Below is a speech I made to the Seattle Board of Education. I've been working with parents from the recently formed organization Parents Across America to convince the board to reconsider bringing 50 Teach for America (TFA) recruits to Seattle. Bill Gates gave TFA $2.5 million to open an office in Puget Sound. With that kind of funding, TFA will not stop at 50 recruits.
Seattle parents are furious. Seattle is not a failing school system. They don't want amateurs teaching their children.
There are two things parents can do to stop this insidious "education reform." One is demand that all children have a professional teacher when one is available. The other is to opt out of the test. Cheap labor and mega-testing are key to corporatizing and privatizing education, but parents can stop this insanity if they organize and resist.
Honestly, I could have given this same speech in any of 40 major metro areas across the country where TFA operates -- only the numbers would change. Seattle parents are the most savvy because they don't trust Gates.
This is my three minute speech which ended in cheers and whistles from the crowd. The board which had earlier voted 6-1 to bring Teach for America were buzzing amongst themselves as soon as I said "civil right."
Also posted at Great Schools for America
My name is D -- M----. I am the director of Great Schools for America. I’m here to review some points I made in a letter sent to the board last month.
Our organization has the resumes of nearly 23,000 certified teachers from Washington state alone who want the jobs you are offering Teach for America recruits. We are offering professional teachers to you.
The question now becomes, “Do Seattle’s children deserve professional teachers?”
We think it is the civil right of every child to have a professional teacher when one is available.
According to an independent study published last year, Teach for America: A False Promise, those recruits do real harm to children and to budgets:
1. Their students perform significantly less well in reading and math than those of credentialed beginning teachers.
2. Taxpayers fund a third of Teach for America’s operating costs. On average, a TFA amateur costs $70,000 more than a professional.
Fifty percent leave after two years and more than 80 percent leave after three years.
3. By hiring Teach for America recruits, Seattle students will do significantly less well on tests, taxpayers will pay significantly more for them, and a significant number will be gone in two to three years.
The study offers some solutions:
1. Hire Teach for America recruits only when professionals are not available.
2. Consider the high cost and “churn” caused by TFA turnover.
3. Invest in proven educational reforms like small class sizes and pairing novice and expert teachers.
Hiring 50 Teach for America recruits will cost Seattle students and taxpayers dearly — a learning deficit for students and a million dollars more spent by taxpayers. Wouldn’t Seattle rather spend its money on promising reforms? To do otherwise would be pure folly.
But it’s not just about employing an amateur to do a professional’s job, it’s also about plugging that pipeline to power. Bill Gates, Eli Broad, the Waltons, and other of the Billionaire Boys who heavily fund TFA are using the teaching profession as a two-year proving ground to positions of power. THIS MUST STOP. At best, it makes a mockery of the teaching profession. At worst, it says to our poorest children of color, “You don’t deserve a professional teacher. But you’d better score high on that test.”
These are our children. They can’t protect themselves. They depend on us. So, we are saying to the Billionaire Boys, “You can’t have our children, and you’ve had just about enough of our money.”
I believe the board has been misinformed about the cost and effectiveness of Teach for America and ask that you reconsider your vote. Hire professional teachers for the children of Seattle because every child deserves a great education.