TO THE EDITOR:
In 2001, I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and exchanged picturesque Chapel Hill for the cotton fields, rural roads and historically rich communities of the Mississippi Delta as a Teach For America corps member. It’s an experience that led me to my current career in education and one that stands in stark contrast to the editorial board’s recent piece on the organization.
As a corps member, I joined a diverse community of fellow corps members, veteran teachers and community leaders in working towards providing every student an excellent education. We worked in tandem to give our children the skills they would need to graduate high school, attend college and succeed in the workforce. This was a “we” effort, not an “I” effort.
Today, students across multiple communities in our country need students at UNC to choose to become a part of the “we” that is necessary to ensure that all students, but particularly those that live in poverty and economic isolation have the same amazing opportunities that you experienced as a child.
A 2014 UNC study identified that Teach For America corps members had a significantly positive impact on students in elementary, middle school and high school. The study also found most corps members were likely to be rated as proficient or above on the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards evaluation.
As a former principal in Mississippi and North Carolina, I can attest to the significant quality and impact that corps members I worked with had on their students’ education. Two of the corps members I hired have gone on to serve in teacher leader capacities in other schools in North Carolina. They, like over two-thirds of alumni nationwide, are working directly in education, studying education full-time or working in a job that impacts education and/or low-income communities.
This is critical because, while educational inequity manifests in the classroom, it doesn’t start there. As the editorial points out, we need leaders working at every level of the system to create a more equitable one.
Paul Barnhardt
Managing Director of Program, New Leaders
