Seattle’s Education Reform Hypocrisy
The doublespeak of ed reformers who repeatedly declare that the key to a successful education is to put an “excellent” teacher in every classroom, and then turn around and promote young, Teach for America recruits — with only five weeks’ training, no in-class experience, and only a two-year commitment to the profession — as the answer, has come into sharp focus at the University of Washington in Seattle these past two weeks.
On May 11, the University of Washington’s College of Education announced it would sponsor Teach for America at its teaching college, providing the missing component to the deal that TFA, Inc. struck with the Seattle School District last fall.
Last November, Seattle’s school board approved a (troubling and one-sided) contract to allow TFA, a short-term alternative teacher credentialing program, into Seattle’s hiring pool for the first time. TFA, Inc. also demands a