Alums Discuss Teach For America Experiences

A panel of eight alums discussed their experience teaching in the nation’s low-income schools at a Teach for America recruitment event before an audience of mostly graduate students at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) last night.

The panelists, who all either attend or graduated from the KSG or the Graduate School of Education, each joined the non-profit program to teach for two years in inner-city and rural schools after graduating from college.

Following their experiences with the program, each of the panelists pursued a graduate degree in the field of education. According to Christina An, Teach for America Northeastern recruiting director, 60 percent of Teach for America veterans choose to remain in the field after completing their two-year teaching commitment.

An cited that statistic in response to an audience member’s question about the validity of a short-term teaching program.

“The power of Teach for America is that it is producing a group of people who are uniquely aware of the problems in education,” said Vanessa Lacoss-Krug, a panelist who graduated from the KSG.

All panel members said that the Teach for America experience was a life-changing one.

“The experience really flies in the face of every stereotype you’ve heard about low-income kids,” said panelist Jaine Guzman, who taught in Peterson, New Jersey.

The panel reached consensus on most educational points, most notably that America’s education system is seriously flawed and every sector of society should be concerned.

“We need to get everyone in a community on the same page to try to improve their community,” Guzman said.

In response to a question about the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush’s education reform initiative, panelists voiced varying degrees of opposition.

“The No Child Left Behind Act is a very good first step, but it needs to go much further,” said Emily Kauffer ’99, who now studies education policy at the KSG.

Another panelist, Dan Black, described himself as “anti-No Child Left Behind” because of its emphasis on testing and its damaging effects on the craft of teaching and student self-esteem. Opponents of the act have argued that it demands higher standards without providing the funding needed to improve genuine learning.

“I think that as the stakes get higher and higher, the effects get lower and lower,” Guzman said.

Teach for America, a two-year post-undergraduate teaching program in low-income schools, hosted the panel as part of its on-campus recruiting efforts this month. An information session for Harvard undergraduates will be held on Thursday, February 12 at 8 p.m. in the Adams House Conservatory.

The final deadline for 2004 Teach for America applications is February 15.