TFA
Remember, Arne Duncan and his cronies are all about self-dealing to his friends!
Actually, this is a setback for Teach For America…in the short term because of the logistics around timing, funding cycles, and school budget patterns. It could be in the long term, too, if policymakers are not careful. I’m pretty sympathetic to the way the Administration wants to go on these funds overall (pdf). And there is no reason that TFA shouldn’t have to compete alongside other programs for funding. But given the politics around TFA and teacher preparation unless the language is clearly written to prioritize quality, results, and scale (meaning sizable multi-year grants that allow for growth) this could create a muddle where politics rather than evidence carries the day. If I were in TFA’s shoes I’d be quite concerned about this given all those risks.
February 15th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
TFA salaries 2007
Wendy Kopp $268,585
Matthew Kramer $274,050
Em Rossy $204,775
Kevin Hoffman $229,643
Aimee a Davis $179,500
Elisa V Beard $182,637
Gillian Smith $200,325
Jeffrey Wetzler $203,925
Elissa Clapp $189,219
Aylon S Samouha $182,861
Andrew D Kopplin $164,037
Jemina R Bernard $162,325
Total $2,441,882
2007 Expenses
$124,550,696
That year TFA trained 2,892 corp members who began teaching
Roughly $43067 per teacher
February 15th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
A lot of the current “reform” in education is actually about lining the pockets of some very smart business people. As Marc Dean Millot reminded us recently, there are already signs of back room deals, and conflicts of interest similar to those that occurred with Reading First. See http://www.schoolsmatter.info/
In this recession, the worst possible thing to happen to education would be to defraud our children of tax money meant for them. My guess is that the Obama administration is beginning to see the handwriting on the wall and is starting to do something about it. Yes, it would be politically VERY foolish to allow education hustlers to fleece the public. A charter school might be a good idea but not if the “manager” pockets $350,000 in tax money for running a school with 300 students. Educators will not allow this to happen.
As for TFA, the best thing these well-intentioned young people can do is to become fully certified and experienced before going into our most challenging schools. Disadvantaged students need teachers with a proven track record. For too many years our poorest students have gotten our most inexperienced teachers. It’s time to reverse this trend. If the Obama administration does only one thing, I hope it chooses to place highly-qualified and experienced teachers in our most challenging schools.
March 23rd, 2010 at 8:44 am
Interesting writing. I was looking for a few differint things, this seemed to sum it up well. Added to my bookmarks.