Everyone wants to be in Teach for America

[via This Week in Education]

Teach for America is experiencing an unprecedented surge in applications. About 24,700 seniors applied this year, up from 18,000 last year. Only 3,700 of them will be placed in classrooms.

What I wonder, is if this signifies any kind of increase in the number of college seniors who want to be teachers as opposed to the number of seniors who simply want to be in Teach for America.

I guess I’m not really wondering. TFA is prestigious. Teaching still is not.

A former TFA teacher, guest blogging on Eduwonk says,

Teach for America recruiting efforts are “surging” because TFA treats prospective corps members like professionals rather than missionaries. I’m not sure how attracting engaging, intelligent, and driven people to the career who might not otherwise consider it became a bad thing. Mastering the art of teaching is a career-long challenge. The first year corps member’s bigger immediate hurdle is reconciling TFA’s personal touch with the pervasive unprofessional treatment accorded most stakeholders in their school systems --- their faculty colleagues, their students’ parents, and, most of all, their kids.

Perhaps this disconnect is why the author left teaching to become a doctor.

Meanwhile, the author of the excellent teacher blog Teaching in the 408, a TFA alum, recently announced he is resigning. Check out his blog, and his tongue-in-cheek description of the imaginary new TFA recruit who will likely be replacing him.

Jake’s a smart guy, worked hard all four years on an interdisciplinary American Studies/ Sociology/ Econ degree he designed more or less himself. He can tell you a lot about the changing face of the American worker, and how film has reflected, driven, and (re)created our (mis)understandings of the American proletariat...Last summer, Jake did some volunteering at an outward bound program his girlfriend was all jazzed about...Let’s hope the smart-and-excited-trumps-experienced gamble pays off.

Another great teacher (well, actually principal) blog, Practical Theory, continues to explore why why fabulous, bright, committed teachers are still leaving in such great numbers.

[This was updated after original posting to add the Eduwonk post]

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