This is an open letter to Keith Olbermann.
Dear Keith,
You'll probably be too busy to investigate this, everyone is. Birthers, deathers, and real stuff like health care and the economy grab the headlines.
But, as kids head back to school, maybe someone should be asking, "Who's teaching my child?" Michelle Bachmann's son???? Yes. Is he a teacher? Nope. Keith, I think you may have been punked by Michelle Bachmann and son.
Everyone gives Teach for America (TFA) a free pass, but you shouldn't. TFA is nothing more than a teacher-bashing shill for the GOP. The only candidates that can't qualify for TFA are teachers. I suppose Bachmann's son couldn't get a job in his own field so he is taking a teaching job from a certified teacher which he can legally do due to rule changes under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). (I wouldn't be surprised if he missed the deadline and was allowed in because he has connections. As in so many cases, it was probably his last chance for employment. This is only a guess, but I'd bet money on it.) I wonder if he attended the five-week training that will make him an exceptional teacher by TFA standards.
I've been trying to raise awareness about this destructive organization for years. Education is being deregulated by NCLB in much the same way the banking industry was deregulated by our government. Wendy Kopp, founder of TFA, has no education knowledge, training, experience, or expertise, yet she has hand-picked as many as 7,300 "fake teachers" this year to teach our children. She claims to place teachers where there are shortages and where no one will teach. (The job no one will do. Sound familiar?) The truth is that thousands of teachers are out of work and being displaced by TFA'ers who are causing chaos in classrooms. I know because I'm one of those displaced teachers.
This is the way Teach for America operates. Suppose you have a hospital and need some nurses, and I have an organization called Nurse for America. You have sick patients that need care, and I have some young college graduates who are not nurses but mostly liberal arts majors, and who need jobs. I, who have no nursing knowledge, training, experience, or expertise, have trained them for five weeks to be nurses. Through my considerable political connections and clout, I place them in your hospital and in others across the country. Qualified nurses can't get jobs but your "fake nurses" can. Substitute "schools and teachers" for "hospitals and nurses" and you have Teach for America.
In cities all across the country where teachers lost their jobs last spring, TFA "fake teachers" are filling their slots. How has Teach for America gained such extraordinary access to teaching jobs????
The perception that TFA perpetuates is that its "corps members" are like peace corps volunteers and cost less than regular teachers. That's just not true. TFA placements cost us more. Americorps through TFA gives TFA'ers a $5000 award at the end of each of the two years they teach. Regular teachers don't get that. TFA charges school districts a finder's fee for each candidate they place, too. Ridiculous, since in most places, hundreds of certified teachers apply for each vacancy. There are other additional costs as well.
The truth is that influential Republicans (and some Democrats, too) have promised TFA those teaching jobs, and the NEA does nothing to protect the teachers who pay billions in dues each year.
You can access more here in Finding the Truth about Teach for America. (The link to information on the Teach for America web site in reference to the Medtronic Foundation ad were removed after I wrote to NPR about the fallacies in the ad.)
Kopp and TFA are insulated by wealth, influence, and glowing media coverage. Education is in real trouble, and TFA is only the tip of the iceberg. Please don't be afraid to expose this group for the sham it is. Please listen, investigate, and tell the truth about Teach for America. Then, maybe we can discuss NCLB.
UPDATE: I fell asleep last night right after I posted, so I apologize for not commenting sooner and now I have a doctors appointment that I can't miss, so I'll be back later. I just wanted to make a couple of things clear. First, I love Keith and watch every night -- Rachel, too. I stand by my opinion that Keith does not know the nature of the relationship between Bachmann and her son, and there is probably more to the story. I don't know, but neither does he. Giving credence to TFA while so many out-of-work teachers are suffering is perpetuating the myth of TFA. It's easy to shoot the messenger when you don't like the message.
My goal is to get people to pay attention to the direction we are headed in education. If we don't need or want certified teachers, then let's shut down the schools of education and level the playing field instead of giving away teachers jobs to those who have not worked for them. If I have to take a hit to get the conversation started, so be it. I've done it before.