Teach For America Applications Soar

College Grads Apply In Record Numbers As Nonprofit Struggles To Raise Funds

(AP)  When school starts next fall, Teach for America will send an unprecedented number of college graduates to teach in poor communities across the country; but not as many as the group would like.

Teach for America this year chose 4,100 recruits from more than 35,000 applications, an increase over last year's class of 3,700 recruits. While the group has never accepted every applicant, this was the first time it had to turn down people who met all its rigorous criteria.

“For the last nine years, really the only constraint on our growth has been recruits, just finding enough people who we really believe are ready for this,” said Wendy Kopp, the group's founder and chief executive.

“This is the first year when we've had to turn away people who would have met our admission bar in any previous year,” Kopp said.

The constraint is the economy. Tighter budgets have forced some school districts to cut back on hiring, though overall 500 more spots for Teach for America are available this year. Also, those who give to nonprofits like Teach for America are either holding the line or cutting back on their charitable giving, which pays for training and professional development for the recruits.

Despite the belt-tightening, some communities expect an influx of new teachers from the program, especially in rural areas. South Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta will have more than double the number of recruits this year.

In Mississippi, state schools chief Hank Bounds asked Teach for America for at least 200 new teachers. Bounds believes the program's high-achieving graduates will play an important role in turning around his state's struggling schools.

Children suffer from poverty in Mississippi at a greater rate than the national average. And fourth-graders there trail the nation and region in reading and math, though they have made gains since 2003, according to the Southern Regional Education Board.

The South holds particular interest for some recruits. Yale graduate David DeAngelis asked specifically for assignment to the Delta, and he spent the past year teaching music in tiny Marianna, Ark., near the west bank of the Mississippi.

“You become part of the community almost immediately, part of the lives of students, of students' families,” DeAngelis said. “It's a very rich and powerful experience, from the very beginning.”

Urban schools are also asking for more.

In Baltimore, school officials asked Teach for America to send 150 new teachers, twice the number of last year's recruits. However, Teach for America still needs to raise $500,000 to pay for the increase.

In all, more than 7,300 first- and second-year Teach for America recruits will teach in more than 100 school districts in 27 states and the District of Columbia in the coming school year.

Interest in becoming a teacher has soared amid the recession, especially in programs that get people quickly into the classroom.

Teach for America, for example, provides five weeks of intensive summer training before the school year begins and requires a two-year commitment from its recruits.

Other programs help people switch from other careers into teaching. One of the largest is the New Teacher Project, which has seen a surge in applications like that of Teach for America.

Teach for America has endured its share of criticism. Recruits are less likely to stay in the classroom than those who come from traditional colleges of education, although supporters point out that the low-income schools where they work have much higher turnover anyway.

Still, after their two-year commitment, two-thirds of Teach for America alumni are still working in education, according to the organization. About one-third are working as classroom teachers, and others are in administrative jobs such as principal or school superintendent.

Opponents have also questioned the effectiveness of TFA teachers, although a growing body of research suggests they are as effective or more effective than teachers who followed more traditional routes to the classroom.

[armyoftwelve]

It's easy to teach for america when there aren't any other jobs out there to be had.

[Meg003]

" you forgot to add; then they join the union and all that training is flushed."
Posted by mjvwsr


So if doctors join the AMA, all their training is somehow cancelled out? What if engineers join NSPE? Do they cease to be trained?

Or could it be that you are just engaging in the national pastime of bashing teachers, led by our politicians?

[mjvwsr]

Huh????? Someone with a BA and 5 weeks of summer school is a more effective teacher than a teacher, who has 35 to 70 units of teacher training classes where they had to maintain a B average, six months of supervised student teaching, and who has passed several rigorous exams to prove that they are highly qualified? Who are these people trying to kid?
Posted by httpwwwnews

you forgot to add; then they join the union and all that training is flushed.

[rrozsa]

Can someone in charge of the countries educational system explain to me why the education system is so interested in teaching how to pass the F cat test? and explain to me how a Nation that has led the world in technology and education has now become a third world educational system.

Posted by quapawsix at 5:18 AM : May 29, 2009

============================

It's a prime example of an institution that has been run by the government. Government-run agencies are notorious for wasteful spending and poor management, resulting in both terrible work conditions and an inferior product. or service. Another example of this concept would be the sub-par medical care provided through the VA.

[rrozsa]

The constraint is the economy. Tighter budgets have forced some school districts to cut back on hiring, though overall 500 more spots for Teach for America are available this year.

=========================================

Isn't this paragraph contradictory? If 500 more spots are available, then why does the article state they are cutting back? It looks to me like there are more people applying who are qualified -- not a cutting back of positions due to the economy. Good ol' CBS News, putting their own spin on the facts, as usual.

[quapawsix]

Can someone in charge of the countries educational system explain to me why the education system is so interested in teaching how to pass the F cat test? and explain to me how a Nation that has led the world in technology and education has now become a third world educational system. And explain to me why some in the upper ranks of the educational system should be paid these outrageous salaries. Football coaches making over a million and a half or even the school boards across the country look at the money you pay these people and then ask your self am I getting the best education that my money is paying for?

[r9119111]

America is full of fear and greed these days. Achieving a new balance is going to take years to accomplish. In the process, many people are going to be displaced, misplaced and embarrassed to tears. This is all part of the process of looking for answers. There will be a lot of mistakes made, some will be good, others will be bad.

No real progress will be made until honesty becomes a value to be admired, sought and practiced. We will have to start by restoring the principles of our Constitution that have been so badly mangled. America is a sick nation in need of repair. That repair cannot be done without honesty, love, compassion and tolerance for our fellow Americans as well as those about us.

[Meg003]

How is this a feel-good, people helping story? It sounds more like a story of people needing jobs and finding a shortcut to getting teaching jobs that shaves years off their preparation time.

I don't blame them for doing it, but the increase in numbers of people in the program is because they need incomes and resume padding, not because they "want to help out".

[httpwwwnews]

"Teach for America, for example, provides five weeks of intensive summer training before the school year begins" and "a growing body of research suggests they are as effective or more effective than teachers who followed more traditional routes to the classroom. "

Huh????? Someone with a BA and 5 weeks of summer school is a more effective teacher than a teacher, who has 35 to 70 units of teacher training classes where they had to maintain a B average, six months of supervised student teaching, and who has passed several rigorous exams to prove that they are highly qualified? Who are these people trying to kid? There are tons of experienced teachers being laid off due to failing budgets, The children would be better served if Teach for America either provided more training or placed real teachers in struggling schools.

[pw08-2009]

Maybe California could use some of the teachers with the 50% drop-out rate we suffer. It's nice to know that there are groups like this out there!