Imagine America's best instructors happily coming to work in Detroit's poorest, toughest classrooms -- and the city throws them out. It has happened once before, and it could happen again if Michigan doesn't get smart.
This week Teach for America -- a nonprofit that prepares and places highly talented educators in struggling schools -- met with Gov. Jennifer Granholm and other state leaders about coming back to Michigan.
Teach for America members served in the Detroit Public Schools from 2001 to 2003.
As the district's student population fell, union leaders argued the Teach for America members were taking jobs and demanded their ouster. The school district capitulated, and about 50 Teach for America instructors left.
The ouster was not only wrong for the Teach for America members, it also robbed Detroit students of what was likely their best chance at a high-quality education comparable with suburban schools.
A growing body of research shows Teach for America instructors' impact on student academic achievement is two to three times that of teachers who have three years of experience.
For example, a Louisiana state report last year found many of such Teach for America-trained educators were more effective at teaching math, reading and language arts than other teachers with two or more years of experience.
Consider them the Marine Corps of teachers for America's poorest urban and rural schools.
This alone is enough for Granholm to insist Teach for America comes back to Michigan, but there are other reasons for its return.
Teach for America is a two-year voluntary program that recruits high-achieving young college graduates expressly for placement in schools that are difficult to staff -- precisely the schools where many union teachers become burned out. And Teach for America members pay union dues.
New Detroit Federation of Teachers union President Keith Johnson often says he wants the most talented teachers in Detroit classrooms. He needs to back up his verbal commitment with action. He can start by supporting Teach for America.
A trickier obstacle: Michigan doesn't allow people to become teachers through an alternative pathway such as Teach for America's rigorous training program, rather than a traditional teacher certification program. (The nonprofit wants such a pathway because many of its members still want to teach after they finish their two-year service.)
Granholm should push policymakers to quickly address this problem by pointing out that traditional teacher-preparation programs do not equate with teacher quality.
Michigan should be moving toward a teacher certification system that weighs teachers' impact on student achievement, rather than on the classes that they take.
Teach for America is enthusiastic about a return to Detroit. "Frankly, there is a clear need to see that community close its achievement gap," says Ify Offor, Teach for America's vice president of new site development.
The United Way of Southeastern Michigan is working to bring Teach for America volunteers to the region's worst schools -- including those in Oakland and Macomb counties -- by fall 2010.
To do that, Teach for America needs Lansing's support now. Michigan, bring on the Marine Corps of teachers.
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