Just when Teach for America was down to only $300 million in assets, the Walton Family Foundation awarded it another $4.3 million to send ill-trained young college graduates to spend two years teaching in the Delta.
It seems like only yesterday, maybe two years ago, that the foundation gave TFA $49.5 million.
Surely the brand new TFA recruits in the Delta will do no harm, and maybe do some good, helping to staff schools where teachers are hard to find. At least they are not taking the jobs of experienced teachers who were laid off by budget cuts.
However, it is difficult to see TFA as a systemic response to the needs of the nation’s poorest communities. Shouldn’t the neediest students have a corps of experienced, career educators who are committed to stay with them for many years?
The Walton foundation is one of the nation’s wealthiest and also the foundation most committed to privatization of public education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I quit shopping at Walmart! How bout you?
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A plague upon the Walton family’s many many homes . . . . !
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By creating a temporary and dis-empowered workforce with few assets or equity; with debt that weighs down on them (a situation likely to increase as the demand to send more kids to college increases along with rising student loan rates); by funding the drive to standardize learners instead of freeing them: the guarantee of a society even more filled with low-wage consumers unable to buy their way into the political process and incapable of organizing for action is assured. Where would people with little money and no knowledge of social justice even shop for the basic things they need, or even the trinkets they’ve been made to believe they need?
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Highly recommended (again) for all members of the Ravitch educational community, an article from today’s UK Guardian regarding the Finish approach to education and how far and to what extremes the British/American edu-business has taken us.
It also discuss the political/business run programs like ‘race to no child left behind’ that show contempt to: minorities, the poor, teachers and unions, pupils, democracy, community, creativity, critical thinking, and equality . (Sorry for using all those dirty words ) :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jul/01/education-michael-gove-finland-gcse
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I contacted the Walton Foundation and asked it to stop funding choice programs.
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How about devoting $4.3 million to relocating unemployed, experienced teachers (the ones given the axe due to budget cuts) to the Delta for a couple of years for a teaching stint with the option to remain?
That would be much too logical and helpful to be considered “reform.”
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“How about devoting $4.3 million to relocating unemployed, experienced teachers (the ones given the axe due to budget cuts) to the Delta for a couple of years for a teaching stint with the option to remain?”
My thoughts exactly! What could be simpler?
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We are thinking alike. Are we veteran teachers looked upon as not having fresh ideas or not keeping up with the latest technology? There is a strong push to move us out of the way. The new teachers at my school referred to us as “old school”, and yes many were TFA teachers. I would be willing to teach in the Delta if you pay me well, help me relocate, and make sure my students have everything they need.
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TFA does not give these new young teachers money to relocate. They get summer training and then they receive a salary paid by their local school district. In MS, a first year teacher makes $32,000 per year. I’m not trying to criticize veteran teachers who could be useful, but you’re not offering a particularly sustainable solution yourself. TFA is not the perfect solution, but I promise you that simply “devoting $4.3M to relocating unemployed, experienced teachers” is easier said than done.
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Well I guess sending TFA trumps sending veteran teachers anyway. What would we know after two, three, or four decades of teaching?
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I think veteran teachers should do this. Start organizing and sending groups to teach in Mississippi. We need all the good teachers we can get–vets, TFA, all of em. What do you say veterans?
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What upset me most about this award was that the Mississippi Delta is served by our own Mississippi Teacher Corps, which provides more summer training than TFA and a lot more support during the school year. It also requires that its members take coursework at the University of Mississippi leading to a master’s degree in teaching, while attending classes on weekends. Our school has received recruits from both programs, and I can tell that the MTC corps members are much more grounded in the realities of the environments in which they will be placed than the TFA members. I cannot understand why our legislature was so easily swayed away from our own program, unless megabucks have changed hands.
http://mtc.olemiss.edu/
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You do understand. The Walton Family are billionaires who believe in privatizing public education. Evidently, the MTC have a strong desire to really help the children in the Mississippi Delta. Of course the MTC members are much more grounded. Many TFA members will stick around for two years. The TFA program irks me. It’s like they believe ANYONE can teach, even if it is only for two years, but who serve as their mentors? Yes, veteran teachers serve as their mentors even though many TFA members come in with an arrogant attitude. Yes, the megabucks changed hands!
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In response to the comment to me above, I would not claim that sending TFA is preferable to sending veteran teachers. All I’m saying is that TFA already has the infrastructure to send and train new teachers, whereas there is no current program to relocate veteran teachers. These corporate sponsorships make sense because TFA already has infrastructure, not because new TFA is preferable to veteran teachers.
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I posted this in the post that Dr. Ravitch made, but I thought I’d place it here as well for you to see:
TFA is not replacing MTC in the Delta. I am a current member of MTC and I can tell you simply that is not how it works. In fact, MTC is receiving more funding and is having more members supported this year than in previous years. Furthermore, we are sending more teachers to the Delta this year than we did last year.
MTC receives its funding from the MS legislature (which, again, has increased our funding for this year to support more teachers), and the way that we place teachers is entirely independent of anything that TFA does. So if you see the Walton foundation supporting more TFA, this is not coming at the expense of training MTC teachers. I can’t say whether MTC can/would desire corporate funding (that’s above my paygrade), but the claim that TFA is replacing MTC is patently false.
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Repeat after me: If it makes sense, it doesn’t happen.
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Well, well, what a gathering of billionaire jackals are ravaging education! Gates, that megalomaniac who supports Monsanto’s horrendous plans and products that are destroying nations’ food sources, supports chemtrails, and of course, is a “leader” in destroying public schools. The Walton gang have a “rap sheet” of similar dangerous causes. How nice the press shields their devious dealings. With billionaires, Bushes and other assorted Orwellian promoters, it is the epitome of a quixotic endeavor to save public education!
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Thought you should find out about TFA. They are a greedy bunch, and actually hurt public education, but those who are ignorant believe that they are the best thing since bread was invented.
>________________________________ > From: Diane Ravitch’s blog >To: joyousvb@bellsouth.net >Sent: Tuesday, July 2, 2013 8:10 AM >Subject: [New post] TFA Wins Another $4.3 Million from Walton Family Foundation > > > > WordPress.com >dianerav posted: “Just when Teach for America was down to only $300 million in assets, the Walton Family Foundation awarded it another $4.3 million to send ill-trained young college graduates to spend two years teaching in the Delta. It seems like only yesterday, maybe t” >
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Boycotting and letter writing is not enough. My state teacher’s retirement plan has $9.6 million invested in Walmart stock and another $1.6 invested in Walmart of Mexico. Check to see if your plan is investing, and if so, demand that they divest from Walmart if you REALLY want to stir the pot. While you are at it, complain like I did about investments in fire arm companies, big pharma, big oil, tobacco, and a host of other “profit before people” and “profit before the environment” corporations. Happy hunting and let them hear from you!
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