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Education has long been a piece of the class and race disparity picture.  As our public school systems in the state of Alabama struggle for funding, the classroom environment is deteriorating for many communities.  This is especially true of poor communities and inner city schools.  Aside from having to come up with money for simple supplies such as textbooks, uniforms and meals for the students, these schools have an especially difficult time attracting new, gifted teachers, many of whom are instead lured into more wealthy school systems in the state or, too often, other states such as Georgia.

Thinking back on my own education (in Georgia), I know that even when I was my most cynical teenaged self, having a good teacher was what made the difference between becoming altogether discouraged and actually hanging in there.  I grew up in a community where schools are valued higher than any other community asset.  Because of that, many of the teachers in the system were exceptional, setting high standards in the classroom and dedicating themselves to getting the very best out of their students.

My younger sister had nearly the opposite experience.  She attended a different high school in a different (Alabama) town.  She never felt valued by her teachers, didn't fit in, wasn't pushed to excel in any way, had some behavioral issues that were in part because of the aforementioned factors.  She was slipping through the cracks until, in fact, my sister was actually encouraged to drop out of high school.  Are you getting this?  She was actually told by her school counselor in the presence of my completely horrified and astonished parents to DROP OUT.  So my helpless parents, feeling out of options and having no money to send her to private school, threw up their hands.  Drop out, she did.  Don't worry - she immediately secured a GED, scored exceptionally high on the ACT exam, and is now on full fellowship in graduate school.  An all A student.  Way to go, sis. 
As is shown time and again by study after study, all too often the communities with the poorest resources for education are impoverished, predominantly African American communities.
But this public education failure happened in a predominantly white, middle-class, college football town (that shall go unnamed) in Alabama that is actually fairly financially equipped by comparison to other more impoverished Alabama communities.  Plus, my sister came from a family where college education was simply an expectation with which you were raised, even though we both paid for ours largely with student loans.   This may not be the scenario that would play out in, say, Hoover or Mountain Brook High Schools, but there are many, many communities where the infrastructure for education is just barely hanging on.  As is shown time and again by study after study, all too often the communities with the poorest resources for education are impoverished, predominantly African American communities.  This statistic alone is one of the greatest contributors to the racial inequity we still see today.

When funding is lacking and education has taken a backseat to other municipal needs, how do we draw teachers into these communities who can reinvigorate the classrooms, set high standards for achievement, and therefore let fewer students fall through the cracks?   How do we create opportunities in communities that have begun to lose hope for their children's future? 

This is the concern of Teach For America, an organization whose very mission, as stated on their website, is "to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation's most promising future leaders in the effort."  This feat is accomplished by a recruitment strategy focused on young teachers who are newly in the field or are college seniors demonstrating outstanding achievements and commitment to education.  Now, Teach For America is coming to Alabama's Black Belt. 

Teach For America enters into relationship with a community based partially on need, but also, according to TFA's Kerci Marcello Stroud, that community has to show that they already have a vision in place for the future of their educational system.  Together with local and state legislators and Governor Riley, theses communities have created a plan for their children's future.  "These communities have been incredibly welcoming to Teach for America," said Kerci.  "They're really eager to welcome our teachers into the schools."

Teachers admitted into the program are individuals who show they are committed to education and serving the community.  Birmingham resident and TFA alumni J.W. Carpenter has been named as the founding executive director for the Alabama chapter of Teach For America.  Currently a lawyer in the city of Birmingham, J.W. taught with TFA from 2001-2003 in Marianna, Arkansas.  Though he has practiced law in Bham for 3 years, he said, "When this opportunity came around, it was too good to pass up.  I've seen what it has done for communities and for me." Based on his own experience, J.W. said that teaching through the corps has a "lasting, lifetime experience."  

"When you can connect these folks from diverse backgrounds, those connections can last a lifetime, not only benefiting the teachers, but the communities and the students." As an example, J.W. described a specific experience with a student from Arkansas.  " I had a student in my Algebra II class in my second year.  I also coached him in my Quiz Bowl team.  He graduated last year from Alabama A&M."  Over the years, they have continued to stay in touch.   J.W. drew great personal growth from "being a small part of that success and maintaining that relationship."  "We're recruiting people who believe that ALL children can achieve.  Our teachers walk into classrooms and set that expectation for the students," said Kerci. 

I asked Kerci and J.W. specifically how bringing this program into our state will impact our educational communities and contribute a more integrated culture in the future.   

"We're recruiting people who believe that ALL children can achieve.  Our teachers walk into classrooms and set that expectation for the students," said Kerci.  To that, J.W. added that bringing a diverse group of people from all over the country contributes to the success of the program, exposing teachers and students to different life experiences. 

Teach For America is not a blanket program with generic criteria.  Instead, the corps works with communities' unique needs to create a positive impact on their students and schools.  Kerci noted that the corps has a proven history of success with both students and teachers:   "A recent survey of principles said that 94% of teachers are producing positive results." TFA surely owes much of their success to their sensitivity to the communities in which they work.  The real result that comes from the presence of these teachers in our classrooms is that the children get exposed to teachers who become so much more than teachers.  By design, these teachers become long-term mentors and role models. 

Teach For America will launch its first Alabama programs in Selma and in Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Perry and Sumter counties in and along Alabama's Black Belt region.  They have recruited teachers from all over the country who will come to schools in the region to share their talents and build relationships with their classrooms.  It's not just that these teachers have shown exception in their respective fields that will bolster the success of their students.  It's that through the objective of Teach For American, these teachers are focused and intentional in their efforts to create and nurture opportunities for students who may have otherwise slipped through the cracks.

Educators who'd like to get involved with Teach For America can visit this page to find out how to apply.



 

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