TEACH FOR AMERICA. Teaching or Social Engineering?

February 11, 2010 by jenni

I have compiled three different pieces of information on this page so that you can make your own decision about a program that Oklahoma City Public Schools are mulling over. OKCPS would like to commit multimillions of dollars to the Teach For America program, as Tulsa already has.

Unfortunately, once you really delve into the Teach for America program, you find out - as they happen to nearly mention verbatim on their 'about' page - that this is really a program for little more than social engineering Oklahoma students. I have copied the page below the article in the Daily Oklahoman regarding the program already in existence in the Tulsa Public Schools. The very first thing mentioned is the "social injustice" of public education.

I hope to have time in another column to reveal my thoughts about the "social injustice" of public education. As a middle-schooler during the fabulous "BUSSING" years of the OKCPS, I was shipped from northwest Oklahoma City to a very dilapidated school on the northeast side of town for 5th grade - to what was referred to as a '5th Year Center'.

Though certainly not aware of the politics behind such a decision, as a 5th grader I could certainly wonder at the wisdom of such a decision that would put me on a bus and track me halfway across town when I had a perfectly good middle school sitting right in my own neighborhood.

Sadly, public education has such a poor track record of actually educating children with mulitmillion dollar programs I nearly laugh out loud each time a new one is proposed. The only winners will be the very "...20-somethings (teachers) brimming with energy, passion and determination not just for teaching but for teaching the students few want to teach." These teachers come from New York and are plopped down into Tulsa because New York and Tulsa are so alike in racial/economic communities...Huh?

Let's not mention the fact here, that many older teachers that cost the system more to keep, but that have VAST amounts more experience than the "20-somethings" will necessarily be let go to accommodate space and budget for this program.

Let's also not mention the fact that these "20-somethings" are just 'brimming' with knowledge gained at liberal Universities by Progressive professors (see "Words of Wisdom from An Oklahoma College Student" in the blog section) who do everything in their power to indoctrinate students in anti-Americanism and the joys of globalism.

What the heck, while we're at it, let's also not mention the fact that all the spending on the multimillion dollar programs - all the desperation to try new things to educate our children - boils down to the fact that public schools will do everything possible to avoid disciplining children. Good Heavens. We might damage their eternal souls for Pete sakes. Please. Spanking and 'waterboarding' became synonymous right around the time I hit high school in the late '70's - apparently, schools broke all their paddles on my behind and refused to replace them as offering to those miscreants arriving after me.

I will absolutely agree, believe it or not, spanking is not for every kid. However, there are at least one full dozen alternatives I can think of in my head right now (you MUST be creative with four kids!) that would at least provide more discipline than what is offered in today's public schools.

I can quite reasonably guarantee that regular administration of an unpleasant form of discipline to kids acting up in school (rich or poor) will cause many of the issues inherent in our public schools to vanish - FOR FREE!

One of the comments made in the article below refers to the fact that it's hard to get teachers to teach in low income schools. Why? Are poor kids inherently mean and disrespectful. Absolutely NOT. Being poor applies to an economic state, not a psychological one.

I simply refuse to accept that there is a 'psychosis' surrounding being poor. This kind of thinking produces pejorative psychobabble labels to be slapped on kids according to their surroundings and NOT their abilities or possibilities. This labeling conveniently allows administrators to balk when it comes time to discipline a child for misbehavior, however.

I have witnessed and heard of many instances when an administrator, asked by a teacher to actually discipline a truly unruly child, will simply pay lip service to the request rather than actually confronting the problem head on. Fear of lawsuit? Possibly. Fear of confrontation with similarly unruly parents. Probably. No matter the reason, no child will behave unless there is something to cause them to behave and few teachers are willing to step into a classroom full of undisciplined kids. Shock. Consequently, the teachers that teach these kids are doing the very best they can every day just to keep order in the classroom, which leaves little time to impart wisdom and knowledge.

So here we are back at money - back to reaching for that perfect (expensive) magic bullet that will educate our kids.

What are our State educators thinking? Are they? Does a 20-something kid from New York really have what it takes to discipline and teach a room of, apparently, already unruly kids? Doubtful, but it sure does give away local control of that classroom/school/system and it sure does put money in the pockets of organizations outside our state.

We will never get control of public education until we make it local at every level. And please, do not extol the virtues of saving money via consolidating school districts. Let's save money by NOT consolidating districts and NOT implementing million dollar projects. Let's keep our money at home in Oklahoma with the hard-working teachers in our local classrooms and give them the ability to discipline the children in those classrooms so that they can properly be taught and learn.

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Dedication is the norm among program’s rookies
Teach for America creating culture change in schools
By Megan Rolland
Published: January 25, 2010

Gilcrease Middle School in Tulsa is hardly a teacher’s dream job. The kids are poor. Their home lives are tough. Learning about such things as electrical charges would be the last thing on many of the students’ minds when they walk into science class.

Those sorts of challenges are exactly why 22-year-old Mark Freudenheim came to teach sixth-grade science at Gilcrease after completing his French and sociology studies at Emory University in Atlanta. "These really are just children. I’ve spent a lot of time teaching that there’s in here and there’s out there,” he said, pointing to the classroom door. "What you do in here applies to out there, but out there stays out there.”

Freudenheim is one of 80 teachers brought to Tulsa’s toughest schools through a partnership with New York-based Teach for America. The program takes graduates from some of the nation’s best colleges, gives them a crash course in teaching at inner-city schools and puts them to work in a classroom for at least two years.

Talk of bringing Teach for America to Oklahoma City isn’t new. Recent conversation among city school board members was of priorities and budget concerns because the program requires a multimillion-dollar commitment (much of which can come from private funding) in addition to some ongoing costs. Those officials would do well to step away from the high-level discussion for a short time and take a field trip to Tulsa. To see the teachers in action is to understand why Tulsa praises the program’s potential for creating a culture change in schools that badly need it.

Phyllis Lovett has already had a full career in education but came back to Gilcrease as principal this school year in hope of shepherding a turnaround. Just a year ago, the school was so bad off that district administration called a three-day timeout to get educators and students refocused on learning.

Now nearly a third of the staff are rookie teachers brought to town by Teach for America. They’re 20-somethings brimming with energy, passion and determination not just for teaching but for teaching the students few want to teach.

Lovett says they’ve developed extraordinary trusting relationships with students while using data to improve their teaching. The teachers have the same classroom management issues as many first-year educators, but they’re also problem solvers.

Freudenheim laid down two strips of orange tape in his classroom to teach his students to stand in a single-file line. The tape’s far enough away that students can’t reach the wall to write on it — a problem at the beginning of the year.

While critics complain that many of the program’s teachers finish their two-year commitment and leave the job, Lovett’s not complaining. Gilcrease had plenty of teachers who have left midyear. "They have enthusiasm our kids need to see,” she said of the TFA crop. "Regardless of what happens, they keep coming back every day.”

Read more: http://newsok.com/dedication-is-the-norm-among-programs-rookies/article/...

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Program provides lifeline for inner-city schools
Our Views
Teach for America
The Oklahoman Editorial
Published: January 26, 2010

THE highly touted Teach for America is successful in large part because it takes some of the nation’s best and brightest young minds and molds them in a very short time into dedicated, passionate teachers. That recipe is no secret.
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So the question top school officials in Tulsa and Oklahoma City are asking is how to learn from Teach for America to better prepare teachers who are coming into the profession via a more traditional route, and to better support them once they’re in the classroom.

Already, Oklahoma City and Tulsa are working on partnerships with local universities to develop urban education tracks within the colleges of education. Teach for America provides its corps members with intensive training to work with inner-city kids — training that teachers with education degrees don’t normally get.

Millard House and Kevin Burr oversee elementary and secondary schools in the Tulsa district. And while TFA has been in Tulsa for only six months, they’re sold on the program and what it can teach schools and districts about improving urban education.

The program provides great support to its teachers and promotes a culture where the teachers are constantly trying to improve and are talking about the "art of their profession,” House said. In addition to the 80 TFA teachers in Tulsa, a new crop will arrive in time for next school year. The district already has 28 commitments for the fall, and several have Oklahoma roots.

Tulsa Superintendent Keith Ballard insists TFA is no passing fancy in Tulsa. The goal is to find and groom more teachers who want to be in urban education and not leave students in struggling schools with the leftovers.

The other question worth asking is how Oklahoma can do a better job of attracting smart people of all ages to teaching.

It’s good for kids that Oklahoma City is looking to replicate part of what works about TFA. But that’s just not enough. Officials are rightly concerned about the $3 million to $5 million it would cost to bring the program here. Maybe TFA can’t be the district’s top priority now amid other budget concerns. But it should be atop the priority list very soon, and the school board should come together on this issue.

Tulsa’s school leaders want TFA to branch out to Oklahoma City but warn it will take not only money but a full-fledged commitment. "It’s not a program,” Burr said. "It’s a mind-set change” that emphasizes excellence. Oklahoma City Superintendent Karl Springer often talks sincerely about doing right for the city’s kids. Bringing Teach for America to city schools would fit the bill.

The goal is to find and groom more teachers who want to be in urban education and not leave students in struggling schools with the leftovers.

Read more: http://newsok.com/program-provides-lifeline-for-inner-city-schools/artic...

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From the Teach For America Website - "about" page
A national injustice

In America, education is supposed to be the great equalizer and the primary vehicle for upward mobility. But, the reality today is that all too often, where children are born determines their educational prospects.

Across the country, the 14 million children living in poverty have academic and, therefore, life prospects that are dramatically different than those of their peers in wealthier communities.

Only one in 10 students from low-income communities graduates from college.

This gap starts early:

* Children living in low-income communities are already two to three grades behind their higher-income peers by the time they reach fourth grade.

And widens as students progress to high school:

* About 50 percent of students in low-income communities will not graduate from high school by the time they're 18 years old.
* Those who do graduate perform, on average, at the level of eighth graders in higher-income communities.

Beyond the moral and human implications of the achievement gap, the reality that American students achieve at such low levels weakens our democracy and results in massive economic costs for our nation.

* In the United States, the achievement gap between low-income students and their higher-income peers costs the country approximately $500 billion each year.
* The United States currently ranks near the bottom of industrialized nations in international benchmarks — particularly in math and science. This international achievement gap costs the country between $1 and $2 trillion dollars each year.

These achievement gaps create the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession.

Hear more about this injustice and how we are solving it.
http://www.teachforamerica.org/mission/national_injustice.htm