The one in which Teach for America reveals their true colors. . .

BY:  Dr. Mitchell Robinson

Originally posted on his blog http://www.mitchellrobinson.net/2015/02/02/the-one-in-which-teach-for-america-reveals-their-true-colors/

Perhaps the strongest voice defending public school teachers against the agenda of the corporate reformers is education historian, Diane Ravitch. Dr. Ravitch recently posted a story (http://dianeravitch.net/2015/02/02/tfa-supports-junk-science-to-grade-colleges-of-education-by-student-test-scores/) about Teach for America's public support of the Federal Department of Education's newly proposed regulations on teacher education programs. This is notable for a couple of reasons. One, TFA is--allegedly--a non-profit organization devoted to the preparation of alternatively certified teachers for America's urban schools. And two, TFA is clearly in competition with said teacher education programs, making their public stance on these regulations a fairly obvious conflict of interest.

Now, my own feelings about Teach for America are hardly a secret (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/17/a-professors-encounter-with-two-teach-for-america-recruiters/), but even I was a bit surprised that TFA would tip their hand on their real agenda: destroying traditional teacher education programs, teachers unions, and public schools as we know them.

I guess we should be grateful that TFA was so transparent about their true colors--it makes them much easier to identify as part and parcel of the corporate reform movement, and makes it much harder for them to continue pretending they are an educational organization at all.