I wrote a longish post Tuesday about the possibility that Teach for America (TFA) will set up a program in the Sunnyside School District. I still don’t have official confirmation for the story, but I haven’t heard any denials either. As I wrote in the earlier post, the information, though not official, is well enough sourced that I’m reasonably certain some kind of a deal is in the works between Arizona’s Ed Supe John Huppenthal and Sunnyside Supe Manuel Isquierdo.

Here’s where this gets a little more interesting. Sunnyside has a recall election coming up in May which, in a sense, is a referendum on Isquierdo and his policies, since the two board members whose seats are on the line vote with the superintendent, giving him a 3-2 majority. If either of them loses, the majority will shift. The question is, will Isquierdo try to push a vote on the Teach for America issue with the current board at, say, the April meeting where he’s likely to get a favorable vote, or will he wait to see how the recall turns out before deciding an issue which will have a significant impact on the district?

Here’s a much-too-short description of Teach for America: It’s a national program that gives college graduates a five week summer boot camp in education, then sends them out to teach in some of the most challenging schools in the country. They sign up for two years, often as a break between college and their “real job” and as a way to bolster their resumes. Many end up quitting before the two years are up, finding the job of teaching 30 to 40 hard-to-reach children is far more difficult than they imagined, especially with little educational background or training.

If you go back and read my earlier post which has more information on TFA, be sure to check out the Comments from readers, some of which are more interesting than what I wrote. The longest, most detailed comment is from someone who was part of TFA and is now a high school teacher in Marana. Also interesting, and surprising to me, is that no one has defended Teach For America in the Comments section.

This article appears in Apr 3-9, 2014.

10 replies on ““Teach For America” And Sunnyside, Continued”

  1. Thanks for the link to your prior column on this subject. You were right. The comments were both interesting and informative. I think the issue of Teach for America can be somewhat complex. It all depends upon how the district intends to use young people from Teach for America. If the goal is to replace experienced teachers with energetic but basically untrained and far less expensive recent college graduates the effort is completely wrong-headed. They can not effectively supplant experienced teachers and using them that way would be a mistake. But, if they are used to supplement fully certified teachers they could be a very positive addition to SUSD schools. There are many ways that smart and energetic college graduates can be used in schools that would benefit local students. Teaching classes of 30+ students with the usual mix of educational and social problems is not (except in the case of some very exceptional recent graduates) a good use of basically untrained and inexperienced teachers.

  2. At the high school level, we teach 150+ students, not 30. TFA students are particularly unprepared for the rigorous requirements of secondary teachers, both academically and socially. I have worked with many of them over the years, and while their enthusiasm is heartening, they often convey a condescending attitude toward the working-class Latino demographic they are there to serve.

  3. Marty, unless there is more to TFA than I know, the people in the program go straight from their 5 week boot camp into the classroom as solo teachers, paid at beginning teacher salary. I haven’t heard of the TFA people being used in a supplemental capacity.

  4. I fell upon this article and find it interesting. I spent 3 months working in the Detroit Public Schools last year, in one of the most dangerous U.S. Neighborhoods. Recruiting teachers is nearly impossible. Thank God for the TFA staff. Most important, they possess the heart and passion which is what the kids needed. Your responders are right regarding the teacher’s lack of experience in core instruction of Readin, Math, and, Writing. But wether you are a new graduate or TFA, true teaching develops in the early years.

    So what does the district do to support TFA? Nothing. Similar to what many administrations do with even the best teachers. If you are experienced and show positive results, they load you up, until teaching becomes impossible. If you are a novice, we fail to provide interventions that cost a bit of money (Read Naturally, Fast Forword) and continue to spend more on administrative costs and standardized testing like AIMS and PARCC?. Some of those costs come from the increased disciplinary issues that result when we fail to reach the child and they begin to feel like failures and act out.

    You see, schools can promote each child’s learning when we support the team. Does a Neurosurgeon go into surgery on a difficult case alone. Or does she bring a team that supports her, residents that can learn, and staff that insures the operating room is clean and sterile. Everyone works together for the patient. Not in school. And we wonder why children are failing. We are failing them.

    The Fish Stinks From the Head. Sunny side has a known criminal type leading the team. Tucson Unified School District brought in a Narcissist named Pedicone who was paid $1000 a day to stay on ( after failing the district miserably and violating everyone’s faith and hope for honest and transparency) to train Dr Sanchez in what does not work. The list goes on and on.

    Instead of paying a known failure to train a new superintendent, how about spending $30,000 to hire good teachers to mentor new teachers? Hmmm. What an idea. So, as far as TFA is concerned, it is just another bandaid on a system of administrative and legislative failures. Who else are we going to get to work in these schools with miserable pay and abusive and demoralizing environments?

  5. David: TFA is little more than a temp agency for novice teachers. When a district contracts with TFA the district can determine how the people they “lease” from TFA are used. Sadly, almost all districts use them to supplant experienced (and expensive) teachers or to fill vacancies the district can’t fill because they do not offer competitive compensation or the working conditions are just too tough. There is no given that TFA people have to be used the way they are typically used.

  6. Dr. Rose H.
    Dr. Pedicone was a pretty good TUSD head. His work at Flowing Wells was very good. His record there is well known. Ask any teacher or parent or even the students. I would take his record over yours!

  7. Dear Frasier. Nth at is not what the Federal Government said. Not sure how you know me. You may want to comment on TFA rather than post your comment. I know my truth and try and so do those who know me and work with me. Have a great day.

  8. TFA brings very bright and usually privileged young elite college grads into a teaching environment in which they are poorly prepared. They know next to nothing about classroom control or individualized pedagogy, and are unfamiliar with curriculum scope and sequence and educational policies which affect their performance with kids. Some few are brilliant and natural teachers. They don’t stay, they don’t get better fast enough, and as a result school districts which rely on them never move forward on the test score continuum. Ask Roosevelt School District in Phoenix which relies heavily on them how it has worked out. If you replace poorly prepared “real” teachers with TFAs you may get better spelling, etc on the letters home. Better teaching is a toss-up. No support is provided to TFAs by the organization that prepared them. It is up to the school district to provide the mentors, and if the school district was already doing that they wouldn’t need to bring in TFAs. Cost is the only reason to do it, and it has nothing to do with the kids actually learning. It can, in fact, make things worse in some cases.

  9. You took a shot at Dr. Pedicone. And no I don’t know you nor do I want to know you, Didn’t see your name at the head of ANY school district. My brother taught at Flowing QWells District for mover 30 years. I have seen the schools and met the teachers and know many students. They do a much better job than TUSD.
    And yes I will have a great day.

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