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Wendy Kopp is far too modest about her accomplishments and those
of Teach For America. Her book takes its title from the statement on the
wall of the TFA office in New York, “One day, all children in this
nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.”
Hers is an ambitious vision. It is based on the conviction that our
nation’s equal opportunity goals should apply also to education, and
that having a good education leads to better opportunities throughout
life. Her idea of a national teacher corps similar to the Peace Corps,
conceived as a senior thesis at Princeton, has engaged the enthusiasm
and idealism of thousands of young people who have had amazing results
in the schools where they have taught.
I first heard Wendy speak at a meeting of the Education
Commission of the States when I was serving on the Arkansas State Board
of Education. As a parent of children her age, I knew that not all those
in their so-called Me Generation were selfish, and Wendy certainly
impressed her listeners with her idealism, her intelligence, and
her ability to communicate her vision. Later, in Arkansas, she made
clear her commitment and willingness to work very hard. When she writes
repeatedly that she is not a people person, I think again she is too
modest. Her book is an inspiring testimony to the incredible dedication
she and other young founders of TFA shared. Much of the book details
their struggle for support and funding during the first 10 years.
Because the Clintons were fiercely committed to public education,
I had the opportunity to help bring the first TFA corps members to
Arkansas. The corps members I met were outstanding examples of young
people who also believed passionately in education. Coming from top
colleges all over the country, they wanted to share their love of
learning with children to change the future for those children. For me,
one of the most compelling arguments of TFA was that its alumni, whether
they stayed in education or not (and an impressive 60 percent have done
so), would be advocates for good public education who understood the
difficulties our nation faces. TFA also committed to increasing
minority representation in the teaching pool, and they have done
considerably better than the national average.
At a time when public education was being criticized for many
different, and sometimes conflicting, reasons, many veteran educators
were defensive, and response to Wendy’s vision was not always
positive. Some of the vicious, personal attacks on this “upstart who
thinks she’s qualified to certify teachers” came
from prominent educators who reacted out of emotion and without
much information or investigation. There were others, though, who
appreciated the fact that these “kids,” who, in a good job market,
could make much more money doing much easier jobs, thought that teaching
children was the most important thing they could do. The fact that they
valued education so much has been an inspiration to their students to
achieve their best performances and goals.
One of the outstanding characteristics of TFA and its corps
members has always been the thoughtfulness with which they approach
teaching and their willingness to learn from others and from their own
experience, both good and bad. This book is further evidence of that
thoughtfulness. It ends with an analysis of what it will take to make
equal educational opportunity available to all our children and a plan
for working toward that goal in the next decade. It should make us all
proud of the vision, intelligence, and dedication of these young people. Elaine
H. Scott
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