Akron
Beacon Journal...
Cavalry of
expectations
What the governor didn’t say about Teach for America
Friday, Apr 29, 2011
John Kasich signed legislation on Wednesday that would open Ohio
classrooms to Teach For America teachers in the 2012-13 school year.
There is no reason Ohio should not avail itself of the opportunity to
place young and enthusiastic graduates in needy schools. The governor’s
support for the program is by no means misplaced, but it is best not to
get carried away and oversell it.
‘’The cavalry is coming,’’ Kasich announced in signing the bill.
‘’They’re going to ride on white horses with white hats into our
schools and be able to inject a tremendous amount of enthusiasm,
talent, capability and real-world understanding.’’
Whoa! Besides implying that current teachers are out of touch with the
real world, the governor places a burden of expectations on
inexperienced recruits.
Teach For America recruits outstanding graduates who did not train to
be teachers. They commit to teach for two years. They spend a summer in
intensive training before they are assigned and receive continuous
professional support on the job. They are energetic and motivated by a
desire to give back to society, to make a difference by way of teaching.
The energy, idealism and talent of a cavalry are appealing. But what
Kasich doesn’t acknowledge are the drawbacks: the lack of critical
real-world experience (managing a classroom, for instance) and the
costs of depending on a short-term, high-turnover teaching corps.
Typically, Teach For America members are placed in some of the most
challenging circumstances — low-performing, underserved districts and
schools. The skills required to ‘’lift the profession of education,’’
as Kasich puts it, take longer to develop than a commitment of two
years.
Read it at the Akron Beacon Journal
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