I’m a Teach for America alum. I’ve written about why I chose to enlist with AmeriCorps / Teach for America, and I don’t regret doing so. I understood what I was getting into and went in with my eyes open. But, as an alum, I know how disruptive the organization is in education, and not in a good way. I understand the problems they cause in communities when districts rely upon them to supply a steady stream of teachers who will, at most, be teachers for only two years.
With this in mind, I read the latest from TFA alum Gary Rubenstein.
“… about 12 years ago I started my feud with them when I wrote a blog post called ‘Why I Did TFA And Why You Shouldn’t’ which got national attention and even landed me on NPR. Then I wrote a series of rants criticizing all their different decisions, like supporting the movie ‘Won’t Back Down’ and supporting anti-teacher legislation, touting different charter schools, and, finally, propping up terrible district leaders who were TFA alumni. As an organization with $300 million in the bank, there’s only so much damage one alum can do so I can’t take full credit for their downfall but my appearance on the episode of the TV show ‘Adam Ruins Everything,‘ certainly didn’t help with recruitment.”
He then went on to criticize the pointless rebranding and how the new logo resembles the COVID-19 virus.
It, and the associated links within, make some interesting reading … especially if you’re wondering why the US spends so much money on education but nothing seems to change. More on this later … hint, I just signed another book contract.
Another TFA Rebranding
Another TFA Rebranding
Another TFA Rebranding
I’m a Teach for America alum. I’ve written about why I chose to enlist with AmeriCorps / Teach for America, and I don’t regret doing so. I understood what I was getting into and went in with my eyes open. But, as an alum, I know how disruptive the organization is in education, and not in a good way. I understand the problems they cause in communities when districts rely upon them to supply a steady stream of teachers who will, at most, be teachers for only two years.
With this in mind, I read the latest from TFA alum Gary Rubenstein.
“… about 12 years ago I started my feud with them when I wrote a blog post called ‘Why I Did TFA And Why You Shouldn’t’ which got national attention and even landed me on NPR. Then I wrote a series of rants criticizing all their different decisions, like supporting the movie ‘Won’t Back Down’ and supporting anti-teacher legislation, touting different charter schools, and, finally, propping up terrible district leaders who were TFA alumni. As an organization with $300 million in the bank, there’s only so much damage one alum can do so I can’t take full credit for their downfall but my appearance on the episode of the TV show ‘Adam Ruins Everything,‘ certainly didn’t help with recruitment.”
He then went on to criticize the pointless rebranding and how the new logo resembles the COVID-19 virus.
It, and the associated links within, make some interesting reading … especially if you’re wondering why the US spends so much money on education but nothing seems to change. More on this later … hint, I just signed another book contract.