Guest Post Series. Part One: How Interning for TFA Convinced me of its Injustice
Recently, several people have contacted me with interesting stories they wanted to share with the people who read this blog. In the coming weeks there will be more guest posts like this one from Bryn Mawr College senior Emma Gulley.
How Interning for Teach For America Convinced me of its Injustice
Over the past several months I’ve seen more and more articles critiquing Teach for America. Former corps members brought light to the injustice of their experiences. Professors explained why TFA was problematic for students. Policy experts outlined its detriment to school districts. Links to their articles popped up again and again on my Facebook newsfeed, on my Twitter timeline, and on email listservs I was a part of.
There was a kind of underground excitement I felt that I was witnessing when I saw these articles gain popularity–at last, I felt, the problems, heartache, frustration, and anxiety I had felt with TFA were coming into the light. It is now that I want to add my voice to the arena, and to be one more person standing up against Teach for America, as I try to explain how my direct involvement with Teach for America as an intern exposed to all of the dirty, secret recruiting practices and agendas of the Philadelphia offices, that convinced me of its injustice.
I sat in on my first Teach for America information session as a wide-eyed 17-year-old college freshman. It was a hot summer day in New York City and the professional shoes I had talked