Allright, let’s cut to the chase: I have beef with Teach for America.
I’m someone who just spent the past five (yes, five) years of my life sitting through countless education courses. Student teaching. Getting evaluations on how good I am. Minoring in English so that I fulfilled the new ridiculous teacher requirements as part of NCLB (more on that trainwreck later). Studying and passing three Praxis certification tests. Missing out on certain opportunities (study abroad, anyone) so that I can be in this renowned program that will get me a job and life will be perfect. I don’t know if it was worth it; ask me in a few years.
Now, someone who went to say, Colgate, or Boston U, can major in psychology or sociology. Come senior year, they realize they should probably seek gainful employment after having spent a whopping $160,000 divided over 4 years. Realize they will not in fact get a job at JP Morgan due to current financial meltdown! Apply to a few law schools and get rejected/wait-listed. Realize the sorta-connection they sorda-had to a premier job in Chicago or NYC is on the road to nowhere. Realize it’d be too embarassing to go back to their hometown unemployed and hang with the deadbeats that never left. What is left on the list of Possible Post-Grad Opportunities?
Teach for America!!!
Not because they love kids or want to transform urban education, but because.. it’s there. It’s an option, something to write on the resume.
Just because you got your 4.0 at some fancy college does not mean you have the necessary tools to teach kids. Book smarts are important. It’ll take you to many jobs. Ones that pay a lot more than teaching. Stick with those. To be smart is one thing, to actually be able to apply teaching skills in practice is another. I studied education for 3 years and I do not know if I will be good enough; let’s wait and see. But the CT achievement gap is the largest in the country; that means that here, the suburban kids are doing the best out of everyone, and the urban kids are doing the worst out of everyone. It’s too much of a gamble to put teachers into positions that they aren’t adequately prepped for, in my opinion.
