Gary Rubinstein is a friendly critic of TFA. As a former corps member, he knows the good and the bad side of the TFA experience.
The question that is the title of this post is answered in his post, which I recommend.
What attracted me to Gary is that he doesn’t like hype and spin. He doesn’t like boasting. He thinks that TFA corps members can do some good but he knows they are not miracle workers.
A reader wrote over the weekend to say that he learned more than enough in his five weeks of training to be as good a teacher as anyone with a full year of preparation. I haven’t asked Gary, but I don’t think he would agree.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Dear Diane,
I am a 21 year veteran atr teacher. I truly appreciate your blogging. I have been subjected to the most ridiculous and hostile work environment this past year, As it stands, any teacher can become an ATR at anytime.
The troubling thing is that my “colleagues” shun us as though we are lepers. I guess its just not cricket to be seen talking to us. The prevailing meme is that we must be “bad” teachers.
The administration treats us like subs and even calls me a sub to my face. Imagine being informed in your email each week where you will be working the following week. At each school there is a different schedule, so forget dealing with your own children, holding a second job, going to school or even per session. The algorithm that the NYCDOE claims to use in the placement of the ATR underclass, includes distance from home as a major factor. For thirty of the thirty four schools I was sent to, the travel time each way was two hours minimum.
As an ATR I have no democratic rights. We have no chapter. The only proper description of the treatment we have recieved at the hands of the DOE and its HR enforcement arm, the UFT has been constructive discharge.
Every day is the first day of school. Both staff and students don’t consider me to be a “real teacher”.
It becomes a major battle to obtain a bathroom key. It is like being a migrant farmworker. Travelling from farm to farm. Each farm has its own idiosyncratic culture and rules.
This is the reward for twenty one years of service.
The younger teachers display incredible hubris. They think that they know how to teach despite having very little experience in the profession. When I was a beginning teacher I would see the older teachers as sources of advice. This is not the case anymore. Armed with the latest crackpot theories and jargon, the newer set think that they are better than us old dinosaurs who have become irrelevant.
Given the catastrophes that the business world has imposed on the global economy, I find it insane that the business model has been superimposed on education. Much like the economic downturn that resulted from business, this has happened in the last bastion of democracy, public education. In an ever growing fascist regime, education has been made part of the encroaching fascist takeover of this society.
Much like the 1917 October suprise and the Nazi Regime in Germany and the Chinese revolution of 1949, teachers have been persicuted,
These are savage and dark days.
Fed Up Gypsy
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I am sickened by this. Why would teachers shun each other knowing it could easily be them? I also cannot figure out why the NY Times is not covering this and to think Bloomberg controls the free press makes me crazy. I am so sorry for you. There has got to be a way to support each other. It doesn’t say much for the state of our profession that we are not unified….forget the union..they play it both ways to CYA.
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Thanks for letting your readers know about my post. You are right that I would not agree that the new TFAer has learned more than enough in his five weeks of training. Any training that only consists of about 12 hours teaching about 12 students is going to leave very large gaps. It will be interesting to follow up with this teacher in a few months and see how he is doing …
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Wow! All this time and I’ve grossly underestimated the actual teaching time.Thanks for enlightening me. This is criminal. Gary, gaps is an understatement. I’m thinking chasms…an abyss or gorge.
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Diane,
This is off topic, but I wasn’t sure where to post this question. On the video posted on the parents across America site you are featured speaking in many clips. At one point you are sitting in the audience (5:44) and it appears the gentleman to your left is our commissioner, Stefan Pryor. Is this correct and was that the first time you met him?
http://parentsacrossamerica.org/
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Hi Diane,
I’m a TFA corps member starting my second year teaching in August. I teach at a fairly new charter school in the Bay Area. Like Gary, I too am a TFAer who sees the good and the bad in TFA. I love reading your blog to hear a perspective that I never hear within the TFA or charter school realm. Thanks so much for connecting me with Gary Rubinstein’s blog! I’m excited to also read about his perspective as a TFA alum. I’m excited to pass both your blog and Gary’s blog on to some fellow corps members so that we can really critically engage with what’s going on in public schools in America. Thank you.
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Also, since I outed myself as a TFAer, I have to mention – out of all of the TFA corps members I know, I have not met a single one who has felt “fully prepared to teach” after the 5 week Institute. I know I surely didn’t. Many corps members have much more humility and awareness than that.
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This speaks to the arrogance and hubris of the young, and more importantly to those who answer TFA’s clarion call. How does he know? What does he know? When did he know it? Lastly, how long will it take for him to realize he doesn’t know it all.? Cripes! This person has absolutely NO EXPERIENCE, but believes otherwise. I predict that next year will be extremely hard and with this attitude and mind-set, we aren’t talking about making it until May/June. I predict a quick exit by December. In the interim,many will suffer. His students the most, their parents, followed by his colleagues, their families, his family and friends. Lastly, said individual will suffer. Good Luck, friend…. I wish you all the best. I can’t tell you how kids I ‘ve seen with this attitude. I pray for you.
A reader wrote over the weekend to say that,” he learned more than enough in his five weeks of training to be as good a teacher as anyone with a full year of preparation.”
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Urbanlad: While I was never in TFA, I was once an arrogant young thing who figured I knew better than more experienced teachers. When you’re in your 20’s, and constantly drilled this propaganda, you often start to believe it. It was my stint in a high-needs Bronx classroom that convinced me otherwise: experience matters, and as a brand new teacher, I simply wasn’t that effective.
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Very nice post. That was a short but very informative post. Thanks for imparting your knowledge here.
Mike
Cavities
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