Stephanie Simon has written a blockbuster article that describes how Teach for America has enlarged its goals.
It is no longer just an organization that trains young people to teach in low-income schools.
It is, as she puts it, “a political powerhouse” that is seizing control of education in district after district, state after state, funded by rightwing millionaires and billionaires.
The far-right, anti-union Walton Foundation is one of TFA’s biggest funders.
So is Arthur Rock, a San Francisco venture capitalist, who pays the salaries of TFA staffers who work in key offices of Congress, protecting the interest of TFA. Rock is a big supporter of vouchers.
Wherever there is advocacy for vouchers and charters, there you will find TFA.
And their numbers are growing, fueled by their vast treasury, and their ability to fool young people into thinking that they are “progressive,” when they have become the frontline soldiers of the far-right enemies of public education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is all a symptom of the bigger problem in our society which is the extraordinarily unequal distribution of income/wealth. The vast wealth of the 1% allows them to buy government policies.
Exactly! Robert Reich’s new film, Inequality For All, (the title says it all), makes this point. But I have not seen any media coverage about it–other than an interview on Bill Moyers. He is ignored, just like Diane. Has anyone here seen the film?
along those lines, check this out:
http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/maps-economic-disaster-5406
I’ve seen “Inequality for All”. Pretty much what I expected but still well worth seeing.
I have not seen the film but saw the Moyers interview of Reich. So, I checked out the Inequality for All website and I was extremely disturbed to discover that Reich supports Obama’s education policies. How disappointing.
It’s really interesting that Politico is the only national media outlet doing real, substantive reporting on ed reform- not a blog or sideline, I mean.
The K12 series was actual reporting and this is, too.
I would not have predicted that, and it’s a bit of a shame, because of course ordinary people in the states where the ed reform agenda (eventually) lands don’t read Politico.
“LEE’s internal job postings hint at its ambitious goals. It’s seeking seasoned tacticians with “excellent political instincts,” including regional directors who can “help members understand where the power lies and what opportunities must be seized.”
Now that we have confirmation that they have an overtly political agenda, I hope we can drop the nonsense that public school advocates are “politicizing reform” or “divisive”.
Reformers are obviously acting politically to advance a specific agenda. if I believe that agenda harms my local public school, and I do, I have a right and responsibility to act politically as an advocate for my local school. I’m not aware of any set of rules that says TFA and the rest have exclusive dibs on the political realm. I’m not sure what they’re worried about, anyway. It looks to me like they have Congress captured.
Yikes! So now we have sponsored staffers in the offices of our Congressional reps. What the heck!
How is paying for congressional staffers even a legal form of lobbying? Imagine how Fox News would report the story if teachers’ unions paid union members to work as congressional staffers. Where is the outrage on our side?
“The Capitol Hill Fellows do the work of regular congressional staffers. But in an arrangement that Hill ethics experts call highly unusual – though not illegal – their salaries are funded by a private individual. The entire $500,000 cost is picked up by Arthur Rock, a wealthy venture capitalist in San Francisco.”
So who hired them and when? I write my reps and see what they have to say about this and the renewal of the HQT designation. I suggest others do the same. Time to “Educate the Legislators”. Jeez. Now I think I’ve seen everything. Sponsored staffers. What’s next?
What’s next?
Ads on the walls of Congress?
@mathcs – Perhaps NASCAR or Indy patches. HQT for TFA…just wondering how many members of Congress would want their off-spring taught by someone with 5 weeks and 10 hours of teaching? Any reps or staffers out there willing to step up and answer. Please. Pretty please.
One more reason to lose faith in our government. Didn’t we just read about Larkin’s aid being a TFA? Pretty sad
When the history of this sordid era is written in years to come, TFA will be spoken of with the same contempt as the Pinkerton Agency – industrial spies and strikebreakers of the early 20th century – is written about today.
“When the history of this sordid era is written in years to come…”
Your mouth to Gods ears, my friend.
And the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, who were strikebreakers in the coal fields of WV. The great movie Matewan is about that.
Yes, there was a large cohort of those companies – Railroad Inspection and Audit, Burns International Detective Agency, National Corporation Service, Corporation’s Auxiliary, etc. – that were hired to spy on and break union organizing efforts.
From 1936 to 1940 the La Follette Committee in the US Senate investigated them and released a devastating report that, along with the successes of the CIO in organizing basic industry, sent them scurrying back under their rocks for a while.
But they’ve returned, in some industries functioning almost like paramilitary forces during strikes.
In our era and field, TFA has taken on the evolved role of teacher replacement/union busting agency, as well as training academy for the hostile takeover of public education.
Reblogged this on Notes from a Boy @ The Window and commented:
If y’all aint readin’ Diane Ravitch on the pitfalls of falling blindly in line with the education reform movement, then you’ve been hoodwinked…
Love your comment!
Just like NASCAR we will put patches on their suit jackets in bold colors. They should be required to put their financiers on their suits before they walk into the building so all can see who bought them and how they voted. Why not, shouldn’t we have truth in advertising?
In addition to their sponsor’s logo, which would have to include Walmart (how many Ivy Leaguers shop there and would be proud to display it?), there needs to be a notice of intent, “Coming to destroy a school near you!”
This is my favorite part of POLITICO’s summary of the article:
“But TFA has its sights on embedding more alumni on Capitol Hill – including, in a highly unusual arrangement, seven alumni who work in Congressional offices but have their salaries paid through private donations, although those alumni are “explicitly instructed” not to work on issues related to Teach for America,”
Just sort of mind-boggling.
Diane,
I just came upon this article re Jeb Bush and his non profit ed reform group 🙂 See you in Cambridge.
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/21/jeb_bush_ed_reform_group_accused_of_abusing_non_profit_status_to_help_corporations/?source=newsletter
Just how naive/stupid are these so called “the best and the brightest” be if they believe they are doing progressive political work if they are doing the unsavory work for unscrupulous billion/multi-millionaires. What does that make these young fta-ers. I have a couple of names but I’m to polite to say/write them.
The word is out about how involvement in TFA can be a beneficial stepping stone to a much more lucrative and prestigious career than teaching. So, unlike the Peace Corps, which was supposed to be its model, I think working in TFA is not just about ideals and altruism, but very much seen as an investment in one’s personal financial future.
Cosmic…this is the key to what is happening.
I watch many university grads who cannot find jobs in their chosen fields, or who do not get into grad school, apply for TFA as a badge of honor on their resumes. They often are encouraged to this end by their parents, and even by some of their professors. It certainly is no longer a desire to devote some years to community service, but rather it beefs up their vita.
It amazes that some university people do not see the flaws in this, or even know the details of how TFA is used economically by districts to fire their higher salary, highly trained and long term teachers, to improve their bottom line. This is rampant with charters.
In LA this year, the Walton Family Foundation donated not only to the parent trigger law, but poured in another $20 million to pay for TFA kids to replace teachers. And of course, to break the back of the union while undermining the teaching profession, and
damaging the education of so many young students who need the best trained teachers to mentor them.
The TFA requirement for their recruits is a college GPA of 2.5. When did C+ become “the best and the brightest”? Even if they prefer students from the Ivy Leagues (where they, too, have grade inflation), that includes legacy admissions –students who are the offspring of alumni– so George W probably would have qualified for TFA.
And, did you realize that when alumni donations are made to influence “legacy” admissions at Ivy Leagues, they are considered “charity” and are tax deductible? See: “The 1 Percent’s Ivy League Loophole” http://www.salon.com/2013/09/09/the_1_percents_ivy_league_loophole/
Sometimes I read this blog and get very angry, other times. like right now, I feel I need to accept that this may not be my fight, as long as I can retire with my pension and dignity. All you young teachers have a hard road ahead. Groups like BAT and people like Ravitch are needed ten fold. In my district, central Florida, I mention these things that I read here and my colleagues look at me like I am a nut. Complacency is our worst enemy.
I am one of these younger educators, and I’m worried. TFA and other ed reform groups have a very appealing message to people in my generation. I hope we all don’t just follow blindly. I think younger educators just don’t get it and have not seen the challenges of systemic power and systems enough. But groups like SUPE give me hope.
Has TFA ever hidden the fact that they are trying to transform education? I mean maybe at its first conception it was just about filling in teacher shortages but as far as I know they’ve had a much larger agenda for years now.
I don’t understand what the big issue is here. Okay, so money helps buy political power. In other news, the sky is blue. Maybe that system is unjust, but then we are just debating the nature of our political system and it has nothing to do with TFA.
If a corporation is backed by highly influential people with agendas of their own which affects the whole country, it is everything to do with political power. You cannot separate the two.
What I’m saying is that the fact that money buys political power is true for every organization in America, so every organization in America with any substantial political clout is involved in the same game, including teachers unions. I just don’t see what in this is surprising or objectionable above and beyond more general worries about the effect of money on politics.
What is supposed to be surprising here? That an organization is trying to promote its own agenda?
So are you part of the “reform” group?
I was a TFA corps member who had a mixed experience with them. I’m no longer a corps member nor am I working for TFA. I don’t think I could fit myself neatly into a “pro-TFA” or “anti-TFA” box.
What do you mean by the “‘reform’ movement”? Sorry if I’m getting this wrong but I’m assuming you mean the individuals and organizations promoting a constallation of education policies that we might describe as pro-charter, anti-union, pro-Common Core, pro-TFA, pro-high stakes testing, etc.? I guess I try to approach each issue individually, and I am very open to having my mind changed. If I had to give a fast rundown of my views on all these issues, and with the caveat that I prefer to discuss each one in depth because I have more questions than answers/opinions at this point, I’d say I’m:
-mildly pro-TFA. I think it has huge cons, some of which they could remedy, but it also has huge pros which I think probably outweigh the cons.
-mildly anti-Charter. I like the idea of Charters a lot, but the implementation seems pretty bad so far. I don’t know the specifics of the laws for the granting of charters but it seems need of major reform, to put it mildly.
-mildly anti-Common Core. My position here pretty much mirrors the position in Prof. Ravitch’s blog post on why she doesn’t support Common Core. They seem to have been rolled out with so little testing or discussion, and I worry about the influence of big publishers like Pearson in this area.
-mildly anti-Union. I just haven’t seen the evidence that the big, powerful teachers unions are looking out for the best long-term interests of students.
-strongly anti-high stakes testing. It seems to be having a huge negative impact on virtually every area of education.
-With regards to merit pay I don’t know enough about it to even form a tentative opinion. I vaguely like the idea but if “merit” means test scores then I’m against it.
-One issue I think deserves more attention is the crisis with regard to teacher education. Education is widely regarded as one of the least serious and least rigorous majors around, and even at the graduate level it has a pretty dismal reputation. Prospective education graduate students perform at or near the bottom in the GRE compared to prospective graduate students in other disciplines.
Teacher unions should look out for the best interests of teachers which is the foundation for their existence. In my opinion, what’s best for teachers is usually what’s best for students. Who else is in the classroom on a daily basis with students? No one else that I am aware of. Teachers who are respected and treated as professionals entrusted to educate 30-40 students per class (about 140 per day) should have the flexibility to taylor lessons to deal with the inevitable problems that arise when so many are involved each day. You indicated something about moderate GPA’s of teachers. Unions don’t hire, administrations do the hiring. If some or most of the teachers entering the field are students with low GPA’s that’s the fault of administration who then turn around and complain about teacher qualification. If you haven’t read Diane Ravitch’s “Reign of Error” I suggest you make a beeline to your local book store (or e-reader). By the way one of the major problems existing today is that leaders of teacher unions aren’t looking out for what is best for teachers but instead are supporting the destructive educational policies of the education “reformers” due in part (my opinion) to receiving millions from the likes of Bill Gates etc. I understand he donated about $15 million to the AFT/UFT and probably more to the NEA. Fnally, my GPA is 3.92 and the vast majority of teachers I worked with I’m sure had similar GPA’s.
CTee,
I was anti union for until I saw that they have advocated for a long time for students (funding, equity, human rights). They also protect teachers who advocate for students. But yes they have faults too. But I’ve met a lot of charter teachers who wish they’ve had a union because they were afraid to speak out against some pretty corrupt practices, like kicking special Ed students out of school due to their low test scores and cost. But these teachers don’t say a word because they need to keep their job. I used to think these were union lies until I met charter teachers and administrators who have confirmed these stories. More charter folk seem to be coming forward now. Anyhow, sounds like you’ve thought a lot about things so I encourage you to keep doing it too. See Gary Rubinstein’s blog if you haven’t already. He sometimes comes off a bit snarky but I think you can get past it especially if you watch his videos. Also see Camika Royal’s Philly speech to TFA corps members on YouTube. Gary and Camika are both TFA alum.
CTee–unfortunately the certification program was the last to be hit with reformers, but it gets worse because now the newbies are brainwashed to buy into CCSS and the thought that data is the end all. They have to pass a test to become certified like our HS students who have to pass high stakes testing. These tests may be taken over and over, if one has the hundreds of dollars at a shot. Many of our new teachers who work in poverished schools are at the forefront with the delusion of 100% passing rate when their kids are blowing out in the classroom.
Furthermore, other professions that you claim have a more rigorous program than teacher certification, they also are much more highly respected in their profession and have higher earning power. If you talk to professors and instructors in the ed. dept., they will tell you about the turmoil their program is going through like the our K-12 program.
I too believe that we need to reform the certification process but not influenced by corporation. Finland could give us a lesson in the right direction. In addition to rallying to fight the reformers, we need a unified plan in place for when the reformers turn around and say, so what is your plan and what makes it better. I’m sure there are a lot of well-researched answers to that question, but how will it be implemented is more important.
People applying to Social Work grad programs actually scored the lowest on the GRE. Does that mean they are incompetent? I doubt it. Those tests measure a narrow set of abilities and they do not provide any insight on critical capabilities that are necessary for working effectively with people, both inter-personal and intra-personal skills. I think that’s applicable to teachers, too, especially those who work with young children.
Anyways, giving much credence to college entrance exams when considering the competencies of college graduates presupposes that people have not learned and developed importance skill sets from attending college.
Don’t be fooled by the “non-profit” monicker. If anyone has learned how to get rich from running non-profits today, it’s education “reformers.” The profiting non-profits are a whole new breed of business “charities,” with “civil rights” as their PR manufactured rallying cry.
TFA is literally married, a la Wendy Kopp and John Barth of KIPP, to highly segregated, military style charter schools for poor children of color, with drill sergeant, five week trained “teachers” –who this couple would never have their own children “educated” by– that replace the neighborhood schools they seek to close, as they serve as primary tools in the privatization of public education across America.
That’s not just politics, and it’s a far cry from addressing civil rights issues, but it does mean increased funds filling the coffers of TFA and charter chains. Fabricating their own “leaders” assures their continued growth and leverage. They are functioning no differently from for-profits scaling up to increase their market share, while at the same time benefiting from being tax exempt.
This is not just about TFA’s “agenda.” It’s about a scam that exploits America’s least empowered and unaware families and robs them of their neighborhood schools and democratic representation in education, for personal financial gain and power.
I don’t know how to reply to some of what you said, but one thing I’d say is that I haven’t been convinced yet (but I’m open to convincing) that profit = evil. So for instance, I wouldn’t condemn Prof. Ravitch or discount her ideas on the basis of the fact that she is making money from her books or that she has a business relationship with a huge publishing company. On the other hand, sometimes the pursuit of profits does have a corrupting influence on the pursuit of some higher good.
I find it difficult to have discussions about TFA because of how heated the debate is. Of course, I can’t really hold it against people when they get heated about an issue of such importance, but it does sometimes serve to stifle reasonable dialogue. And of course, the other side is doing plenty of stifling of their own (like the recent town hall meeting debacle with King in New York)
If you don’t see a problem with exploiting vulnerable people and profiting off the backs of the poor, then you’re still one of them and no different from one of TFA’s primary sources of funding, the Waltons –who have more wealth than the entire bottom 40% of our nation yet refuse to pay a living wage to their employees and refer them to government assistance programs, including Food Stamps.
On page 20 of this bill passed by the House, it says:
SEC. 145. Subsection (b) of section 163 of Public 5 Law 111-242, as amended, is further amended by striking 6 “2013-2014” and inserting “2015-2016”.
The law that is being amended includes the highly qualified provision, which Teach For America and other school reformers had persuaded legislators to pass a few years ago.
Under No Child Left Behind, all children are supposed to have highly qualified teachers, school districts are supposed to let parents know which teachers are not highly qualified, and these teachers are supposed to be equitably distributed in schools. They aren’t. It turns out that teachers still in training programs are disproportionately concentrated in schools serving low-income students and students of color, the very children who need the very best the teaching profession has to offer. The inequitable distribution of these teachers also has a disproportionate impact on students with disabilities.
Since when is Bill Gates considered, “far right?” See TFA’s supporters:
https://www.teachforamerica.org/where-we-work/colorado/supporters
The problem is not a left-right issue. It’s that private-interest groups, of any political affiliation, are partnering with government to bypass our representative form of government and eliminate parental rights to direct our children’s educations. The way to win back public schools is not to make this a “partisan” issue. Let’s join forces on behalf of our children and real freedom in education by working to expose the agenda—Government-Private Partnerships are the destroyer of public education. The more we clamor about “equity”, the more government steps in to redistribute our tax money. Government creates private partnerships with businessmen to solve the problem and our children get the shaft. We can be more fair and more equitable through charitable efforts than any system of government will ever be, because we will be closest to the needs. We need to get back to local control of schools and get the federal government out. This will keep private interests from stealing our tax dollars to line their own pockets, and from stealing our children’s educations in the process.
The “right-wing” Waltons were mentioned in the original post, not Gates. Last year alone, the Waltons gave TFA over $13M, while Gates gave them about $2M: http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/about/2012-grant-report/#education
The original post did not show the link to TFA’s donors, which is why I included it. There are many donors from both sides of the aisle. The problem is government collusion with private business.
Would that be one element of fascism?
For many progressives, the “New Democrats” are not liberal or even “centrist,” as they claim, because they support Milton Friedman’s neo-liberalism, which came from the right, not the left. Both parties are on virtually the same page regarding education policies.
Both parties are on the same page on education because it’s about personal profit, not children. But, the only way they can profit off of taxpayers is if there’s a system of federal control that they can use. The US Department of Education houses the Equity and Excellence Commission. Their report, “For Each and Every Child” shows that they are taking federal control one step beyond No Child Left Behind, not just by eliminating local control of education, but by eliminating America’s 3 branches of government and forming a “cross-governmental model” for education reform. Here’s what the report states: “The current system, in which policy and resource decisions are made across 15,000 local school boards, 50 state legislatures and state education agencies, plus three branches of the federal government, is not serving national goals of equity and excellence and is not meeting the needs of far too many children in too many communities.” Then, they make the case for government-private partnerships as the go-around to the Constitution.
I know. It’s so disgusting that this was all planned. And using kids as a cover for profiteering is just despicable. As Diane noted, it’s a business plan.
We need lawyers that are highly skilled who can take those people on, because they’ve been slick about doing end-runs around the Constitution. For example, the federal DoE used the phrase “common standards” in the Race to the Top application, instead of “Common Core,” as if states had the choice to adopt some other set of “common standards” –which did not exist.
We need to vote out of office all these crooks and liars on Capitol Hill who are letting oligarchs rule this country, as well as the governors and chief state school officers who worked in collusion.
This is so not the country of my childhood.