At the same time I was writing this diary yesterday, Judy Ferro was publishing a column in the Idaho Press Tribune called: Concerns over charter schools, Teach for America.
An excerpt from her article offers a brilliant analysis of the fake teacher shortage and how this game is rigged:
The argument that our teacher shortage justifies hiring teachers with little training rankles. The state of Idaho created our teacher shortage by heavy-handed anti-teacher measures. During the downturn we made heavier cuts in teacher numbers than any other state, cuts which forced teachers to carry heavier work loads and heavier guilt for the kids they couldn’t reach. Our state government followed that up with insults to their professionalism and attacks on their rights. This teacher “shortage” was artificially and purposely created.Ironically, TFA attracts college graduates into teaching by pointing out the professional skills that teaching requires. Their website implies that teaching for two years will give you the leadership ability to conquer the world. Certainly a different view than our Legislature’s, which seems to be that teachers are natural malingerers who must be hounded and controlled.
My original diary is below: Teach for America takes Ivy League graduates, among others, trains them for five weeks in the summer, then sends them out into schools for two-year stints as “teachers.” Add water, mix and stir — voila — instateacher! - Travis Manning, Is it Teach for America or Teach For A While? Nampa, Idaho Superintendent David Peterson, and Caldwell, Idaho Superintendent Tim Rosandick called this is one way to address an ongoing issue.“There is a teacher shortage in Idaho, and for us to not take advantage of this opportunity to consider people that are interested in entering the teaching field would seem contrary to meeting the challenges of a teacher shortage,” Rosandick said.
However:
Teach For America is one of the most controversial school reform organizations operating today. TFA recruits new college graduates, gives them five weeks of summer training and then places them in some of America’s neediest classrooms, presuming that just a little over a month of training is sufficient to do the job. Critics point out that high-needs students, who are the ones who get TFA teachers, are the children who most need veteran teachers. In fact, some veterans are now losing their jobs to TFA corps members, because TFAers are less expensive to hire, and some school teaching communities are becoming less cohesive because TFA members promise only to stay for two years and leave teaching at a greater rate than traditionally trained teachers. - Valerie Strauss, It’s time for Teach For America to fold — former TFAer