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TechnographTeach For America: Why it is so difficult to say no
By Jon Monteith
Posted: 3/26/07 Section: Opinion Columns
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Roughly two weeks ago, I was informed that I had made it to the final stage of the application process for Teach For America. For those of you who have somehow managed to avoid the monstrous jaws of this organization's campus outreach campaign, Teach For America (TFA) is a national corps of high-achieving recent college graduates who dedicate two years to teaching in our country's lowest-income communities.
A noble concept, I thought to myself when approached by TFA's senior recruitment director earlier this semester, but it just wasn't for me. It's not as if I was drowning in alternative job offers with my hotly anticipated liberal arts degree. But plunging headlong into a two-year commitment that promised to be depressing, frustrating, and, depending on the grade level to which I would be assigned, terrifying as well? Pass the cyanide tablets.
But the recruitment director asked for just 15 minutes of my time at Moonstruck, and admitting that I didn't really know the whole story on TFA, I agreed to meet with him. I tried to be up front. Since I have always felt the urge to dry heave upon hearing the popular libertarian argument that everyone has a fair shot at succeeding in life regardless of socioeconomic circumstances, I find working to counteract the undeniable funding disparities in America's public school system to be a very important cause. TFA did seem like a great outlet in that regard.
That being said, I was worried that I might not be able to leave my TFA duty with my sanity intact. Additionally, I was not an education major, nor did I possess even the mildest interest in teaching as a long-term career. As an aspiring politico hoping to dive into the D.C. scene after graduation, TFA seemed irrelevant to my professional pursuits, and I could not ignore that.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. I was informed that most members are not education majors and that while many alumni do go on to serve as teachers and administrators, Teach For America has assembled a cadre of leaders with ties to a variety of professional sectors - not just education, but government and policy, business, journalism, medicine, the sciences, and the arts.
A noble concept, I thought to myself when approached by TFA's senior recruitment director earlier this semester, but it just wasn't for me. It's not as if I was drowning in alternative job offers with my hotly anticipated liberal arts degree. But plunging headlong into a two-year commitment that promised to be depressing, frustrating, and, depending on the grade level to which I would be assigned, terrifying as well? Pass the cyanide tablets.
But the recruitment director asked for just 15 minutes of my time at Moonstruck, and admitting that I didn't really know the whole story on TFA, I agreed to meet with him. I tried to be up front. Since I have always felt the urge to dry heave upon hearing the popular libertarian argument that everyone has a fair shot at succeeding in life regardless of socioeconomic circumstances, I find working to counteract the undeniable funding disparities in America's public school system to be a very important cause. TFA did seem like a great outlet in that regard.
That being said, I was worried that I might not be able to leave my TFA duty with my sanity intact. Additionally, I was not an education major, nor did I possess even the mildest interest in teaching as a long-term career. As an aspiring politico hoping to dive into the D.C. scene after graduation, TFA seemed irrelevant to my professional pursuits, and I could not ignore that.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. I was informed that most members are not education majors and that while many alumni do go on to serve as teachers and administrators, Teach For America has assembled a cadre of leaders with ties to a variety of professional sectors - not just education, but government and policy, business, journalism, medicine, the sciences, and the arts.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Adam
posted 3/26/07 @ 10:16 AM CST
"where you're born and how much money your parents make does not have to stop you from getting the education that you deserve."
Yeah, it's not fair that some parents work hard and make all this money and spend time teaching their kids. (Continued…)
Hey Adam
posted 3/26/07 @ 11:49 AM CST
http://blogs.dailyillini.com/opinions/2007/03/14/my-life-as-an-internet-troll/
Bridget Geraghty
posted 3/26/07 @ 5:43 PM CST
Adam, your comment is ignorant, short-sighted, and simplistic. If you knew anything about the education system in America you would know that with school funding drawn from property taxes, students in low income areas have less money spent on their education through no fault of their own. (Continued…)
Adam
posted 3/26/07 @ 10:59 PM CST
Wow, my comment is called ignorant, short-sighted, simplistic, stupid, and unresearched. And I get called a troll.
Anyway. Believe it or not, I'm a PhD student in education, so I've heard all the typical stories that you call "facts". (Continued…)
Tammy
posted 6/29/07 @ 2:03 PM CST
Though Teach For America is a good program in theory and on paper, in reality it really does nothing to change the face of education in this country.
Answer me this: This program has been in existance for 17 years now. (Continued…)
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