Will John White prove to be the downfall of TFA, or just Louisiana?
Posted on July 1, 2013
0
Some of you may have seen some articles and letters to the editor lately relating to TFA (Teach For America Contracts) To help bring clarity to this issue I have submitted some FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests to the Louisiana Department of Education. I believe the questions many people are asking is if TFA has an undue influence on contract issuing, bidding and approval. Before anyone gets the idea in their head that I am anti-TFA people, let me reassure you that I am not. Many of the folks that enter the TFA program are some of the finest people you will ever meet in your life, and I’d say the majority honestly care about doing good, saving students and saving the world through their contributions to society. Those are very admirable goals, and ones I feel I’ve come to share. My wife is a former TFA corps member, and I truly believe knowing her has made me a better, and more caring and empathetic person. Her passion for making the world a better place and her kind heart were some of the qualities that drew me to her. So when I say things about TFA, I do not mean any disrespect for the individual corps members, although I certainly understand where they might be offended. I am referring to the organization in its current form, and how it has come to do “business” how it has matured over the years, rather than how I believe it was originally conceived.
Many of you have seen me say rather unkind things about LDOE, where I used to work with many great and fine people. I have pointed out before, that when I speak or refer negatively about LDOE, I am not referring to most of my colleagues or the previous incarnation of LDOE I worked in, but
