Vanessa Descalzi is manager of national communications for Teach For America.
I recently had the privilege of attending Education Nation, NBC’s annual summit about improving education in America (several TFA alums were also in attendance). Former Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the high school dropout crisis, while Condoleezza Rice shed light on what an uneducated workforce could mean for our country’s global competitiveness. San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro explored the broader challenges of poverty and education, and former first daughters Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush Hager both shared their experiences with forward-thinking schools.
Looking back at this experience of a lifetime, I’m astonished by how many game-changing arguments I heard. But one proposition that still troubles me is one presented (l believe unintentionally) by Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney: that a parent’s presence in school is the single determining factor in a child’s educational success.
Photo credit: United States Navy ID 070222-N-4014G-098
Melissa Serio (St. Louis Corps '08) is a manager of teacher leadership development and real-time coach with Teach For America in Los Angeles.
Spoiler alert: Won’t Back Down ends with hope. Literally, the last word of the movie is “hope.” And you know what? I left the theater feeling just that.
As a former public school teacher who now coaches and supports teachers in both traditional and charter public schools, I know all too well the challenges our kids and teachers face every day. But the bottom line is: We have to have hope to work in public education, and it can’t hurt to be reminded of that.
Sure, there are some things the movie might exaggerate, glorify, and even demonize for effect, but a fair share of scenes reflect what I’ve seen and experienced firsthand. I’ve seen teachers scream at students and then sit back and do nothing. I’ve experienced the power parents have when they team up with teachers to provide better opportunities for their kids. And these are only a few small glimpses of the problems within education.
Photo by Walden Media via WBDToolKit
Masharika Prejean Maddison (Bay Area Corps ’08) is the executive director of Parents for Public Schools—San Francisco.
It’s not glamorous, but it’s a critical piece of the education equation.
I’m talking about parent-school partnerships.
Decades of research has proved the connection between student academic outcomes and parental support. The new movie Won’t Back Down provides an entry point into the dialogue on the role of parents in schools, but it could do a better job of highlighting critical ways that this group can be a supporting force for positive change. Rather, the movie perpetuates an often-repeated non-truth: that parents, unions, and school and district administrators are in a constant state of disagreement and misalignment. It’s not productive, nor is it an accurate depiction of how our nation’s public school systems operate.
Photo by Walden Media via WBDToolKit
Vanessa Descalzi is Manager of National Communications for Teach For America.
Trending surprise of 2012: school lunch. From salad bars funded by Whole Foods to palm scanners that pay for meals, cafeteria coverage is popping up all over the media. Thanks to some innovative Pittsburgh students dissatisfied with their smaller portions, it even has its own hashtag: #brownbaggingit. While lunch is enjoying it’s time as the “it-meal” of the moment, another meal is going largely unnoticed. This is my nod to breakfast – the most important meal of the day, at risk for millions of our country’s kids.
Photo credit: Jean-Christian Bourcart
Jarell Lee is a proud member of the 2010 New York corps.
At the NBC Education Nation Teacher Town Hall on Sunday, some teachers argued against evaluations and standardized tests, saying that teaching students in poverty makes it harder to reach evaluation and testing goals. My stomach churned, my insides burned, and my mouth whispered, “No.”
Yes, there is a correlation between poverty and student achievement. But it’s just that, a correlation, not causation. It’s disrespectful to poor students to believe that they cannot meet our academic expectations. It’s unjust to not hold teachers in poor communities to these same high standards. What would lower expectations mean for these students? What would lower expectations mean for their future, our nation’s future?
Photo by Brian Collins via WikiCommons
Brittany Packnett (D.C. Region ’07) is the Director of Government Affairs in Washington D.C.
I am not a black man.
My brother is. My father was. So are Derrick, Nikko, all three James’ and 32 of my other 3rd Grade Superstar Scholars at King Elementary in Southeast D.C.
And in a country which still regards most of them as failures or threats, I still wonder, three years after leaving the classroom, whether I did enough for those brilliant young men entrusted to me (and whether, as a black woman, I ever could).
Photo credit: Kandace6 via WikiCommons
Oscar Perez works for the California recruitment team at Teach For America and recruits at his alma mater, the University of California, Los Angeles.
This past week, I had the distinct privilege of joining other Teach For America staff members at our first-ever Latino Summit and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Conference. The conference was a phenomenal opportunity to reflect on issues of education, healthcare, immigrant rights, and countless other topics that affect our Latino communities every day. I walked away with plenty to think about, but moreso a deep urgency in me to advocate further for our Latino students, who often get diverted from their educational path.
Having taught in the Washington, D.C., area for Teach For America, I was fascinated to hear community leaders, congressional representatives, and Teach For America staff talk about the state of Latino America just miles from where I had been teaching 10th grade English not long ago. When listening to policy experts talk about burgeoning Latino communities and statistics, it was impossible not to connect these facts and figures to the faces of my own Latino students, who mostly represented the growing El Salvadorean population in D.C.
Amid all the conversations about identity and public policy as it pertains to Latino communities, two major points stood out to me:
1. A massive demographic shift is occurring in this country, and many school systems are simply not equipped to serve this changing population.
It is expected that by 2036, 1 in every 3 school-aged kids will be of Latino descent. When considering the unique challenges facing Latino students, I doubt school systems with growing Latino populations are ready to address issues of bilingual education, the citizenship status of their students, and culturally relevant curricula. Unfortunately, I think the mind-set of policy makers is that this is a problem in the future, when in reality this is happening NOW. School districts and policy makers alike should begin making the necessary mind-set and resource shifts now, because all of our students should have access to a great education—they shouldn’t have to wait until 2036.
Photo by Jean-Christian Bourcart
Genevieve Guyol (Chicago '11) is in her second year of teaching in Chicago.
Most mornings over the last 9 days, I stood at the corner of 47th and Ashland dressed in red and holding a strike sign with my fellow teachers. As cars and trucks drove through the intersection, we waved our signs and encouraged them to sound their horns. We chanted “Res-pect!” and implored people driving by to show their appreciation for our work. One family of eight children stood dressed in their new red t-shirts (purchased just for the occasion) and held signs that said, “I support my teachers.”
From the media and countless family members and friends, I have heard comments that teachers are asking too much. They mention that the city of Chicago is broke and that we receive health benefits far superior to the benefits of private sector employees. They cite the union leadership’s request for a thirty percent raise in a budget crunch as evidence that the teachers are greedy and have unreasonable demands.
Photo credit: Firedoglakedotcom via WikiCommons
Aimée Eubanks Davis is executive vice president of people, community, and diversity at Teach For America. You can find her on Twitter at @EubanksDavis.
Much of the nation has been watching Chicago for daily updates on the teachers’ strike in our schools. But long before the strike, it had become a part of my routine as a Chicagoan to brace myself for a different kind of daily update—the latest death toll from gang fights. I find myself getting anxious, wondering if any children I know are on the list of the deceased. I say a quick prayer that my own children will be safe.
Photo credit: By Victorgrigas (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons
It's day five of the teachers’ strike in Chicago, which has become THE national education story of the week. Here are some of the perspectives generating a lot of buzz:
First off, Marilyn Rhames blogs about being both a teacher and a mother in Chicago, and why she's chosen to be a “student advocate.”
Several New York Times columnists have addressed the situation, too. Nick Kristof calls education "the most important civil rights battleground today." David Brooks says Chicago has the potential to “move toward the forefront of the reform movement.” And Joe Nocera laments the any outcome from the “hot, buttery mess” in Chicago is “unlikely to change much.”
Photo credit: Jean-Christian Bourcart
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