Posted on March 12 at 3:05 p.m.Suggest removal

As an incoming Teach For America corps member who did her homework, I take issue with these untruths and misrepresentations.
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 Teach For America is to take motivated college grads (from diverse backgrounds – why did Mr. Bruenig continually say “well-off”?) who are passionate about decreasing the achievement gap and directly placing them in schools where this problem is most prevalent. TFA’s mission is to decrease the achievement gap between socioeconomic classes.
The organization does not ever claim that corps members are “better” than traditional teachers. The whole idea is to serve the underserved, meaning that corps members are filling teacher gaps and teaching in schools that often hire long-term subs. In fact, TFA’s original mission was to fill teacher gaps, especially in low-income areas according to the Educational Policy Analysis Archives. The more direct mission of working to solve the achievement gap is taking this a step further by becoming a part of the movement to fight inequity.
I agree that poverty has a huge impact on student achievement, but I do not believe that poverty directly effects achievement. Instead, it is the nature of the schools lacking resources in areas of poverty that effects students’ performance. Yes, poverty causes “distracting conditions” for a healthy learning environment, but the mission of TFA is not to solve poverty. I believe that the benefits of improving the sad state of disproportionate public education in this country are far-reaching. Of course there will always be poverty. But it is unacceptable that fourth-graders in low-income areas are already 2-3 grade levels behind (National Center for Education Statistics).
It is completely untrue that schools fire teachers in order 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 this idea. Hopefully, there will be a day when TFA does not need to exist.
As for the effects that TFA teachers have on their students, there have been positive and negative studies. First of all, I would recommend looking at a study from The National Academies, “the country’s leading science advisory group” according to the New York Times, that found that Teach For America teachers had a greater impact of students’ test scores. However, study or no study, I think that the practice of sending smart and energetic leaders to underprivileged schools, where highly qualified and experienced teachers often prefer to avoid, is a positive impact. It is part of TFA’s credo that corps members hold their students to high expectations.
This is what I believe in. This is why I joined Teach For America: to fight for educational equity.
-Megan Morgan
2010 TFA Corps Member

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Posted on March 12 at 1:09 p.m.Suggest removal

There are many things in this article that are just plain untrue. Expect a lengthy letter to the editor.

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Posted on February 9 at 9:11 p.m.Suggest removal

I don't think that satire is supposed to be inspiring...

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Posted on February 9 at 8:57 p.m.Suggest removal

So true. But at least those bike "tickets" that OU gives out are laughable. I have a collection.

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