Page 8
THE BACK PAGE
The Clarion \ Nov. 4, 2011
TEACHFORAMERICA
Is TFA for you? Are you right for TFA?
By Egu Ramanathan
Via uWire
Entrance into the “real world” is daunting
for anyone, especially for those without job
prospects. With employment particularly
difficult to come by. Teach For America
presents a promising alternative for new
graduates.
In 1990, Princeton University alumna Wendy
Kopp founded Teach For America. With
ambitious goals in mind, Kopp established a
two-year program for recent college graduates
to teach at urban, low-income public schools
scattered across the nation. Because the
program does not require participants to have
degrees in education or the subject they teach,
TFA is an option for a wide range of educated
young people.
But, depending on your commitment to
teaching, TFA might not be the job for you.
A college degree and an impressive GPAdo
not a capable teacher make, and being inspired
THE Clarion
Editor in Chief
IVIanaging Editor .
Business IVIanager
Copy Editor. .
Campus News
Opinion. . . .
Arts & Life . .
Sports
bports . . .
Photography
Layout & Design
Faculty Advisor.
Senior Staff
. . . Park Baker
. . Patrick Veilleux
. . Patrick Veilleux
. . Position Open
. . . Cassie Smatana
. . . Position Open
. . . Carolina Andersen
. . . Position Open
. . . Position Open
. . . Thea Dunn
. . . John B. Padgett
Other Staff
Carolina Anderson Alex McCracken
Karam Boeshaar Josh Smith
Sarah Bowers Olivia Fawcett
Melissa Sullebarger Skip Allsopp
The Clarion is a student-run college newspaper
produced by student journalists enrolled at
Brevard College. Unsigned editorials represent
the collective opinion of the staff of The Clarion.
Other opinions expressed in this newspaper
are those of respective authors and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of the faculty,
staff or administration of Brevard College.
All correspondence should be mailed to:
The Clarion, Brevard College, One Brevard
College Drive, Brevard, NC TilXl, or send
E-mail to clarion@brevard.edu
www.brevard.edu/clarion
by Flilary Swank’s character in “Freedom
Writers” is not enough to ignite a genuine
desire to educate. At the risk of sounding like a
broken record from the Obama campaign, you
must have the drive for change if you plan on
entering this program.
Unfortunately, not all TFA teachers seem to
have this drive. The program has a 50-percent
tumover rate after two years, and an 80-percent
turnover rate after three years, according to a
study by U. Texas education professor Julian
Vasquez Fleilig and California State U’s Su
Jin Jez.
These findings imply TFA workers’
commitment to teaching is fleeting at best,
and self-serving at worst. While TFA hopes
its teachers will make a lasting impact on their
school system, an alarming percentage of the
program’s members complete the required two
years and essentially abandon ship for either
grad school in unrelated fields, or to pursue a
different career path altogether
To be sure, TFA can open doors for those who
care deeply about bridging the achievement
gap that has plagued the U. S. public education
system for decades. The statistics are
undeniable. America, one of the world’s most
powerful nations, lags behind a majority of the
developed world in its public school students’
math and reading aptitude. Texas public school
students rank 49th in verbal and math SAT
scores and have the 36th-lowest high school
graduation rate.
It is distressing that participating in a
program with such noble goals is so difficult.
TFA now accepts fewer than 20 percent of
applicants, and a recent article in The New
York Times compares TFA acceptance rates
to those of Ivy League colleges. Perhaps
for those genuinely interested in improving
American public education, however, the
stiffened competition for acceptance into TFA
is a blessing in disguise.
With so much talk about TFAs selectivity,
U. Texas has still has an impressive showing.
Eighty students from the UT classof2010 will
begin teaching in the fall, and the program
ranks UT No. 1 among large colleges for
our student contribution to the program.
Such a strong representation in the program
is beneficial for Longhorns with a genuine
interest in working toward TFAs goal.
Kopp once said, “In order to have a real
impact, you have to influence the consciousness
of the country. You will have to influence the
priorities of a generation.” As TFA’s target
audience, we must ask ourselves where our
priorities lie. Do we want a moving 24-month
experience before pursuing a completely
unrelated career, or do we want to work beyond
the two-year commitment toward improving a
flawed system? If our generation and its ever-
increasing cynicism fails to follow up on our
idealism, who will?
H Letters Policy: The Clarion welcomes letters to the editor. We
reserve the right to edit letters for length or content. We do not publish
anonymous letters or those whose authorship cannot be verified.
E-mail: clarion@brevard.edu.
French Broad
Mon-Fri 7:30am-3pin, Sat-Sun 8:30am-2pm
Breakfast St Lunch all Day!
29 W French Broad St
Suite 106 ^ f
Right across^. '
the street! -
Free
WIF!