"As TFA tried to grow and gain private and federal money, they had to develop a public relations machine. They found ways to spotlight their few successes. There were some dynamo teachers — there were bound to be. And then some of those teachers advanced to leadership roles. Some started schools, like the KIPP program which started in Houston in 1995. Some got appointed to big education jobs, like Michelle Rhee as D.C. chancellor, and some got elected to public office, like Michael Johnston as a state senator in Colorado. More and more alumni started charter schools rather than take the long route of becoming an assistant principal at a ‘district’ school and then advancing to principal. Some of these charter schools were successful, some weren’t. Some of the successful ones, it is documented, mysteriously lose their toughest to educate kids. TFA ignored this as they needed success stories to grow."

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Why I did TFA, and why you shouldn’t | Gary Rubinstein’s TFA Blog

This, this, this! As a corps member and alum, this is my biggest complaint about TFA. This particular strain of successes are the ones that grow and get blown up because they are the money-earners. I mean, from a business standpoint, it’s understandable, but I hope it’s a sign of a young organization. That is, as they get more established, they expand in other ways. This is also the part that puts me in a difficult position—I am grateful for TFA, and I respect it for the attempt, but the school closures and relentless pursuit for numbers/data is a very thin, starved approach.

Source: garyrubinstein.teachforus.org
  1. iamlittlei reblogged this from gritinthegap
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  3. criticalconsciousness said: excellent point. I agree whole heartedly. TFA has done some good things, but there’s certainly a level of self-selection. (As well as often shying away from looking at the successes of non-TFA stuff)
  4. gritinthegap posted this