Teach for America is an organization that David Gergen was supporting in front of all of Claremont McKenna the other night. Several members of the audience uncritically clapped after he described a rather rosy picture of Teach for America. This is the other side of the story.
I thought I would provide the other side and try to explain why Teach for America is flawed and prolongs failure, but fortunately, City Journal has already done that for me. The piece is written by someone who actually worked for Teach for America so it has that nice personal edge that Gergen seems to like. The title says it all, "How I Joined Teach for America -- And Got Sued for $20 Million." Read it and weep.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
It's Long Past Time To Be Critical of Teach for America
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7 comments:
I've read the piece before, as I usually do with most anything in City Journal (its articles are great!). And though this piece smacks bad of TFA, it shows how bad the administration in our schools is. We have a program at my law school that been going on for 10 years or so, where students go into high schools to teach debate and constitutional law. Oftentimes at the beginning of the academic year, the head law prof who runs the program says that more often than not, the law students will have no room assignment, or students, nor will the administration of the high school know who they are even though we've been doing the same program at their school for years. Public schools. Not so hot.
So there was one teacher who had issues. Fortunately, Teach For America has proven to be a successful program. This article does not redeem you from your defeat in the Athenaeum. Even fellow conservatives were critical of your approach. Teach for America is a great program that has enhanced public schooling in a number of cities, including my own. I know this for a fact because I grew up in inner-city public schools and have a brother who experienced Teach for America teachers. Please do not criticize things you do not understand.
Thanks for the comment Muhammad.
Teach for America puts our best and brightest and most idealistic into schools to help cover for the union stranglehold and lack of choice that characterizes our government schools.
I'm glad you had a good experience with them, Muhammad.
If we're going to play the whole "family members in inner-city public schools" thing, maybe you should have done your homework on me. After all, my mother is a union-card carrying, teacher in Quincy, MA and the love of my life is a tutor in the New Orleans inner-city.
But then again, I just don't understand it because you know everything about me.
Of course your personal arguments style is the same as Gergen's. Make it personal so that we don't ask any questions. It doesn't further the discussion and tries to one up people rather than addressing their substance.
Shucks. I don't usually use the phrase "public" schools. I meant "government" schools because the government coerces the poor to attend their failing schools so that they can get votes from union carrying teachers. Sorry, Mr. Friedman.
Yes, Teach for America has it's problems. And yes, many of these problems are out of control and lack obvious solutions. It's important to examine how TFA fails, but as Muhammad (very rightly) points out, it's equally valid to understand how the program has been successful.
I disagree with Muhammad that you shouldn't criticize things. But I agree more with what Muhammad implies and that is that you shouldn't generalize one circumstance and then criticize based on that generalization. As Muhammad's story points out, that with respect to TFA, for every bad situation, there is a good one (and many more good ones).
Muhammad is ENTITLED to bring his personal experiences. He didn't just "play the family members in inner city schools thing"-- you critique an article that cites a personal experience, and Muhammad cited someone who had a personal experience. Charles, it appears that you played the personal experience card first.
Secondly, you attempt refute Muhammad's credibility by throwing out how your loved ones are teachers and tutors, etc. Sorry Charles, but this statement undermines your own credibility. Muhammad was justified in countering the author's personal experience with his brother's.
How do your tutor girlfriend and teacher mother make you a teach for America expert? Or do your "connections" speak for themselves like your resume does?
Muhammad's personal style DOES provoke questions. TFA is supposed to be about reaching individuals. Here are individuals with stories. Gregen's and Muhammad's stories provoke the most profound question at all-- to what extent does TFA fulfill its mission to educate? Is a bad experience like Gergen's a price to pay for a good (or many good) experiences like Muhammad's brother? How do we evaluate punishment.
Charles, try to say something a little more intelligent instead of playing the "you don't know me card." "You don't know me" works well on Jerry Springer, but it doesn't work when you want to be taken seriously.
And in my last post, by "Gergen" I mean the author of the City Journal piece. My fingers sometimes follow mental tangents. But to clarify, what /who I call the author has nothing to do with my argument (since I have now clarified that I mean author of city journal piece)
Oh and PS. What does this article say about your vision of a colorblind America? Yes, colorblindness is something that we should aspire to and strive for (by all means, I believe in absolute racial/ethnic equality)-- but obviously, race is still an issue in the United States.
Charles, you frequently refer to yourself as colorblind (or some variant of the term) in your blog. Don't you find that a little naiive in light of what you have posted as a TFA critique (which demonstrates a racially charged reality).
Do you really thing that we can overcome America's race problem by undermining it (as you do in photos of laundry machines) and ignoring the need to convince people that they are truly equal?
But of course, if Charles Johnson says that we are equal-- problem solved.
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