more than 10,000 corps members [taught] 750,000 students while nearly 28,000 alumni…continue to deepen their impact as educational leaders and advocates,” says the organization.  

The idea behind Teach For America—wanting to get young, enthusiastic teachers to help improve the quality of education in underserved schools— can be very appealing to recent college graduates who are afraid or uncertain about how to make that next step from the familiar college environment to the professional world. 

As Teach For America approaches its 25th anniversary, the benefits and drawbacks of the program are becoming increasingly evident. 

Increasing the time commitment for Teach For America from two years to five years, as many TFA alumni suggest, may lead to improvements among the program's participants. Yet, considering that less than one percent of teachers across the nation come from Teach For America, people should continue applying the lessons learned from the program to make educational reforms even beyond the confines of Teach For America. 

The system of giving college graduates a five-week crash-course in education training, then sending them into the classroom—only to replace them two or three years later—leads to instability within schools and costs over $70,000 per Teach for America participant according to a 2010 study by Julian Heilig and Su Jin Jez, sponsored by The Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice. 

"The short time commitment hurts the consistency of the schools," said Kurisu. "Plus it’s hard for TFA teachers to be as effective as possible when they are trying to finish their degree during the first year of teaching and looking for a new job during the second year."

The key to far-reaching improvements in education lies in figuring recruiting the most talented, passionate college graduates to become lifelong teachers in schools across the nation, regardless of socio-economic status. But with budget cuts, low salaries and delapidated classrooms, many school systems cannot afford to hire new and entusiastic teachers.

However, far-reaching benefits can be reaped from employing a system of economic or social incentives to make the most talented graduates choose to share their abilities and passion with future generations, rather than using them purely for personal success in the workforce. 

By granting teachers the respect and esteem that they deserve, we may be able to breed an even more competent class of young professionals from all different backgrounds. 

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“Regardless of the many drawbacks folks find with TFA, I could not be more satisfied with the experience,” said Jeffery Astor, a Teach for America alumni who is currently working at Alliance Cindy & Bill Simon Technology Academy High School. 

“It brought me into a community that I have grown to love, a field that I never would have explored otherwise, and a career path that has opened up so many opportunities for me,” continued Astor. “Though I always warn potential corps members of the many challenges and obstacles that come with this position.”

Unfortunately, many of the aspects that make Teach For America so appealing to young applicants also end up hurting the schools that the program aims to help, according to Kurisu.

Despite the immense costs that go into preparing the Teach for America teachers and supporting them after their initial placement, over 50 percent of the teachers leave after two years and more than 80 percent leave after three years, explains the study. 

“There is a serious sentiment that many in the TFA family use it as a stepping stone to other professions and spend two years learning to become a teacher without ever mastering the profession,” said Astor. 

But Teach For America is not merely a simple way for college graduates to postpone real-world responsibility. 

“Most people say their first year is horrible—really stressful and rough,” said Kurisu. “Coming into Teach For America, you’re a brand new teacher with very little experience, working crazy hours, and going to school at night too. But you need to commit to not quitting no matter how hard it gets, because that’s what harms students.”

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Despite the good intentions of most participants, improving students' lives is not guaranteed. In fact, students who have inexperienced teachers who lack the dedication necessary to make it through the full two years can suffer long-term educational setbacks. 

 “If students get two years of a bad teacher, it’s really hard for them to recover for it,” said Biridiana Rodriguez, a recent Duke Graduate. “But for people with a college degree, after two years they’ll be fine.”

Especially in the underprivileged communities that Teach For America serves, there is no room for negligent, sub-par teachers. For students who may not necessarily have the luxury of graduating high school or going to college, interacting with committed, encouraging teachers is critical to their success in public school, graduating high school and after.  

“TFA’s biggest flaw is that core members come in as outsiders,” said Kurisu. “You can only gain the trust and respect of students by showing that you care about them and really listening and observing them. You need to take the time and effort to really understand the problems.”

For many teachers, learning how to become integrated within the culture of the school is what makes the difference between teaching for two years and deciding to devote one’s life to education.  

“At the end of the day, what it came down to is that I couldn't leave the students I came into Simon Tech with,” said Astor. “I watched myself grow alongside my students as they entered high school…there was still so much to be done. I realized that I couldn’t leave a job like this unfinished—that I had to stay on until my first class of students graduate.”

But among Teach For America participants like Astor who are not sure that they want to dedicate the rest of their lives to teaching, Teach For America may still have long-lasting benefits. 

“TFA supporters proffer that TFA is not only about sending teachers to schools facing staffing shortages,” explains the study by The Great Lakes Center. “[It is] also about improving the teacher labor supply and shaping individuals who will care about education in their future jobs on Wall Street, in Washington, or elsewhere outside the classroom.”

While having dedicated policymakers and educational advocates can be tremendously beneficial, it is important to ensure that children from lower socio-economic backgrounds do not pay the price.

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“If TFA is trying to build a core of people who care about getting people involved in education, there are better ways to do it than to place an unprepared teacher in charge of kids” said Rodriguez, who is going to begin working as a third grade teacher in the fall, having chosen not to participate in Teach for America. 

Teach For America’s shortcomings are most apparent among people who go into the program knowing that they will go on to pursue their interests elsewhere after fulfilling their two-year time commitment. But, the program also shows flaws among committed teachers who may have otherwise pursued more traditional accreditation programs offered at graduate schools across the country. 

“Proponents and opponents of TFA would likely agree that sending a would-be TFA teacher (that is, a teacher with strong academic ability and considerable drive) to a high-quality traditional teacher education program would lead to a teacher who would outperform a TFA teacher who had not received the additional education or a less academically able teacher who went the traditional route,” according to The Great Lakes Center study.

Despite its shortcomings, the idea behind Teach For America remains solid—getting smart, enthusiastic college graduates to inspire and connect with students in low-income communities where good teachers typically do not want to work. 

“We’re younger and don’t have other lives, so we are willing to work more and harder” commented Kurisu.

The real question remains: what will it take to get the best and brightest college graduates to develop a commitment to education that will make them the impassioned educators not just for a few years, but throughout their lives.

Contact News Editor Sara Newman here and follow her on Twitter.