Why some UMN ed students don’t want Teach for America
About 180 students, alumni and teachers have signed a petition explaining why they don't want the University of Minnesota to engage in a proposed partnership with Teach For America:
"We believe that this partnership offers unearned legitimacy to a significantly flawed and powerful force in education, one which sends underprepared teachers into communities of students already often marginalized by the education system. Is CEHD prepared to endorse the notion that a five-week training prepares new teachers to better educate youth in general, but especially marginalized youth? Equally, is CEHD prepared to say that teachers should only make a two-year commitment to the classroom? As graduate students who dedicate so much of our time and energy to bettering the teaching and learning situations with and for all students, teachers, and communities, we view TFA as antithetical and harmful to our work."
U spokesman Steve Henneberry reportedly emphasized that the discussions with TFA were only preliminary, and that the college is consulting with faculty and administration.
Read the full story in Inside Higher Ed.
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