Teach for America in More Charter Schools
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Updated: August 20, 2012 | 9:56 a.m.
August 20, 2012 | 9:42 a.m.
AP PHOTO/J PAT CARTER
Jennifer Mojica, a Teach for America educator, works with her math students at Holmes Elementary School, in a distressed neighborhood north of downtown Miami.
The mission of Teach for America is to offer “excellent education for kids in low-income communities,” but a third of its young educators are now being directed to private charter schools, many with already high academic achievements, according to a Reuters story.
The rate at which the 10,000-strong corps of teachers assigns young teachers to charter schools is rising. Last year, according to the article, the teaching program placed 33 percent of its teachers in charter schools, up from 13 percent in the 2007-2008 school year.
Although typically serving low-income communities, many charter schools already have strong academic results and typically have more resources and donors than public schools. Critics fear rising pressure to privatize public education.
One key difference between charter and public schools, according to the Center for Public Education, is the former's freedom and autonomy from state and federal rules when it comes to staffing,