If Teach for America (TFA) were to disappear today, the loss would hardly be noticeable to the education community.
TFA top staffers would notice because they would miss their six-figure salaries, and education majors and fully certified teachers would notice because they might get a teaching job.
Aside from that, TFA does more harm than good, and I for one would be happy to see it go. Here's why.
It was a bad idea from the beginning twenty years ago when it was born out of the lofty Manhattan offices of Goldman Sachs, and it's a bad idea today. It is a teacher-bashing elitist organization funded by America's uber-rich, and it harms children and real teachers. What is astounding is that such an ill-conceived idea is driving education "reform" in this country.
That this pompous organization would have the audacity to ask us to pay them more millions of our tax dollars is the height of arrogance. What is extremely disappointing is the number of Democrats who favor more funding for it. According to the Minnesota Daily:
A total of 86 representatives and senators, all Democrats except for one, have expressed written support for direct funding to TFA, including U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.
A spokeswoman for TFA said this of the request for more funding:
TFA asked Congress for $50 million for fiscal year 2011, up from the $21 million it received this year. The increase in requested funding was to help with TFA’s planned expansion, which includes doubling the number of schools it serves within the next five years, Gastrock said.
Does this amount include the millions that TFA receives from Americorps, a program originally intended to pay for volunteer programs in impoverished areas? An exception was made years ago for TFA members. That money is used to pay for TFA members' graduate degrees. It isn't clear what the $50 million will be used for used for.
It would probably be too much to dream that Congress follow the lead of Sacramento, a city brave enough to fight off ridiculous demands of Teach for America for $2.7 million in recruitment fees for 90 teachers. If TFA demands $30,000 for each teacher it places for two years and collects hundreds of millions of dollars from private donors, why does it still need millions more of our tax dollars? It is wasteful! Not one cent of that money reaches the classroom in the form of supplies, programs, or projects. A National Teacher Register will provide a fully certified teacher for every classroom at very little cost because our teachers already know how to teach. It makes good sense.
Also posted at Great Schools for America.