In America today, educational disparities limit the life prospects of 14 million children growing up in poverty. Half of students in low-income communities won’t graduate from high school. Those who do graduate will read and do math, on average, at the level of eighth graders in high-income communities. In all, only one out of 10 students growing up in poverty will graduate from college.
We are writing to endorse one program that has harnessed the energy and ambition of service-minded individuals to end this injustice —Teach for America. TFA is a national corps of top recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity.
TFA corps members are fully salaried and have full benefits within the school district in which they teach. Salaries range from $27,000 to $47,500. TFA is also a member of AmeriCorps, the national service network. All corps members who have not previously received two AmeriCorps awards receive an education award of $4,725 at the end of each year of teaching, totaling $9,450 over two years, which they use to pay for graduate school costs, educational training, or repayment of qualified student loans. Some state and federal agencies offer loan cancellation programs for corps members who complete their two-year teaching commitment.
TFA has over 200 graduate school partnerships, and many of those schools – including top-ranked programs – award scholarships to TFA alumni. TFA also has relationships with hundreds of employers.
Past and current UA students have been placed in diverse and exciting areas ranging from as close as New Orleans, Memphis, Tenn., and the Mississippi Delta, to as far away as Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. There is a special need for graduates with experience in the sciences. One UA biological sciences alumnae, Robyn Thomas, was the recipient of added $2,000 Amgen fellowship for science education – and was placed to teach in Hawaii.
TFA pre-selects bright, highly-motivated individuals, but the challenges faced and overcome during two years of teaching – of being a leader, of motivating a classroom, of working with administrators, of bringing parents on board – those are the things that will define you and give you the skills and confidence long after your time as a teacher.
In a highly challenging job market and selection process for professional schools, graduating students are wise to consider means by which they can outshine their competition. TFA provides an opportunity to do just that – and more. We strongly encourage you to consider TFA as a springboard to your future. In the process, you may discover the delightful feeling of what it means to help others achieve their own aspirations and dreams.
Guy Caldwell and Kim Caldwell are associate professors of biological sciences and Patricia Sobecky is the chairwoman of the department of biological sciences.
