Tom Ultican has written a scathing critique of TFA as a faux “progressive” political operation whose true goals are to promote privatization and to destroy the teaching profession. TFA supplies the teachers for private charter schools, 90% of which are non-union.
TFA is the darling of the billionaires. Almost every billionaire foundation has dropped millions into TFA’s big tin cup. In addition, TFA collects $40 million a year from the federal government to place inexperienced teachers in the classroom, few of whom will stay longer than two years.
He writes:
Prior to taking over a classroom, TFA teachers receive just five weeks of training. Their training is test centric and employs behaviorist principles. TFA corps members study Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion.
Lemov never studied education nor taught. He became involved with the no-excuses charter movement in mid-1990s. As glowingly depicted by Elizabeth Green in Building A+ Better Teacher, Lemov observed classrooms to develop his teaching ideas.
Most trained professional educators find Lemov’s teaching theory regressive. Jennifer Berkshire published a post by Layla Treuhaft-Ali on her popular blog and podcast “Have You Heard.” Under the title “Teach Like its 1885” Layla wrote,
“As I was reading Teach Like A Champion, I observed something that shocked me. The pedagogical model espoused by Lemov is disturbingly similar to one that was established almost a century ago for the express purpose of maintaining racial hierarchy.”
Treuhaft-Ali added, “Placed in their proper racial context, the Teach Like A Champion techniques can read like a modern-day version of the *Hampton Idea,* where children of color are taught not to challenge authority under the supervision of a wealthy, white elite
TFA is the billionaires’ army, recruited to keep charters staffed with a rapidly rotating cast of “teachers.”
He writes:
It seems like every major foundation gives to TFA. Besides Gates, Walton, Broad, Dell, Hastings, and Arnold, there is Bradley, Hall, Kaufman, DeVos, Skillman, Sackler and the list goes on. According to the TFA 2016 tax form, the grants TFA received that year totaled more than $245 million. US taxpayer give TFA $40 million a year via the US Department of Education.
The Walton (Walmart) family has provided TFA more than $100,000,000. In 2013, their $20,000,000 grant gave $2,000 more per TFA teacher going to charter schools than for public school teachers.
TFA is great for its executives but it is a disaster for the teaching profession, for children assigned to inexperienced and ill-trained TFA recruits, and for public education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
TFA is neoliberalism and racism applied to education. What could go wrong? The entire model is not based in anything of value for students. TFA is a cash cow for privatizers. TFA should be more appropriately named FTA, and you can use your imagination as to what the F represents.
TFA is a cash cow for its leaders but a malign organization for students, public schools, and the teaching profession. It popularizes the myth that anyone can teach, no professional degrees or training needed. Its prominent alumni are leading the fight against public schools.
and since “anyone can teach” there is surely no reason to pay a professional salary
I would have no trouble with smart college students volunteering to help kids for a couple of years in places that need more labor if the organization did the following: 1) sought to use the kids out if the Ivy to help experienced teachers do a better job. 2) Tried to persuade these kids who found they liked the gig to stay around for a life work, going back to get an advanced degree and learning the trade. 3) Promoted the teaching profession as an honorable one and teachers organizations as fundamental to the improvement of the profession 4) impressed upon the kids the reality that you never get good at anything for a good while so you have to stick with it and 5) Held up veteran teachers as authoritative due to their experience.
Does TFA do those things? My only contact with the bunch is former Tennessee education commissioner Kevin Huffman, whom I think was an alum.
Kaufman was a TFA alum and was married to Michelle Rhee for a while. TFA cannot do any of the things you suggest because that is not their mission. They are paid to undermine public education and it has been a known principle that to do that the respect people have for professional educators must be destroyed.
We just wrapped up (I hope!) college touring with one of my kids. During the info sessions, just about every school (especially private ones) spoke of how many of their graduates committed to service through the Peace Corp and Teach For America.
I had a very hard time keeping quiet, but did for my kid’s sake. But even she said on the way out of Georgetown, “why do they keep bragging about TFA?”
Unfortunately, I don’t feel like I’m in a position to get in admission’s officers face at this time.
Maybe this will make it more clear to you about what’s wrong with TFA and Michelle Rhee as a prime example of it. It’s about smart White kids (and I do mean kids) who think they know everything and can go into classrooms with precious little preparation and know what’s good for children and then leave after 2 years and again unprepared, move into leadership roles in education because they went to a name college and “taught” (usually badly), for 2 years. And then use test scores as a measure of learning that matters, so teach to the test and still have to cheat to get the scores up. And, on top of that, they think they deserve enormous salaries leading charter schools that deny entrance to children with special needs and are tremendously punitive to children who make mistakes and need something a little different and maybe some compassion to actually learn! This is diametrically opposed to the education School of Peace offers to traumatized children. Children in the US are often just as traumatized as those in Lesbos by poverty and racism, but Michelle Rhee, who doesn’t seem to have thought for a minute about racism and poverty knows how to help them learn because she’s so “smart.” Let me know what you think about that. Sent from my iPhone
>
The new research about “liberals high in racial resentment” (Prof. Wetts and Willer) may add insights about the improbable alliance between rich liberals and conservatives in the campaign against public schools.
“Most trained professional educators find Lemov’s teaching theory regressive. ”
Lemov should have regressed not to the 19th century but couple of thousand years more and study Socrates’§ teaching methods.