In this post, Katie Osgood writes an open letter to the young people who are entering Teach for America as new recruits.

She knows they are idealistic and believe they are serving a noble cause. They think they are working to reduce inequality. They think they are activists in a progressive organization.

Nothing could be farther from the truth, she writes. They will enter the classrooms of poor students with minimal preparation. They will not reduce inequality. They will advance the goals of some of the nation’s most powerful corporations.

Sophie asks: “Ask yourself honestly, since when did billionaires, financial giants, or hedge fund managers on Wall St begin to care about the education of poor black and brown children in America? If you follow the money, you will see the potential for mass profit through privatization, new construction, union-busting, and various educational service industries. Why would a group dedicated to educational justice partner with these forces?”

With the advance of privatization and school closings, most cities have experienced teachers out of work: “Like so many other cities (New York City, Detroit, and Philadelphia to name a few) we have no teacher shortages. We have teacher surpluses. And yet, TFA is still placing first year novice corps members in places like Chicago. To put it bluntly, the last thing our students undergoing mass school closings, budget cuts, and chaotic school policy need is short-term, poorly-trained novices. Teach for America is not needed in Chicago. Teach for America is not needed in most places.”

TFA, she warns, is an integral part of the assault on public education and the teaching profession. Osgood says to the recruits: “Know why groups of educators and parents boo and hiss when the name “Teach for America” is spoken. You must understand the pushback, and that it has nothing to do with you personally. There have been multiple abuses already endured in the cities you are entering and which TFA exploits. How else are stakeholders supposed to respond as TFA steals precious resources from districts and states in budgetary crisis? Or watch as TFA steals jobs from experienced teachers and qualified, fully-credentialed candidates? As TFA undermines a noble, and importantly female-dominated, profession with false claims that teachers need little preparation? Or as TFA increases inequality by giving our neediest students, students living in poverty, students with disabilities, students still learning English. TFA partners with the very wealthy and politically-connected forces wreaking havoc on our schools against the will of communities?”