Teach for America began with a worthy goal: to supply bright, idealistic college graduates to serve in poor children in urban and rural districts.
But then it evolved into something with grand ambitions: to groom the leaders who would one day control American education.
This article describes the little-known political arm of TFA. TFA alums have begun the long march through the institutions, and the organization’s political goals are clear.
James Cersonsky, the article’s author, foresees “a massive proliferation” of Michelle Rhees, and wonders whether the political arm of TFA might actually be “the Trojan horse of the privatization of public education.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
TFA has long been the Trojan Horse of school privatization; it’s advocacy spin-off provides the wheels to get inside the Citadel.
Someone will have to please explain this to me. TFA seems on the surface like a warm-fuzzy bunch of idealistic, politically-correct socialist-types, exactly the O.W.S.-mindset types who would be most opposed to privatization.
Adam Kirk Edgerton, in his viral resignation of 2012 (picked up by HffPo in early Sept. of last year, I blogged about it last week – what can I say, I’m slower than most LOL http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/teacher-resignations-cries-in-dark-is.html), wrote:
“Alternative certification programs, such as Teach for America, suggest that education schools are empty, facile and meaningless, at least for the classroom teacher. I don’t begrudge TFA, since it helps many children escape poverty, but its existence magnifies a view of teachers as interchangeable parts, as cogs in our machine. I have no moral high ground on the issue of turnover, since I quit after three years, but policy-makers are increasingly devaluing graduate school programs that train teachers to teach — to innovate. After all, why spend money on training teachers for a whole year, for a career, when we can pump in a stream of idealistic young people for much less money? Why teach teachers to question the machinery whirling around them?”
Which leads me to think of Orwell’s Animal Farm, and the socialist “utopia” created by the pig Napoleon. Centralized, corrupt control, through brainwashing and inculcation. That seems more TFA’s bag than anything. Privatization is the libertarian/Objectivist ideal, it’s almost neo-conservative, and the TFA crew seem anything but.
What am I missing?
What’s missing is that you obviously have no idea whatsoever what socialism is, otherwise you would not see it as having any connection to TFA.
Thank you for clarifying the issue with such fine detail. That explains it all. You are very helpful.
Legitimate question; if I wanted snark, I would have posted the question to reddit.
It was a simple statement of fact. Your use of dead terminology – “warm and fuzzy” “politically correct” – while connecting (incorrectly) TFA to OWS shows a basic lack of understanding of the history and dynamics of these groups and their ideologies.
You’re absolutely right about the “inculcation and brainwashing” that’s part of TFA; it does have many cult-like qualities, but take a look at its Board members and major funders, and the actions of it’s most prominent alumni, then ask yourself what connection there is to socialism.
Could it be that the faux pwogwessive cliches and buzzwords they use are just a misdirection and marketing ploy to appeal to all those idealistic, and naive, young people, while they amass a fortune ($300 million in assets) and send their stars out to privatize the schools and bust the unions?
Don’t be confused by the terminology: when it comes to economics, neo-cons, neo-liberals and libertarians are first cousins, if not siblings. The only difference is that neoliberal Democrats want to keep the unions around a little longer, so they can milk them for campaign contributions while they betray them.
Michael Fiorillo: you wrote in your last comment that previous remarks by you were “a simple statement of fact.” Agreed.
Your advice is sound: the “clichés and buzzwords” used by the edubullies are used just for “misdirection” and as a “marketing ploy” so one shouldn’t be “confused by the terminology.”
The danger in ignoring your call to use good sense is to buy into, say, one of the latest whoppers to make the rounds: that Bill Ayers wrote the CCSS.
Where do they get this stuff? And what must they think of us that they assume we are gullible enough to swallow it whole?
Perhaps the key to understanding this conundrum has something to do with their fixation on $tudent $ucce$$: “Every crowd has a silver lining.” [P. T. Barnum]
We’re the crowd and they’re after the…
😦
Got it!
🙂
KrazyTA,
Barnum, Mencken, Twain, Bierce, and I suppose today we’d add Stewart and Colbert (although Colbert has shown himself to be a mark for so-called reformers) … the list is long.
As for Bill Ayers and the Common Corporate Standards, he did write them, while simultaneously forging Barack Obama’s birth certificate in the mosque behind the Socalist Party’s headquarters!
How does TFA help children escape poverty?
That’s want I want to know too! What a ridiculous supposition.
TFA does not help children escape poverty because it provides poor children with inferior, untrained teachers who don’t know what they are doing and have only test taking skills and enthusiasm to offer. I have known only two good TFAs since they started. The rest did not even have basic classroom management, much less teaching skills. One who was good has now become one of us, getting a Masters in Special Education. The other, her friend, is going on to law school on a full scholarship. It does not take a year to train a teacher. It takes a minimum of 4 (B.Ed) for the basics and then a Masters (2 more) to become a full fledged professional, career, educator (or the B.ED and at least 5 years in a stable classroom environment) I don’t know what they think they can teach someone in 5 weeks! Our children who need the most experienced and qualified teachers are getting smart college grads with no training instead, most of whom leave the high poverty schools that trained them after their 2 years of service (no stability for the kids) and go to wealthier schools, or out of the field entirely. Some think they are ready to be administrators or policy makers. No, not for at least another 5-10 years in the classroom. TFA is an evil plan to prevent poor children from getting quality education and put real teachers, who are often activists, out of work.
Any thoughts about young, TFA alumni signing running for a BOE slot in a high-achieving, affluent district?
Smells like Teen Spirit. . .
Load up on guns and bring your friends
It’s fun to lose and to pretend
She’s over bored and self assured
Oh no, I know a dirty word
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yay! I’m worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end
And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it was hard to find
Oh well, whatever, nevermind
A denial !!
How can the author say “Might they be the Trojan Horse?” It is only so obvious that they are just that. When TFA started there was a lack of teachers. A friend of mine was one of the first TFA trainers in the beginning. Now they have morphed into another creature and that is what we see today after the big money got involved and peoples greed could not be resisted anymore and the mythology got going such as we can make a professional in 5 weeks of sort of training. This is true mythology. They need to be shamed out for their false promises and policies. There is only one way to stop them and that is to attack their false promises and myths with facts and the damage they are doing now and over time.
Imagine how different life would be if Linda Darling-Hammond had been really considered, then appointed Secretary of Education. Sigh.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/my-year-volunteering-as-a-teacher-helped-educate-a,28803/
nuff said