Louisiana is in a budget crisis, and Governor Bobby Jindal has been closing hospitals that serve indigent patients and other social services for the needy. He has also been trying to find a way to fund his expensive voucher program, since a state court declared it unconstitutional last fall.
But Teach for America is undaunted by the state’s budget crisis. It has applied for a grant of $5 million.
Blogger Louisiana Voice writes:
“According to the project summary submitted with its application, the money would apparently be used to provide 550 to 700 teachers and 1,000 alumni who would serve as teachers, leaders and “positive change agents (whatever that is) in the lowest income schools throughout the greater New Orleans and greater Baton Rouge areas, central Louisiana, Acadiana and the Louisiana Delta.”
But wait. LouisianaVoice has come across three state contracts with TFA totaling almost $1.6 million to recruit, train and place 570 TFA teachers in the Delta region of Louisiana and the Recovery School District.”
Meanwhile, colleges in Louisiana are producing teachers who can’t find jobs.
Shouldn’t Louisiana be encouraging career educators who plan to stay in their jobs and remain in their communities?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
That makes perfect sense IF that was the state’s goal. Unfortunately time has proven many times over that TFA is being gifted (or gilded) with gold, because that is the goal, object and reason for being: Corporate money being mined in the Charter School/TFA and affiliated industries, such as ALL the supplemental and test booklets for the Core standard and states public school testing. If there were no, or minor money to be had in these areas, the Charter school, TFA, etc.corporate dalliance would implode like a pricked balloon.
This example of where the millions did and did not go reveal that the fostering of educating great future teachers is far from any corporate interest! Just simple math will show it: A four year University educated teacher. vs. A five week educated novice.
As the saying goes, “You get what you pay for!”
Hubris is a wonderful word to describe the situation. l learned from reading Classical literature (as David Coleman once did), as opposed to “informational texts.”
In addition to arrogance, it had for the Greeks a connotation of aggressive maltreatment of others.
Both sure apply here in spades!
Despite yesterday’s ruling on Act 1, John White sent Louisiana teachers an email inviting them to pilot the connection between Common Core and standardized tests, “to help with planning, instruction, etc.” That “etc.” is loaded: I guess he cannot outright write that it is for “evaluation” since that was declared illegal on Monday.
The person “in charge” is Jessica (Tucker) Baghian, another Molly Horstman-type who has an expired teaching certificate with only a couple of years in the classroom compliments of TNTP (The New Teacher Project). Her expired teaching certificate is here: https://www.teachlouisiana.net/teachers.aspx?PageID=416
Here is the link for White’s “EdConnect” propaganda that he sends to the teachers he discredits out of the other side of his mouth:
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=psbatrjab&v=0011Epg2wSvN841Wehl8BiP9lyGjvp2YnVoXmvkmFFtvyQbkNMbXo0jZqbLAyS0iMM6VK0ttq-mct370-ovl9ElQi_7UsNmAmNEBLIuTDruu-I%3D
More educrap touted as revolutionary by TFA drop outs who are too self absorbed and pompous to even know what they don’t know.
In this Baton Rouge Advocate article, Jessica Baghian has the title of “deputy chief of staff”: http://theadvocate.com/home/4042051-125/state-to-overhaul-pre-k
Based on LDOE salary information dated 11-28-12, Jessica (Tucker) Baghian holds the title of “fellow” and has an annual salary of $90,000.04 and was hired 07-01-11.
Sounds like Bridgeport CT’s “Deputy Mayor of Education.” A 20 something guy with no real classroom experience appointed by Paul Vallas et al.
http://jonathanpelto.com/2013/03/05/and-last-but-not-least-in-finchvallas-land/
Paul Vallas was John White’s predecessor in New Orleans (Recovery School District).
And read this….his circus act is up here in CT and he just had his contract illegally extended for three years:
http://jonathanpelto.com/2013/03/06/illegal-as-in-not-legal-the-bridgeport-board-of-educations-5-to-4-illegal-vote/
Why is this not on the front page of every news paper and 5 o’clock news?
The same reason that the Denver Post didn’t put an administrator’s picture on the front page when he had to go on PAID administrative leave because he was being investigated for accepting bribes and kickbacks…the media is in the pocket of corporate/moneyed interest, they cover for their friends and never tell about the abuses of the system.
Reblogged this on Transparent Christina.
This plan would even make a shyster blush. Exploiting Louisiana tax dollars and short-changing the neediest people! Just pure out and out greed.
Wouldn’t you love to “Follow the money” and see who got bribes, kick backs, etc. I’m sure the list is quite long. Caring for kids? How perverted are greedy business wolves that takes millions and God knows what’s REALLY going towards anything to do with REAL education?
Yes& I think districts should be held accountable for the %of & trends in population samples taught by new teachers or non- teachers each year. This type of policy would discourage the rampsnt discriminatory practice of providing the same populations of students with new or non-teachers year after year. I think the solution lies in equitability of teaching & learning conditions. If great teachers don’t want to stay, we shouldn’t replace them… We should take an stance if curiosity & inquiry & create the conditions to sustain teachers who can and will promote excellence over time… We need to stop letting state agencies & districts avoid responsibility by hiding behind faux ‘teacher shortages,’ especially when unemployed traditionally trained teachers continue to persist as subs in districts who have a reputation for respecting teachers, rather than applying in these other districts…
Even with Wendy Kopp’s departure, I think it is wishful thinking to believe the organization is going to change in any substantial way. There will some change — there always is–, but they have become one of the most powerful organizations in education by denying the value of experience and training, advocating leadership roles in education for people who have taught in the classroom for two years and attacking the public education system. Why would that change?
Gary Rubinstein said, not so long ago, “TFA has participated in building a group of ‘leaders’ who, in my opinion, are assisting in the destruction of public education.” In his analysis of TFA, he picks 1997-98 as a watershed year, the year in which the original mission, of providing teachers for schools and districts which face teacher shortages, was left behind for a broader mission of reshaping education. Interestingly enough, that was when Michelle Rhee was at the Kennedy school, coming up with what would be the new Teacher Project.
Now TFA is continuing with its 3rd stage, not looking so much at teaching as it does at leadership and, one assumes, eventually ownership.
Re: previous post
I meant to be quotes around ‘leadership.’
I don’t think states get it…teachers live in the communities they teach in, if they are well paid teachers they also spend money in the communities (and states) they live in. The money cycles around. If you have a bunch of low paid young people teaching..trust me, it’s like getting a tip out of a collage student, it’s not going to happen. They are going to be just getting by, they will be contributing virtually no dollars back to their community (state), and what little they do make will be going to pay off student loans. It is a lose-lose situation for everyone, but mostly for the students as both the quality of their education and the quality of their communities quickly goes down, down down…