Why do I dislike Teach For America? Because it has nothing to do with permanent investment in our schools, or thoughtful reform of education. Because it is one of many organizations that seem to exist more or less to give privileged young people the "life experience" that will qualify them to go on to their next advanced degree. Because it relies for its prestige on the idea that people who are middle or upper class naturally have something special and intangible to offer to the poor. Because it activates our not so thinly-veiled social contempt for people who chose the hard work of teaching public school as a career, often doing it for decades in places where they are forced to buy books and classroom supplies out of their own salaries.
- "Is Teaching for America a Program for the Poor or the Rich?", Tenured Radical, July 12, 2010
1 comments:
I like this. I applied and got denied from TFA in the final round. Never really understood why, and it pissed me off to be honest. The process is so ridiculously arduous, seeing as how there are so many educationally-neglected kids in the inner-city? If there is such a disparity amongst the inner-city and underprivileged youth, why are they so stringent on the process and the people they take in! Glad to see this on a fashion-geared blog!
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