Teach for America saw a 10 percent decrease in its applicant pool this year, a statistic that may be pointing to problems in the organization's mission.
Each year, TFA selects college graduates to teach at schools for underserved youth. The selection process is competitive, with only about 15 percent of applicants accepted last year.
Though the education field has become less lucrative over the past years — and is what Matt Kramer, TFA's co-chief executive, believes is the main reason applications have decreased — it may be the company's motto of throwing college graduates into teaching immediately after graduation what is actually hurting them.
TFA has come under criticism for "sending enthusiastic but untested graduates to classrooms in some of the nation's poorest communities with just five weeks of training," which has rendered teachers ineffective. Furthermore, the program's two-year commitment does not allow teachers to fully develop their skills, further hurting the quality of education they are able to offer.
Hannah Nguyen, who has protested against TFA, says that the turnover rates of teachers "destabilizes the learning environment." It perpetuates inequity, she added.
Read the full article at The New York Times.
