Teach for America announced today that, as of this fall, the group will have more than 10,000 first- and second-year corps members working in schools—the largest corps yet and a 10 percent increase over last year’s total. The organization has also become the top employer for graduating seniors at 55 universities, according to the press release, including the University of California-Berkeley, Howard University, Yale University, and Arizona State University. (The word choice there is a bit peculiar, however, since TFA itself does not technically employ or pay the corps members—the districts they work for do.)
Other interesting factoids about the 5,800 incoming first-years, as stated in the press release, include the following:
38 percent identify as people of color (13 percent are African American and 10 percent are Hispanic), making this the most diverse corps yet;
35 percent received Pell Grants;
23 percent are the first in their family to get a college degree; and
23 percent are “graduate students or professionals from a wide range of backgrounds, including veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, financial analysts, nonprofit staffers, consultants, and participants in other AmeriCorps programs.”
When it comes down to it, 10,000 is still just a smidgen (.3 percent) of the nation’s 3 million teachers. But even with education budget cut in districts across the country, TFA is showing no signs of reducing its reach ...