MiniCase 3 Teach For America: Inspiring Future Leaders TEACH FOR AMERICA (TFA) is a nonprofit organization that recruits college graduates and professionals to teach for two years in economically disadvantaged communities in the United States. The idea behind Teach For America was developed in 1989 by then-21- year-old Wendy Kopp as her senior thesis at Princeton. Kopp was convinced young people today are search- ing for meaning in their lives by making a positive contribution to society. In the first four months after creating TFA, Kopp received more than 2,500 appli- cants. Her "marketing" tool was flyers under dorm rooms at this time. Corporate America donated $2.5 million in seed grants during TFA's first year. In 2012, TFA's operating budget was $250 million. Teach For America describes itself as "the growing movement of leaders who work to ensure that kids growing up in poverty get an excellent education." The genius of Kopp's idea was to turn on its head the social perception of teaching to make what appeared to be a an unattractive, low-status job into a high-prestige professional opportunity. Kopp established a mission for the organization she had in mind: to eliminate educational inequality by by enlisting our nation's m most promising future leaders in the effort. Her underlying TEX sumption was that significant numbers of young peo- ple have a desire to take on meaningful responsibility in order to have a positive impact on the lives of others. To be chosen for TFA is a badge of honor. In 2012, CAMP BOR TFA received some 48,000 applications for only about 5.000 positions across the country (paying the same as all other first-year teachers, ranging from $30,000 to $51,500 a year). This translates to a mere 10 percent acceptance rate. Since each TFA cohort teaches for two years, in the 2012-2013 school year, more than 10,000 corps members taught 750,000 students. Persuading highly qualified teachers to take up jobs in some inner cities and rural areas has been an elusive goal for many decades. Making TFA highly selective changed the social perception of teaching in underprivileged areas. Suddenly, it was an honor (and 410 great rsum builder) to be chosen for TFA. More than 60 percent of TFA's more than 20,000 alumni are still working in the field of education today. TFA is not without critics, however. Some tradi- tional teachers have charged that hiring college students who are given only seven weeks of teacher training and who are committed to a community for only two years takes jobs away from traditionally trained teachers and thus is detrimental to a community. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Review Chapter 2: Strategic Leadership: Managing the Strategy Process. 1. How did an undergraduate student accomplish what the Department of Education, state and local school boards, and the national Parent-Teacher Association were unable to achieve despite trying for decades and spending billions of dollars in the process? 2. Respond to the charge that TFA teachers take jobs. away from teachers with degrees in education. Is Frank T. Rotha MiniCase from public sources. It is devel- oped for the purpose discussion. It is not intended to be used for any kind of endorsement, source of data, or depiction of efficient or incf ficient management. All opinions expressed, and all errors and omissions, are entirely the author's O Rothaermel, 2014. MINICASE 3 Teach For America: Inspiring Future Leaders 411 using TFA teachers a way for school corporations to lower costs by hiring younger teachers at entry- level salaries? 3. Applying the Level-5 leadership pyramid, in what ways is Wendy Kopp an effective leader? 4. What are your personal leadership take-aways from Wendy Kopp and the TFA MiniCase? Endnote 1. http://www.teachforamerica.org.