As an incoming Teach For America corps member who did her homework before joining the organization, I take issue with the untruths and misrepresentations in Matt Bruenig’s recent opinion column.

The premise of TFA is not to “take well-off college kids and put them in low-income public schools” in order to “help the students in that school do better.” The premise of TFA is to recruit college graduates from diverse backgrounds who are passionate about decreasing the achievement gap and place them in schools where this problem is most prevalent. TFA’s mission is to decrease the achievement gap between socioeconomic classes and to provide an equally excellent education to all students.

The organization does not claim TFA corps members are “better” than traditional teachers. The whole idea is to serve the under-served, meaning corps members are filling teacher gaps and teaching in schools that frequently hire long-term substitutes. There are not enough traditional teachers in low-income areas. In fact, TFA’s original mission was to fill teacher gaps, a huge problem especially in these areas according to the Educational Policy Analysis Archives. The more direct mission of working to solve the achievement gap is stepping further by not only filling teacher shortages, but also becoming a part of the movement to fight educational inequity across America.

I agree with Bruenig when he argues that poverty has a huge impact on student achievement. But poverty is not the only mitigating factor in low student achievement. Instead, in these low-income areas it’s the schools themselves that affect students’ performance. These schools suffer from a lack of resources, including materials and teachers. This is related to poverty, but I don’t think it should be. Yes, poverty causes “distracting conditions” for a healthy learning environment, but the mission of TFA is not to solve poverty; it is to provide equal education. I believe the benefits of improving the sad state of disproportionate and stratified public education are far-reaching and extremely beneficial to our country, and the world’s, future. Of course there will always be poverty, unfortunately. But it is unacceptable that fourth-graders in low-income areas are 2-3 grade levels behind the national average as the National Center for Education Statistics indicates to be the case.

It is untrue that schools fire teachers to hire TFA corps members. As previously stated, there is a dangerous teacher shortage in low-income areas. I’m not sure where Mr. Bruenig got the idea that TFA actually hurts “real” teachers. Hopefully, there will be a day when TFA does not need to exist. But until all children in this country have the opportunity to receive an equally excellent education, it deserves our support.

There exists both positive and negative studies that highlight the effect TFA teachers have on their students. These studies show TFA has little impact on test scores; others show the opposite. I recommend reading a study released by The National Academies, which The New York Times boasts is the premier science advisory group in the country. It found TFA teachers positively affected students’ test scores.

Study or no study, the practice of sending smart and energetic leaders to underprivileged schools, where there are few highly qualified and experienced teachers, is a step in the right direction. It is part of TFA’s credo that corps members hold their students to high expectations.

This is why I joined Teach For America — to fight for educational equity.

-Megan Morgan

2010 Teach For America Corps Member, Mississippi Delta

-Tyler Nunley

2010 Teach For America Corps Member, Memphis

-Sarah Shook

2010 Teach For America Corps Member, Tulsa

-Katherine Greer

2010 Teach For America Corps Member, Dallas

-Eric Beaver

2010 Teach For America Corps Member, Rio Grande Valley

-Marissa Alberty

2010 Teach For America Corps Member, Tulsa

-Matt Gress

2010 Teach For America Corps Member, Tulsa