Teach for America Veterans Join Criticism of Group’s Policies

Teach for America alumni and current members are among the participants in what The American Prospect magazine terms the first coordinated effort to change the national teacher-training charity’s role in the debate over education overhaul.

Both internal and external critics of the group, including teachers, parents, and public-school advocates, are coordinating a summit called “Organizing Resistance Against Teach for America and its Role in Privatization,” to be held Sunday at a national education conference in Chicago.

Critics say the 24-year-old organization’s approach of recruiting college graduates to spend two years teaching in low-income districts destabilizes schools and undercuts professional teachers and that through a spinoff 501(c)(4) advocacy group, Leadership for Educational Equity, it has become a force in efforts to close low-performing public schools and promote charters.