Try as they might to bend reality, Teach for America (TFA) is not a teacher training outfit. They are a well-funded political operative recruitment outfit hiding behind 501(c)3 status. 

Mercedes Schneider delves into TFA’s Capitol Hill aspirations in her  blog post, Teach for America Seeks Help Promoting Itself on Capitol Hill.

Schneider’s article is a good read and gives a nice example, or rather a warning tale, of TFA in action in Louisiana.

I hope North Carolina legislators read her article and grasp the lesson to be learned and then re-examine if they like their job as legislator, because there is a TFA recruit out there who would likely love to take it from them.

The NC legislature has given TFA increasing amounts in the millions in the budget each year. The legislature isn’t the only one giving money to TFA in North Carolina though.

NC Dept. of Public instruction used Race to the Top grant money to fund an expansion of TFA in the state despite the high turn over rate of TFA teachers. Oddly enough, no one in NC media picked up on the TFA turnover rates when bemoaning the teacher resignation rates a few years ago.

While TFA itself is a politically minded outfit, so is the TFA offshoot, ‘Leadership for Educational Equity’ (LEE). The thing about LEE is they don’t have to hide behind false pretenses of being about ‘education’, they’re a 501(c)4.

Fun stuff ahead here, folks — Guess who just departed to become a Vice President at LEE?
Governor McCrory’s education aide, Eric Guckian.

In a press release on July 14th, Guckian’s departure was announced. Here’s the key bit on heading to LEE:

Guckian will become Vice President of Alliances for Leadership for Educational Equity, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Teach For America (TFA) corps members and alumni to grow as leaders and help build the movement for educational equity. Guckian is a TFA alum having served as Executive Director for Teach For America, North Carolina. Guckian began his teaching career in New York City as a Teach For America elementary school science teacher.

Rest assured, an article focusing on LEE is coming.

Reminders about TFA before you go:
Do not forget about TFA’s professional agitators orchestrating and coordinating Black Lives Matter protests and riots.

Do not forget that one of them, Brittney Packnett of Missouri, was appointed to President Obama’s Taskforce on 21st Century Policing.