There have been rumors for months that TFA has seen a sharp decline in applicants. This may be confirmation.
Teach for America is closing down its NYC office because of a decline in recruitment.
It seems the pushback from alumni has made a difference, despite TFA’s massive PR and funding. Alumni have written many articles warning that they were ill-prepared for their assignments.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Good riddance. They can save even more money by opening one in Arne’s building here in Washington; if they already haven’t.
And the truth shall finally be heard!
I see Subaru must have dumped TFA. I can think good thoughts for Subaru again.
When and where did Subaru back TFA? I wasn’t aware
I cannot understand how these reporters call the TFA kids, right out of college, with only 5 weeks of TFA training and no real academic credentials, “teachers”….this is a faulty use of semantics…also known as lying. They should probably be identified as classroom assistants.
TFAers would have to be assisting genuine, fully trained certified teachers to be called “classroom assistants,” but they are usually given their own classrooms.
The primary problem is that TFA used its political clout to get state legislatures and Congress to not only call them “teachers” and waive certification laws, but also to designate them as “highly qualified teachers” under NCLB.
THAT is the big lie. It was enabled by cronyism, because our country favors elites and runs on the premise that it’s not what you know but who you know. This has comfortably provided jobs for many non-educators in education for decades now, from Arne Duncan on down, who have been trashing and taking away jobs from genuine educators, for their own personal gain, despite all the bogus “It’s for the kids” claims.
It’s really wonderful that would-be TFAers are seeing through the smoke and mirrors and are rejecting TFA now!
I am a first year TFA teacher in North Carolina. I will be the very first to say that I was not qualified or prepared for the position, having studied speech science in college, but to say I am not a teacher is ludicrous. I work harder than any person I know, often working 10-12 hour days, never mind all of the work I do at home. I teach those kids with every ounce of my being, and just because I didn’t study how to create a lesson plan in college, does not mean my kids aren’t learning. I filled a 7th grade science position that was taught last year by a permanent substitute, because no one in their right mind would sign up to teach 150 disadvantaged children for only 30 grand a year. No one, except me. This year, my students are able to complete hands on activities and actually understand the aspects of science, rather than working out of a text book. You can dislike the program, I’m not too fond of it myself, but you cannot put down the teachers who actually commit their lives to the job. We are not all the same, just as traditional teachers that study education are not.
Now how to get TFA outta Chicago!?!
We can start by getting rid of Rahm in the coming election.
@Katie Osgood. If anyone can figure that out, I’ll be happy to come out there and help them pack up. My gift to Chicago and its children.
I’m going to start a Washington branch of PFA – Politicians for America. They will be our best and brightest college grads who want to make a difference in the room and shouldn’t be blocked as valuable assets to society because of the handicaps big money imposes. They will be inserted in every major branch of government with a brief training session before they go about making the major changes we all know are needed.
This is good news. TFA has set educator preparation back , but hopefully we’ve turned a corner.
This is misinformation you all. TFA closed a training site in NYC. The office is not closing.
I thought they were just closing down their training institute there, not the whole placement site. It’s a start, whichever it is.
Dare we hope, if TFA can’t make it there, TFA can’t make it anywhere? : )
Hello Diane! (and readers!),
I’m a critical TFA alum (who’s still in the classroom, by the way!) – I just wanted to clarify one thing in your post that might be misleading.
TFA’s New York City regional office is not closing down, nor is the New York City region. There will still be Corps Members placed in NYC.
Rather, the NYC Institute is closing (one of their 5-week training programs, which train 5 or so regions who all come to the Institute for the summer). There are 6 other National Institutes that are still open (Philly, Tulsa, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, and the Delta).
Based on the article you linked to, for next year, NYC Corps Members will train at the Philadelphia Institute.
Just wanted to make sure this was clear!
-Blair
I’m a little confused why my comment hasn’t been approved?
Blair, sorry, I have been vacationing in Arizona, blogging from a cell phone, and I don’t always have Internet access. Even now, my cell or software refuses to approve your first comment and I probably can’t get it done until I arrive at Phoenix airport.
Blair, thanks for your comment. Given TFA’s vast financial resources, I don’t expect it to fold. But it is significant that recruitment is down by 25%. TFA has damaged the profession by popularizing the absurd claim that teachers can be “highly qualified” professionals with only five weeks training. TFA provides the scab labor for non-union, low-wage, high-turnover schools. It has contributed to the loss of prestige for teachers by insisting that neither professional education nor experience matter.
I’m not here to refute anything! I just wanted to make sure your post was clear!
We’re good! I was approved. Thanks so much for your explanation!
Is the NYC regional office at 8th and 36th?
This seems incomprehensible. How can a national organization be taken seriously if they don’t have an office in NYC? Does De Blasio have anything to do with this?
I’m surprised that you haven’t accepted my comment. Goes to your integrity in leaving this lie up on your site.
Let’s not get too excited. The article states that TFA will no longer hold its Summer Institute in NYC, but the TFA office in NYC is alive and well…albeit a bit smaller than in the past. It’s not like they’ve closed up shop and stopped sending teachers into schools.
EB, recruitment for TFA is down by 25%.
Teacher recruitment is down all across America, including at ed schools and in districts. We COULD work together to change that, instead of pointing fingers. That would be better for kids.
Why do you think teacher recruitment is down?
So many reasons. If we could see past ideology on this that or the other, we could figure it out together.
“Figure it out together”?
Join with your public school colleagues and ask for a place at the discussion table, where the education decisions are made, by the hedge funds and test and tech companies and their politicians.
Then, please report back to the blog, chronicling your success.
Reblogged this on 21st Century Theater.
Recruitment for TFA is down because its hard to get college kids to drink the Koolaid anymore. Information is available in real time nowadays. If you want to research TFA, have at it on the net and there is plenty of negative. Much of the positive is propaganda or spin.
Parents are advising their children against teaching via the traditional route because the reformers have made the profession so unpalatable. Jesus Christ, Giuliani literally said that teachers are to blame for Eric Garner’s death. Really? WTF is wrong him and his ilk? Any bit of respect I had for him–wiped out with that statement.
Ed reformers need to come clean. They need to stop playing God and stop playing teacher, principal, superintendent. Their masters degrees are bogus, their doctorates are fake, and Duncan – what are his qualifications again?
Enough is enough.
Having lived for many years in Idaho, I’m used to things appearing here long after they’ve appeared on the left and right coasts. TFA is no exception. They are pushing hard for entry into Idaho public schools and recently signed contracts with Nampa School District and Caldwell School District. They have cast a particularly covetous eye upon Idaho’s many rural schools.
I’ve had several alumni from my high school tell me that TFA sought them out from nowhere. Suddenly, my former students were getting multiple calls on their personal phones and e-mails pressuring them into enrolling into TFA. All this without the student reaching out to them first. Kinda creepy if you ask me. My former students find it creepy, too.