Teach for America

My daughter has been teaching through it for a little over a month now. Depending on the day she either loves or hates her job. She also cries a lot. Mostly the crying is frustration, not with the job but trying to figure out how to reach the students.

Anyway, I don't think she has been teaching long enough to really have a good feel for it. She is working on her masters in early childhood education and is happy with that and they are paying for that as well. I think what she will be successful in her long term goals thanks to the program, it is just right now is hard.

Eventually she wants to shift to early childhood in at risk schools. She saw how all the programs identified and helped her little brother (who is Autism spectrum) so she wants to make sure these kids don't fall through the cracks.

I don't know, I guess I feel like I am rambling but I know Christine does not regret her decision to go into the program, just it is a bit harder than she thought it would be.
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It is a two year commitment by the way.

I teach at a college, and several of my former students have participated in this program. They have loved it--had great experiences, learned a lot, and found their way into meaningful careers as a result. So if you know of someone who is considering it, you can share that information with them. Good luck!

One of our good friends was a Vice President until very recently. She's now CEO at the Chicago Public Education Fund. I know she worked incredibly hard to build that program into a very successful one.
We know many folks that have had really great experiences with it.

Ditto the other answers.
The program is extremely competitive to get into because of the many perks given to those who complete the teaching.
One of my nieces went through the program and worked in a small Spanish speaking public school in Texas. She also cried a lot about the conditions for all.
She is now working on a PhD program at George Washington Univ, free due to her service in the Teach For America.

It can be a good experience. It's a way to have just under 10,000 dollars worth of student loans paid off, while still collecting a paycheck. It's a way to help under served populations. If teaching is your ultimate goal, even better. I know a lot of people who go to grad school while participating in the program.

The down side: You don't get to pick and choose which school you will work at. It may mean relocating to another state. You sign a 3 yr contract. ( Which can go by fast unless you are miserable)
You are working in the not so great areas/schools. However, depending on where it really may not be that bad. Charter schools in DC tend to have a lot of Teach for America teachers.

I think the program can be helpful, my biggest issues are as follows.
Schools with high numbers of participants have unusually high turn-over rates, which imo, is NOT good for the school overall.

A lot of the teachers that came to the school I worked at could not relate to the students and really lacked the compassion the children needed. Like I said you are going into impoverished, under served areas. Their life experiences are normally different. Ex. One of the TFA teachers kept setting up stuff that required money. Most of the students were not bringing in the money or participating. She got upset. I had to explain to her more than once that these kids do not have money to do all these extras. Her thing was it was only 10-15 dollars, But that is 10-15 more than their parents could spare.

You must be prepared to work with difficult students. Its not a guarantee that you would, but you should be prepared for it just in case. I'm talking about behavioral problems, mostly due to their environment.

Overall, it's a worthwhile experience and program.

Some school districts have claimed budget shortfalls to layoff more senior teachers (who have higher salaries) and then bring in brand new teachers (who cost much less) under the Teach for America plan.

This program will give you experience to teach, but while it may be great for the young people involved in it, it's not necessarily great for the school. TFA teachers have very little, if any experience, and are thrown into schools whose culture they do not necessarily understand or empathize with. There is, as one person already noted, higher turnover with TFA, and this is in schools whose students desperately need stability and predictability. Does it have positives-yes-interested, dynamic, enthusiastic teachers. Does it have negatives-yes-less experienced, easily overwhelmed, and very young teachers who are not going to stick around long.