Archives for category: Teach for America
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Mercedes Schneider: Who Advises Elizabeth Warren on Education?

By dianeravitch
June 9, 2019 //
73

Mercedes Schneider delved into the experience of Elizabeth Warren’s senior education advisor. 

He entered teaching through Teach for America. I hear that his linked-in profile has been deleted since this post appeared but you might want to check to see if it has been restored.

I have met Elizabeth Warren twice, once in her Senate Office, about 2015, where we had a 30-minute conversation about education. I was greatly  impressed by her quick intelligence. Earlier this year, I attended a house party in her honor at the home of a mutual friend in Manhattan and again was taken by her ideas about higher education, her passion, and her articulateness.

I was surprised and disappointed therefore to learn that her senior education advisor is TFA. TFA is a favorite of the Waltons, Eli Broad, and other billionaires who support privatization of public education. The Waltons have given many millions to TFA, at one point a single grant of $48 million; Broad assembled $100 million from a group of his allies for TFA. The organization supplies a large part of the workforce for private charter schools. Its leaders in high policy positions, like Michelle Rhee, John White, and Kevin Huffman have typically been pro-testing, anti-teacher, and anti-union.

I hope Warren clears the air by explaining where she stands on K-12 issues, whether she believes all children should have a credentialed teacher, whether she pledges to eliminate the federal Charter Schools Program (Betsy DeVos’ $440 Million Slush Fund), whether she supports the NAACP call for a moratorium on new charters, and whether she will actively fight to restore and protect teachers’ right to bargain collectively.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Supporting public schools, Teach for America, Testing

To Understand Teach for America, See Who Funds The Organization

By dianeravitch
June 2, 2019 //
27

Follow the money is a basic principle.

To understand an organization, see who funds it.

Take Teach for America.

It presents itself to the public as a noble charity.

Unfortunately, it promotes the bad idea that anyone with five weeks of training can teach. That has the effect of undermining teaching as a profession.

Does anyone believe that five weeks of training is adequate to become a doctor or lawyer or architect or engineer?

TFA supplies the workforce for a large proportion of charter schools, 90% of which are non-union.

TFA simultaneously undermines the teaching profession and teacher unionism, which assures that teachers have rights and voice in the workplace.

Who would promote these goals? .

Who funds  Teach for America? 

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Industry, Funding, Privatization, Teach for America, Teaching, Unions

Mercedes Schneider: Disillusionment with TFA, In the U.S. and Brazil

By dianeravitch
May 23, 2019 //
2

 

 

Mercedes Schneider discovered an article by a former TFA recruit, Rolf Straubhaar, who now teaches at Texas State University. 

Straubhaar compares the experience of Teach for America in the U.S. and the experience of those who joined the TFA offshoot, called a Teach for All, in Brazil.

The program in Brazil didn’t last long. It folded.

His studies persuaded him that many of the participants in these programs became skeptical of its market orientation.

He wrote:

And yet, perhaps the most interesting legacy of being trained as a teacher through TFA and Ensina!, at least for participants in these two studies, is the effect that training has had on the career plans and ideological perspectives of these teachers. Around half of the TFA teachers interviewed and the vast majority of interviewed Ensina! teachers had come to question the efficacy of the Teach For All model, both as a teacher education program and an education reform initiative intended to address educational inequality. …

The most interesting and thoughtful alums of TFA are those who reject it.

Categories Education Reform, International, Teach for America

Rob Levine: How Charters Kill Public Schools, the Example of Minneapolis

By dianeravitch
May 22, 2019 //
52

Rob Levine, a critic of Ed Deform, created a website called edhivemn.com that tracks funding of education reform orgs in MN –  and it has a feature called Charter School Scandals of the Day

Levine created a graphic to demonstrate the damage that charters do to public schools. He focuses on the charter schools in Minneapolis, which are well funded and highly segregated. Defenders of charters in Minneapolis actually think that racial and ethnic segregation is a good thing. They think that as long as families choose segregation, it is okay. George Wallace would have agreed with them.

The cycle of destruction begins as the districts loses students and money to charters. The district must cut programs and increase class sizes. When they cut programs and class sizes grow, they lose more students to charters. The cycle continues until the district shrivels to insignificance or disappears.

Rob writes:

Though specifics vary, across the nation charter schools are draining the students and finances of public school districts, creating distress in many. In Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Foundation is trying this very strategy with its created entity, Minnesota Comeback, whose goal is 30,000 new charter seats in the city.

Does the Minneapolis Foundation want to destroy public schools in Minneapolis? Look at its partners: all the same “reform” groups that are working with DeVos, the Waltons, and the Koch brothers.

Rob’s graphic shows that tens of millions spent by “Reformers” to disrupt and destroy public schools in Minneapolis.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Privatization, Teach for America

Gary Rubinstein: Guess Which State Paid $90,000 for Each TFA Recruit?

By dianeravitch
May 16, 2019 //
33

Gary Rubinstein thought that Ohio paid more money than any other state to Teach for America, at the rate of $20,000 per recruit.

Chicken feed!

One state paid TFA $90,000 for each recruit! 

He writes:

A few days ago I wrote about how Texas pays TFA $5.5 million for 400 recruits, or about $15,000 per recruit.  Yesterday I wroteabout how Ohio paid $2 million to TFA for 100 recruits, or about $20,000 per recruit.  As TFA is in about 40 states, I wondered what state is paying the highest amount per recruit.  I got a tip today for one that I think cannot be beat.

The state of Kansas paid TFA $270,000 for a total of 3 recruits.  First they had a $520,000 contract for 12 recruits which would be about $40,000 per recruit.  But when TFA only delivered 3 recruits, they had to give back $250,000.  As a result, they ended up paying TFA a staggering $90,000 per recruit.

Under former Governor Brownback, Kansas cut taxes on the hope that low taxes would spur economic growth. It didn’t. It starved public services.

Kansans finally got fed up with the Republican strategy, and last November the voters elected Democratic state senator Laura Kelly, replacing the Trumpite Governor Kris Kobach.

Governor Kelly, cut this absurd expenditure for temp teachers and use the money to fund your public schools and your career teachers.

Toto, I Have A Feeling We’re Not In The State That Paid TFA A Finder’s Fee Of $90K Per Recruit Anymore

 

Categories Kansas, Teach for America

Gary Rubenstein: Guess Which State Pays the Most for Its TFA Teachers?

By dianeravitch
May 15, 2019 //
12

 

Gary Rubinstein has the answer here. 

Which state pays $20,000 for each recruit TFA sends to work in its schools after a five-week training course?

Can you guess?

How much does your state pay TFA to send young teachers who agree to stay for two years?

 

Categories Education Reform, Teach for America

Houston: Why the HISD Did Not Renew TFA’s Contract

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2019 //
7

 

The Houston Independent School District Board did not renew its contract to hire Teach for America recruits. 

TFA profits handsomely on each person it places, collecting $3,000-$5,000 per person. Is it a rental fee or a finders’ fee? The organization has accumulated more than $300 million in assets and has created an international operation called Teach for All, which undermines teachers’ unions around the world. It also has a political operation called Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE), which trains its members to run for office and finances their campaigns. In some districts, like Atlanta, TFA controls the school board and uses its power to promote charter schools and privatization. Many charter schools rely on TFA to supply their teachers.

Houston ISD trustees voted Thursday to end the district’s contract with Teach For America, an organization that places high-performing college graduates from non-traditional teaching backgrounds in classrooms.

In recent years, about 35 Teach For America corps members joined the district annually, committing to a two-year program. Corps members are HISD employees and earn salaries paid by the district, though they cost HISD an additional $3,000 to $5,000 in fees related to recruitment and support.

Board members voted 4-4 on a motion to continue the contract, with a majority vote needed to support its renewal. Trustees approved the contract in 2018 by a 4-3 vote, but the outcome swung this year with Board President Diana Dávila flipping from “yes” to “no” on Thursday.

Opponents of renewing Teach For America’s contract noted corps members are less likely to remain in the district long-term than educators certified through more traditional methods. Some trustees also quibbled with the fees paid to Teach For America at a time when educators across the district are receiving modest salary increases.

“TFA is an organization that is problematic,” HISD Trustee Elizabeth Santos said. “It deprofessionalizes teaching, increases turnover and undermines union organization. We should not subsidize TFA with extra dollars. They should not have special privileges over alternative certification paths.”

 

Categories Education Reform, Houston, Teach for America

BREAKING: Julian Vasquez Heilig Reports that Houston Ousted TFA

By dianeravitch
May 10, 2019 //
11

On his blog, Professor Julian Vasquez Heilig reported that the Houston Independent School Board has terminated its contract with Teach for America.

How could it be that Houston doesn’t want just-graduated-from-college recruits with five weeks of training to transform the lives of students in only two years?

 

Categories Teach for America

Ohio Democratic Party Passes Resolution Opposing School Privatization, Supporting Public Scgools

By dianeravitch
May 1, 2019 //
31

The Ohio Democratic Party, aware that some Democrats have supported the privatization agenda in the past, took a strong stand supporting public schools. The resolution specifically rejects the privatization lobbying of ALEC, the Thomas Fordham Institute, Democrats for Education Reform, and TFA.

If every state Democratic Party passed similar resolutions, the candidates would be forced to be equally resolute in support of public schools.

Ohio Democratic Party

Resolution 2019-04 

Opposing School Privatization

  

WHEREAS, over 600 traditional public school districts in Ohio serve more than 1.8 million students; and

WHEREAS, the state of Ohio has the constitutional responsibility to secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools; and

WHEREAS, adequate and equitable funding is required to fulfill the state’s constitutional responsibility to Ohio’s school children; and

WHEREAS, students deserve a quality early childhood and K-12 education, certified teachers who have a voice in the policies which affect their schools, a rich curriculum that prepares students for college, careers, and meaningful participation as citizens; and

WHEREAS, the public school privatization agenda, which includes state takeovers, charter schools, voucher schemes, and a high-stakes test-and-punish philosophy, relies on destructive policies that harm students and blame educators that has proven to be ineffective at bringing efficiency and cost savings to our schools; and

WHEREAS, education profiteers dedicated to the public school privatization agenda and anti-educator initiatives also fund organizations entrenched in their movement to replace district schools with charter and private schools, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Thomas Fordham Institute, Chiefs for Change, Teach for America (TFA) and Democrats for Education Reform (DFER); and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Ohio Democratic Party rejects the public school privatization movement and opposes making Ohio’s public schools private or becoming segregated again through the lobbying and campaigning efforts of affiliated organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Thomas Fordham Institute, Chiefs for Change, Teach for America (TFA) and Democrats for Education Reform (DFER); and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Ohio Democratic Party reaffirms its commitment to free accessible public school districts which are adequately and equitably funded to guarantee a comparable education for ALL children.

Adopted April 30, 2019

 

Categories Accountability, ALEC, Charter Schools, Democrats for Education Reform, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, Teach for America

Alan Singer: Does TFA Stand for Totally Fraudulent Assessment?

By dianeravitch
April 18, 2019 //
6

 

In this post, Alan Singer reviews a study conducted by SMU (Southern Methodist University) about the effectiveness of TFA teachers. He cites an earlier review of the same study by Gary Rubinstein and concludes with Gary that this study is not good news for TFA, even though TFA thinks it is.

Singer reviews the study and concludes:

“The other finding (?) is that “TFA alumni are generally more effective than non-TFA-affiliated peer teachers across all regions (as indicated by mostly blue indicators for that group).” There is a big problem with this finding. More than half of TFA corps members leave their initial placements in low-income schools after two years and only 60% even stay in the program for a third year to complete their contract. Five years after entering the program, 85% of former TFA corps members, the highly rated TFA alumni cohort, have either left teaching or after securing teacher certification have transferred to higher performing schools. Basically the TFA survivors, on the average, rate as more effective, because non-career corps members have already quit teaching and most of those who remain are working with students who already score higher on standardized tests.

“Although the Southern Methodist report did not call for disbanding Teach for America, it should have, based on the evidence. Maybe instead of corps members, TFA should just become a corpse.”

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Teach for America, Teachers and Teaching, Texas
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