The Pittsburgh Board of Education is about to hire its first Teach for America recruits, young college graduates with only five weeks of training. It appears to be ready to start with a small number, but the number is likely to grow as the districts realizes savings by letting senior teachers go and replacing them with entry-level teachers who are unlikely to stay longer than two years. In the past, the district never hired alternatively certified teachers.

Categories Education Reform

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Amber says:

November 13, 2013 at 11:11 am

Price of doing business in the USA. States won’t stop their spending so what else can they cut, education. But you can only cut so much because they can’t make children go away, so the next way to cut education spending is fire the high salary teachers and replace with inexpensive replacements. How can they do that? Get rid of tenure laws that allow due process. Tie test scores to teacher evals ( TFA don’t care bc test scores won’t affect them, they’ll be gone). Now you have a recipe for state savings while not cutting spending. This has been in the works for years. With unemployment rates and payouts going up and more people qualifying for government assistance that the states are responsible for, education is the only area they can cut. Sad but true.

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- Joanna Best says:
  
  November 13, 2013 at 11:24 am
  
  I would stay on at a beginner teacher’s salary just to stand ground and show that our children deserve teachers with experience and training. And it would save my state the finder’s fees associated with TFA. But I am not supporting a family on my own, so I could afford to do that, but I know that not everybody can afford to do that. I wonder if those who could afford to do that, would.
  ?? Just brainstorming.
  
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  - Concerned parent & teacher says:
    
    November 13, 2013 at 6:59 pm
    
    Unfortunately, I don’t think you will show them anything by staying. I think all of the deformers and members of the public who support them, are convinced they ate right. They need to see for themselves how they are destroying public education and the future of this country. Don’t get me wrong, I am and will fight this tooth and nail but they deserve to get what they won’t pay for.
    
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- Dienne says:
  
  November 13, 2013 at 11:51 am
  
  It’s not that states are spending, per se. It’s what they’re spending on. Here in Chicago, for instance, Chicago Public Schools allegedly has a $1 billion deficit. Yet we can spend millions opening new charter schools, not to mention building a basketball arena for a private religious university and redoing the Riverwalk (for the third time in twenty years). Illinois is likewise broke and supposedly can’t make it’s pension obligations. Yet we can give Archer Daniels Midland millions in tax cuts at the merest hint that they might move out of Decatur. Governments still have plenty of money, contrary to what they’re telling us. It’s just that that money is being funneled into private – and very rich – pockets.
  
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- Messeig says:
  
  November 13, 2013 at 12:58 pm
  
  I don’t think it’s an overspending issue as much as it is a priorities issue. Education should be first. Always.
  
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  - Duane Swacker says:
    
    November 13, 2013 at 2:31 pm
    
    “Education should be first. Always”
    
    What kind of commie thinking is that? Gotta spend that money protecting us from them thar turrerists. Go gettem over thar so they can’t get over here.
    
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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 14, 2013 at 6:26 am
  
  You are so correct.
  TFA’s In one door and Out the other..
  
  They are a slap in the face..A friend’s daughter worked with them and helped out a few poor schools with supplies…but she made it perfectly clear that she would never become a teacher..She wanted no part of it because she saw first hand what was happening to teachers….I mean TESTERS….
  
  They wanted her because of her high test scores and assumed that because she was in the top 2%….she would be a good teacher…
  
  She was bright enough to witness the abuse of the teachers first hand..
  Now..with her PHD in hand she works for a very large and successful company….
  
  She volunteers to tutor… but would never go into education….never…
  
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The English Professor at Large says:

November 13, 2013 at 11:18 am

This practice seems to be on the rise. Seasoned teachers are older and their salaries rise every year (in some schools), so it is a case of off with the old and on with the new with no thought of the quality of teaching or the good of the students. “Integrity” has no meaning to this kind of administration.

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john a says:

November 13, 2013 at 11:27 am

Amber, thanks for your response. Historical context was helpful. You”sad but true”. Seems we always return to the adage: ” what is to be done ? Passive acceptance by all, while the public schools are de-skilled and degraded? Is there no place to turn for assistance? Regardless, collective action by stake holders remains the slow way back to quality public education.

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type40ttc says:

November 13, 2013 at 11:40 am

Great Public Schools (GPS) has started a petition to urge Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Superintendent Linda Lane to delay any action in regard to hiring through TFA, potential school closings, and other pressing matters until the new school board takes office. We will have four new board members at that time, and it will be a mistake to allow a lame duck school board the opportunity to make these important decisions.

Here is the (rather long) link to the petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/pittsburgh-public-schools-superintendent-linda-lane-wait-until-the-new-school-board-is-sworn-in-to-vote-on-important-issues-facing-our-schools?share_id=sQgBEEmTuM&utm_campaign=share_button_action_box&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

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- twinkie1cat says:
  
  November 13, 2013 at 5:21 pm
  
  Maybe that’s why they are doing it, mad that they are leaving office the Board may want to leave a legacy of cutting the budget regardless of the needs of the children.
  
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KrazyTA says:

November 13, 2013 at 11:41 am

Race To The Bottom.

😒

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- Yvonne Siu-Runyan says:
  
  November 13, 2013 at 12:53 pm
  
  KrazyTA,
  
  YUP. TRUE. So sad and bad. It’s about MONEY….and of course, control. Where’s democracy? GONE..and purchased by BIG MONEY and our repressive govt.
  
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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 14, 2013 at 6:27 am
  
  Stampede to the Bottom..
  
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Lisa says:

November 13, 2013 at 12:59 pm

In some places they avoid laying off experienced teachers by limiting resources, evaluating them on factors which they can’t control, increasing mindless paperwork & data gathering, etc. This leads to resignations and early retirement, making room for TFA.

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 14, 2013 at 6:28 am
  
  Early retirement has to have increased 200-300%.
  Wonder where that data can be found..
  
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Terrence Crimmins says:

November 13, 2013 at 1:39 pm

The urban inner city school systems have similar problems. Massive bureaucracies with overwhelming administrative staffs that they waste untold dollars on completely unnecessary expenses, like having kids go to schools all over town, computer programs for new “initiatives” that come and go through the years- all kinds of baloney that any experienced teacher gets immune to listening to- multiple ways to waste money. Yet what do they cut? Teachers. bizarre, to say the least. Did these problems exist back in the days of neighborhood schools and localized administration? No. In short, the baby boom generation (I am ashamed to say) has ruined urban education. What’s the answer? Hire young kids with no experience who use the system to spend two years there acting like know it alls who get a free Masters. Brilliant!

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Gordon Wilder says:

November 13, 2013 at 2:29 pm

Expanding on Dienne’s remarks:
In the Chicago Tribune today. GREAT article:
Go on the web: type in
John McCarron/Keeping corporations Content in Illinois.
Get an eyeful of what is happening throughout the U. S.
A longer explanation: Go to Booktv.org
and in the search box, type in Perfectly Legal
or on web also: Perfectly Legal by David Cay Johnson.
Even more:
Nicholas Shaxson – Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the men who stole the World.
It is in my opinion very important for educators to be aware of the even larger issues against which we are fighting.

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- Duane Swacker says:
  
  November 13, 2013 at 2:37 pm
  
  Very true your last sentence, Gordon. And one that I find that most people, not just teachers, don’t try to find out about and understand because they count on the FCM or LSM. (Fawning Corporate or Lame Stream media) to “keep them informed” of the “breaking news”.
  
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Ellen T Klock says:

November 13, 2013 at 3:42 pm

My friend was telling me about her niece in South Carolina who went through the Teach For America Program. The school she works at got rid of their veteran teachers and hired these newbies. She has sixteen poverty stricken kids in her second grade class, only six who are cooperative. It is the class from hell with no help from administration. The rest of the classes are in the same boat. Many of the teachers plan on leaving after Thanksgiving. Others plan to leave the teaching profession at the end of the year. Without veteran teachers or at least a hands on principal, they lack the necessary support to be successful. Many of these young people would probably be excellent teachers if given the proper guidance. We’ll never know.

To make things worse, this young lady was promised funds to help pay back her Teach for America student loan. Too bad, because of the government shut down no money is available this year. Sorry!

And this is just one story. What’s next?

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 14, 2013 at 6:35 am
  
  Veteran teachers have been using computers since the first Apple came through the door..but when some of these young upstarts come in…they honestly think the older teachers are not the least bit tech savvy..
  
  Sorry kids..I was using a computer when you were just a twinkle in your Mom’s eyes and have kept up with technology and I do know more than you…
  
  Much more…
  
  You let the young upstarts that think they know it all do their thing..It is not long before they are begging for ideas….and they eventually learn how to work with the veteran teachers and not snub them…
  
  Only problem is…from what I saw…The veteran teachers were given classes of 35 while the upstarts were given 10 of the best…not in all cases but most..
  
  I think they are told…in TFA..You are the smartest and the brightest..You need to go and teach these teachers how to teach…
  
  Bull and more Bull…but if it makes you feel better..so be it..
  
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Jim Realini says:

November 13, 2013 at 4:18 pm

This is the same School District that eliminated Graduation Requirements, saw test scores and achievement rates plummet, and then reinstated them.
Where will they get “experienced, veteran” teachers when this latest cost saving gimmick fails?

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LG says:

November 13, 2013 at 5:33 pm

I think it’s near time these school board meetings get the “stormin’ the castle” treatment.

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 14, 2013 at 6:35 am
  
  Good Idea..
  
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Christine Langhoff says:

November 13, 2013 at 8:58 pm

All you need to know – Linda Lane is a graduate of the Broad Superintendent’s bookclub.

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- C. L. Wasserman says:
  
  November 14, 2013 at 8:35 pm
  
  Broad does not have a book club. I emailed a request for the bibliography used by the Broad scholars, and all I got in return was an application for a gold American Express card that would include $500 in gift cards.
  
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Ken Watanabe says:

November 13, 2013 at 9:11 pm

Hate to say this, but TFA is everywhere to “TEACH for FALLING AMERICA.” These folks should be sold out to any foreign country where English language teachers are in high demand. That’s the best they can do.

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  November 14, 2013 at 6:36 am
  
  Or..Testing Failing America
  
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Kipp Dawson says:

November 14, 2013 at 5:54 am

Please help us fight back in Pittsburgh. We are receiving lots of support from people with their own experiences with TFA, and ask you to continue to share them with us. Also, Great Public Schools Pittsburgh, the coalition which brought our amazing Diane Ravitch to our city, is sponsoring this petition. Please help us spread the word. https://www.change.org/petitions/pittsburgh-public-schools-superintendent-linda-lane-wait-until-the-new-school-board-is-sworn-in-to-vote-on-important-issues-facing-our-schools

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alharris161 says:

November 14, 2013 at 8:05 am

In this particular situation it seems we need more detail before rushing to judgment in a TFA bashing frenzy. We don’t know what subjects the furloughed teachers taught, data regarding hiring difficulties for STEM subjects, or data regarding hiring difficulties for African American teachers.

Ms. Lane provided some specificity/rationale regarding why her district is hiring TFA — difficulties hiring qualified STEM teachers, and difficulties hiring qualified African American teachers to support teacher diversity. We also know that Ms. Lane specified she’s not looking for TFA to fill elementary classrooms because of the abundance of traditionally trained teachers, so it appears the school board is exercising discernment regarding where TFA may be a good fit for their district. This narrow application of TFA utilization may be in line with the original TFA vision.

Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig excellent “study of studies” regarding TFA included the following as one of his recommendations for school districts considering TFA: “Support TFA staffing only when the alternative hiring pool consists of uncertified and emergency teachers or substitutes”. Perhaps this is the situation some Pittsburgh schools are facing in their STEM subjects.

nepc.colorado.edu/publication/teach-for-america‎

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Bill says:

November 14, 2013 at 10:53 am

With lessons written into the new texts that cover CC all the teacher has to do is follow the script, so why not hire the TFA person? Pearson loves this. More money for administration and charters! We are truly facing a lost generation!

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alharris161 says:

November 14, 2013 at 2:42 pm

Not sure this is the best fit for this comment, but haven’t found another discussion thread on this 1 Nov 2013 Tennessee teacher effectiveness study which includes TFA. The report presents Tennessee TFA teacher effectiveness in a generally positive note compared to Tennessee traditional teacher effectiveness (both beginner and veteran).

http://www.tn.gov/thec/Divisions/fttt/13report_card_preview.shtml

This recently published study states that “The SAS Institute, Inc. performed the analysis of teacher effect data for beginning teachers (defined as those with 1 to 3 years of experience) from all forty-two teacher preparation programs in the state. The goals of the study were: (1) to identify teacher training programs that tend to produce highly effective new teachers and programs that tend to produce very ineffective new teachers, and (2) to determine program quality in comparison to reference distribution levels of effectiveness with a fair and reliable statistical test. The report differentiates
between the performance of traditionally licensed and alternatively licensed teachers in comparison to two reference populations: veteran teachers and beginning teachers.”

If a Pittsburgh School Board member read this report, they may come to a different conclusion than many anti-TFA commenters on this board. (Understand other reports may be less complimentary of TFA, but this one is recent, relevant, and comprehensive).

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Terrence Crimmins says:

November 14, 2013 at 10:51 pm

Sometimes as a veteran teacher who has had to work with TFAs and seen them come and go, sweet little kids, naive, often know it alls…. It’s hard not to feel like Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny, a deranged long time officer with paranoid resentment against the Joe College WWII neo-officers.

On the other hand, if we take a step back, in my opinion, and look at the larger picture, I see the following. Along comes the Baby Boom generation with new age philosophy and start teaching whatever they want in the classroom and schools wander away from academic standards. The business community, with good reason, objects, and injects a whole slew of measurement techniques to try to quantify education. The systems, as John Dewey once predicted, bounce back and forth between one extreme and the other, as political passions often prevent the more rational search for common ground.

As much as pencil pushers want to be able to survey the inner workings of every school in the country from a distance, this is not possible, A whole host of factors that can only bee seen in the classroom are part of whether or not a teacher is effective, and these cannot be measured by standards and statistics. But the ship of state moves on and, as they say, this too, shall pass.

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- Ellen T Klock says:
  
  November 15, 2013 at 6:24 pm
  
  You are so right. What’s old is new again. We’ll see it all come full circle, but it’s hard to weather the current storm.
  
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Carrie says:

November 19, 2013 at 12:15 pm

Yet there is much that is different this time around Terrence. It is the Gates, Broad, Walton Family, Murdoch, and Joyce Foundation, et al. and their billions working an international network that moves hand and glove with the President, Sec’y of Ed, Governors, and big city Mayors.

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alharris161 says:

November 23, 2013 at 4:35 pm

So what do you do as a superintendent or school board when candidates for your teaching positions refuse to work in your neediest schools? Wonderful if there are veteran teachers looking for jobs, but if they refuse to teach in the under resourced schools because of realistic concerns [safety, classroom management, stress, etc.] then what are your options for hiring?

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/5113137-74/board-america-teach#axzz2lVQnv8yO

“[Superintendent] Lane said the partnership would help the district fill slots at schools like Pittsburgh Westinghouse where some candidates don’t want to work.”

Greatschools.org info on Pittsburgh Westinghouse High School:

97% black
7% proficiency in Math
26% proficiency in Reading
3% proficiency in Science
53% proficiency in writing

Sounds like a typical underfunded, broken school… with a lot of broken kids… and no one wants to teach there. Would you rather have permanent substitutes, no classes at all, or TFA?

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- LG says:
  
  November 23, 2013 at 4:44 pm
  
  How about: “none of the above” and find the funding to properly resource the school?
  
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  - alharris161 says:
    
    November 23, 2013 at 6:54 pm
    
    That’s the pipedream answer… of course we’ll pick some benjamins off our money tree so we can have extra guidance counselors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, 20+ year veteran STEM teachers, extra art and music classes, and a robust P.E. class. Dang, can’t seem to find that money tree.
    
    So now back to reality… funds are scarce, many don’t want to teach at poor schools because of the significant challenge they are, turnover amongst even traditionally trained educators is very high at poor schools, veteran teachers especially don’t want to teach there because they KNOW what challenges await them and most say “thanks but no thanks”. A TNTP, Troops to Teachers, TFA, state sponsored alternatively certified, or any other alternatively certified teacher that can fill the hole is better than a long term substitute… not better than a 20+ year veteran teacher… but maybe the best you can do.
    
    In the long term, yes, properly resource impoverished schools. Maybe even convince Barack or Hillary to implement a Great Society II and spend 2-3x per pupil for poor schools than for middle/upper class ones, because that is who needs it most. And in 30 years when you’ve got that problem solved, then alternatively certified teachers can disappear.
    
    Pipedreams vs. reality.
    
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  - LG says:
    
    November 23, 2013 at 11:00 pm
    
    “So now back to reality… funds are scarce, many don’t want to teach at poor schools because of the significant challenge they are, turnover amongst even traditionally trained educators is very high at poor schools, veteran teachers especially don’t want to teach there because they KNOW what challenges await them and most say ‘thanks but no thanks’. ”
    See, I cannot believe that funds are scarce until I see the majority of Americans in food-stamp lines. We are among the richest countries of the world. The average American household annually spends a good portion of the equivalent of its tax assessments on personal technology, transportation, and recreation, i.e. luxury.
    
    If there is an income disparity in a particular kind of area such as is the case with many urban neighborhoods, there almost always are affluent enclaves nearby. Therefore funding should be redistributed to supplement the schools in poorer neighborhoods and provide the curricular offerings and services you mentioned IN ADDITION TO: smaller, more manageable class sizes; reasonable amounts of planning/reflecting time for education professionals (Finland gives teachers considerably more planning time than the U.S.); social support for families in need; and extra-curricular opportunities that build skill and character. This will not only improve conditions for teachers thus attracting the most qualified and retaining them so they are also the best experienced, but it will improve conditions for students and their families.
    
    The irony of the “scarce funding” fallacy in many of the more fortunate middle-class, suburban neighborhoods lies in the fact that many schools have taken on new technology with a sense of ravenous “importance” and, in turn, have to find creative ways to pay for it…even if that means starving the schools of other services and staff members. This must be changed to reflect a practical view of technology as a tool, and not for its own sake.
    
    For rural schools, funding formulas must include a transportation component and advocacy for a rich curriculum, despite enrollment concerns. Good teachers differentiate classrooms every day–rural schools with smaller populations can offer courses that address developmental disparities in some subjects perhaps allowing for the combinations of grade levels working with subject-specializing team teachers within a single classroom location. Creative ways to offer course content to varying populations can be found. Performing arts teachers do this all the time and often without the benefit of team teachers.
    
    Until you can prove that the majority of people in this country have given up their iPads and smartphones with data plans because they live in abject poverty, I do not believe that “funds are scarce.” It’s all about priorities.
    
    We need to bring a balance of economic opportunity back to this country. We pay into this society to be able to live in this society, even if that means we help exponentially even out opportunities for those less fortunate than our own selves.
    
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  - alharris161 says:
    
    November 24, 2013 at 5:54 am
    
    I agree with 100% of what you said. Not really sure how you get there politically though. Lyndon Johnson was able to implement the Great Society programs for a variety of converging reasons — a passion for helping the poor derived from his early years as a rural school teacher, tremendous legislative skills honed as a prior Senate leader, and a national civil rights movement urging him to action. This confluence of forcing functions and circumstances created the perfect storm to implement the Great Society programs.
    
    What are the converging factors that will prompt a Great Society II type of investment in our country’s most vulnerable and neediest? Or at least that will prompt a redistribution of available resources more equitably? And who is the next Lyndon Johnson to provide the leadership so necessary in our country right now? I honestly don’t know. This is a very difficult problem.
    
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  - LG says:
    
    November 24, 2013 at 7:56 am
    
    I used to think Obama would advocate for all the people, but more and more, he has become a figure-head for the people and an instrument of stealthy corporate interests. At least his political opponents are overt in their alliances enough to help people make clear choices about them.
    
    This political fight needs to be run on the ground, not in Washington. Grassroots organizations keeping in constant contact with their supporters and their local representatives have made a difference by winning small battles in this war. Unfortunately, some local politics continue to proliferate economically segregating ideologies–racism and bias still run rampant, and some local policy-makers support the agendas of a zealot majority of the population. In those cases, there isn’t much that can be done unless a higher realm of authority steps in.
    
    Despite all that we have accomplished in this country regarding equal rights, we can never change the selfish nature of people. With the advent of interactive Internet networking that allows every personal opinion to be spewed around most candidly, it is apparent that hate and ignorance still permeate society.
    
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  - alharris161 says:
    
    November 24, 2013 at 10:02 am
    
    “I used to think Obama would advocate for all the people, but more and more, he has become a figure-head for the people and an instrument of stealthy corporate interests.”
    
    — At this point, I’m not sure any federal level politician has much discretion when it comes to budgeting priorities. $17 trillion in debt, with another $50 trillion in promised future obligations. Not much discretion when prior legislators have tied your hands, entitlement spending consumes most of the budget, and 20% of your annual federal tax revenue goes to interest on the debt.
    
    “This political fight needs to be run on the ground, not in Washington.”
    
    — Maybe that’s the real fight, providing transparency on the current status of education inequity by experts such as Dr. Ravitch, Dr. Heilig, Dr. Roza, and others such that local communities slowly internalize the immorality of education funding imbalances/inequities. I’m not an educator, and in only a few months of reading various education blogs and articles I’ve had my assumptions greatly challenged, and am slowly starting to understand (on some levels) what those who have been in the education equity fight for years are trying to communicate to local/state/federal leaders.
    
    “Despite all that we have accomplished in this country regarding equal rights, we can never change the selfish nature of people.”
    
    — Perhaps that’s why the struggle for equality in all arenas is a marathon, not a sprint. For example, Obama’s ACA was a step towards health care equality but more still needs to be done. In Tim Wise’s film “Vocabulary of Change”, a survey asked the privileged for one of the main reasons why they wouldn’t want national healthcare for all people in the United States. The response was that they wouldn’t want the colored to abuse it. So even though colored people wouldn’t be the only people to use this service, it would never exist because of racial arrogance and humiliation.
    
    I grew up in a poor community (not by choice), went to college to study software engineering, and now live in another poor community (by choice) made up of mostly poor blacks, Burmese immigrants, and Bosnian immigrants. My wife and I run a before school youth track program, an after school youth music/foreign language/tutoring program, and an early evening youth swim program. One of the shaping experiences from my youth involved an experience with a local YMCA swim team. Our local youth YMCA swim team was very inexpensive (~$100 per year), was headed by volunteer parent coaches (whose kids were on the team), was very inclusive from a race and class perspective (parents who were engineers and professors and doctors, side by side with factory workers, day laborers, and housekeepers), provided unbelievable access to visiting motivational lectures and training advice from national/world class swimmers, and ultimately produced high school All-State/All-American athletes, NCAA DI/DII/DIII student-athletes, NCAA All Americans, Olympic trial competitors, and even a world record holder! All this from what most Americans would consider an armpit of society, a complete crap hole of a city. Then when I was about 12 years old, a discussion emerged with the parents and club leadership about switching club affiliation from the YMCA to a more competitive (but more expensive) AAU type league. Emotions were high on both sides of the argument, but the decision was finally made to switch to the more competitive (but more expensive) league. End result was predictable, within 2-3 years the club membership went from a very diverse group by race and class, to a middle/upper class white-only group. $100 per year vs. $1000 per year priced out many families that had been eagerly participating prior to the change. That childhood lesson taught me that opportunity/resource equity matters, and local actions by concerned citizens can be very powerful.
    
    Great insight, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
    
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  - terrencecrimmins says:
    
    November 24, 2013 at 11:25 am
    
    I applaud the gist of your post, Mr. Harris, I presume, as the spirit of it, if I am correct, is very democratic. My feeling is that it is the neighborhood that makes the school and not the reverse. To assume the reverse is, in my opinion, what is left of the aristocratic notions that America inherited from Europe many years ago. Yet that notion is what clogs up the channels of educational reform when the monstrous bureaucracies of educational reform impose all kinds of programs, come up with a one size fits all national plan of education and testing, and make inner city children travel all over town with the bizarre notion that they must do so to find the right “magic” school. I researched and wrote on this topic as an undergraduate and graduate student relating the legacy of Walt Whitman, exploring his message in the essay Democratic Vistas where he said that America might become a materialistic bonanza but a cultural disaster if the country does not have a cultural revolution to accompany its political one. My dissatisfaction with the educational reform movements at present is that they are top down in nature, and do not consist of the kind of movement from below that Whitman thought was so necessary. Your post, with its remembrances of parents getting involved in schools and organizations shows that it is the neighborhood that makes the school, not the reverse. Now that I have been in the trenches in the Baltimore Public School System for seven plus years I see the problems of top down reform, where kids go to school all over town, which puts a roadblock in the way of having the neighborhood make the school.
    
    In regard to the Pittsburgh TFA issue, I have interviewed a couple of times unsuccessfully to get a job teaching in Pittsburgh, my native city. The governor put a stop to hiring teachers in all of Pennsylvania, and the only jobs that came up were for new schools that were expanding; they have not been hiring, even to replace retiring teachers. Now that this has been going on for a while, they want to save money by hiring Teach for Americas. There are many, many graduates of with degrees who want those jobs so, in my opinion, the notion that there are some jobs that people won’t work necessitating the hiring of TFA’s is incorrect.
    
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  - LG says:
    
    November 24, 2013 at 11:46 am
    
    “Great insight, thanks for sharing your thoughts.”
    
    Likewise.
    
    I absolutely love your story of the YMCA creating affordable community opportunities for everyone. Unfortunately, elitists often do win out by throwing economic status around to serve themselves. Will we ever emerge as a country that truly embraces freedom, equality, and opportunity for all? Will the people ever support a true public ideology?
    
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  - alharris161 says:
    
    November 24, 2013 at 3:24 pm
    
    terrencecrimmins: Thank you for your feedback. As I’m somewhat new to the education reform topic (really only started to educate myself over the last few months), I’m finding my assumptions constantly challenged and often turned on their head. Although my wife and I have been involved in educating youth in our neighborhood for years via leading before and after school youth activities, I was not really aware of the depth of this whole education reform discussion that has decades of history. Yes, we are fiscally conservative and socially liberal democrats, as you surmised. I figured the best way to educate myself was to read, blog, ask questions, make an a$$ of myself occasionally, be embarrassed sometimes as I found my earlier posts completely off the mark as I learned more. I must admit that when I started reading a few months ago, I initially bought into the emotion of “Waiting for Superman”, “The Lottery”, C-SPAN Q&As with Madeleine Sackler and Dave Levin, MSNBC guest spots by Dr. Steve Perry, Education Nation, etc. It seemed especially relevant to my community because our local public schools are really struggling — <50% graduation rates, reading and math proficiency scores very low (some years in single digits), single digit college attendance rates, etc. As I listened to the rhetoric of the education reform movement I was convinced that was the path to success for our local poorly performing schools [and yes, I was initially convinced that Dr. Ravitch and her colleagues were part of the huge bureaucratic mess standing in the way of real reform — now I'm feeling more like a naïve boob than an informed citizen]. I even made vociferous blog posts about the need for a high performing KIPP type organization to come to our neighborhood, and have made numerous blog posts supporting a limited version of TFA. The more I read various education blogs, the more bloggers help redirect my misconceptions, I'm slowly starting to get a more comprehensive picture. I often feel like a complete doofus after reading and internalizing additional layers and complexities to problems presented. Your information regarding hiring policies in Pennsylvania is a great example, it's making me rethink my perspectives once again. Appreciate your insight.
    
    I guess where this self enlightenment process will perhaps take me, is to be a more informed participant in future school board meetings for my community. Posts like Dr. Heilig's recent discussion regarding psychologically damaging children was chilling. And others like his post on geography based desegregation strategies were enlightening. And Diane's speech at KIPP with Mike Feinberg were compelling. I'm still drinking from the firehose, so forgive me as I put my foot in my mouth from time to time on this journey of enlightenment.
    
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  - alharris161 says:
    
    November 24, 2013 at 5:17 pm
    
    terrencecrimmins: One additional observation, our local high school has hired a few alternatively certified teachers in the past 5 years, and all have worked out very well. All are still teaching, all are filling positions that our school board & superintendent had indicated were tough to fill spots, all are very well liked by students and teachers. This was/is one basis of my support for a limited role for TFA, although the current larger trajectory of TFA is problematic. Your insight regarding hiring realities in Pennsylvania has made me wonder how transparent our school board & superintendent was with our community.
    
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