150 New Teach For America Teachers Join Local Efforts to Expand Educational Opportunity

Teach For America-Los Angeles to Reach Nearly 21,000 Students in the Coming Year

For Immediate Release

“These dedicated new teachers will strengthen Los Angeles’s public school classrooms and support the district’s goal of making certain that every classroom is led by an effective teacher,” said John Deasy, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. “They are an integral part of the district’s mission of ensuring all youth are college-prepared and career-ready.”

Teach For America’s new national corps totals 5,100 teachers who are top graduates from colleges and universities across the country. These corps members represent a wide variety of personal and academic backgrounds and professional experiences. One-third identify as people of color, including 12 percent who are African American and 8 percent who are Hispanic. Twenty-two percent are the first in their family to graduate from college, and nearly one-third received Pell Grants. Twenty-three percent are graduate students or professionals. 

“The mission of this outstanding national organization is to eliminate educational inequity in this country by attracting dedicated, talented college graduates to teach and make a lasting impact in underserved communities across the country,” said Congressman Adam Schiff. “I am thrilled that this new class of Teach For America teachers will be joining our teaching force in Los Angeles this fall and helping to ensure that all our students receive the educational opportunities they deserve.”

This year, nearly 48,000 individuals applied to Teach For America, and 14 percent were accepted.  Applicants included over 20 percent of seniors at Scripps and Claremont-McKenna colleges, and 5 percent of seniors at University of California-Los Angeles.

 “We are thrilled to see such growth in our Los Angeles corps,” said Michelle Culver, vice president of regional operations at Teach For America. “These 150 new teachers are poised to have a real impact on Los Angeles’s highest-need schools and students.”

A growing body of rigorous research demonstrates the effectiveness of Teach For America corps members in the classroom. Recent studies from Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee found that corps members have a positive impact on student achievement. The Tennessee study identified Teach For America as the most effective of the state’s 42 teacher-preparation programs, with corps members demonstrating a greater impact on student achievement than the average new teacher in every evaluated subject area.

School leaders give Teach For America corps members high marks. Nationwide, 94 percent of principals who employ corps members report seeing a positive impact in the classroom. 

“I’m pleased that Teach For America is returning to classrooms across Los Angeles this year,” said Rosalio Medrano, Principal at College Ready High School #7 with the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools. “As a principal who has worked closely with Teach For America corps members, I appreciate the strengths and talents they bring to our common mission that all students achieve at high levels. The members of Teach for America truly model and set the example of being teachers who go beyond their call of duty.”  

Teach For America is building a strong pipeline of leaders in education. Two-thirds of Teach For America alumni are working full-time in the field, with more than 550 alumni serving as school principals or school system leaders. More than 1,300 Teach For America alumni are living and working in Los Angeles.

About Teach For America

Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Today, more than 9,000 corps members are teaching in 43 regions across the country while nearly 24,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org.