TFA is a 21-year-old, nonprofit operation that enlists mainly new college graduates without education degrees to teach for a couple of years in public schools in poor areas. The group rejects nine out of 10 applicants. It’s the largest employer of seniors from such fine Ohio colleges as Denison, Kenyon and Oberlin, and is known for attracting big contingents from Ivy League schools.
School districts pay the TFA salaries at their regular rate. The organization, which offers five weeks of training, supports the teachers in other ways.
The idea is embraced by all manner of foundations, individual donors and governments. President Barack Obama is a big backer; presidential support goes back to George H.W. Bush. First Lady Barbara Bush was particularly active.
But Teach for America is not in Ohio, because of the certification issue. Gov. Kasich wants to bring it in.
The down side of opening up the state is hard to see. Local districts would decide if they want to hire Teach for America applicants.
The coming school year is out of the question. Teach for America would first want to raise money and would need time to develop relationships with school districts.
How many Teach for America people would end up in Ohio? Perhaps not many at a time when school budgets are so tight. But with retirements and natural turnover, openings will occur.
The Teach for America people would, of course, be in competition with newly graduated teachers who have certification. But the main concern for decision makers has to be the students.
Studies have been done over the years about the effectiveness of Teach for America teachers. They stack up pretty well against certified teachers. The organization says 94 percent of principals say the group’s teachers have a positive impact.
The organization is pointing these days to a study in which the state of Tennessee recently compared “42 different teacher preparation programs (and) found that Teach For America corps members outperformed the average new teacher across all subject areas and grade levels. Teach For America was the top new teacher preparation program in the state.”
Critics cite other studies and worry about whether Teach for America members have the right training and motivation.
What’s clear is that the program keeps growing. Local districts can examine the record for themselves.
After all these years, former Teach for America members have become a substantial bloc of influential people who understand the problems of troubled public schools, their teachers and their parents. These veterans are an asset to the cause of excellence in education.
To their teaching stints they bring enthusiasm, intelligence and demonstrated commitment to the education process. For Ohio simply to turn them away flat makes no sense.
Cox News Service