Teach For America numbers decline nationally and at UNC

Teach for America’s number of applicants has decreased nationally in the past two years, and the University is starting to notice.

UNC was ranked third among large colleges and universities contributing the greatest number of graduating seniors to Teach for America in 2012. But there has been a decline during the past three years at the University.

Jacquelyn Gist, assistant director of University Career Services and the liaison for Teach for America on campus, said the decline can be attributed to numerous other opportunities that are now available.

“The job market right now for our graduating seniors and the internship market for our first-years, sophomores and juniors is stronger than it has ever been,” she said.

Students have more choices and are looking for opportunities that will benefit their long-term careers, Gist said.

Florence Matthews, the director of recruitment managing Teach for America’s partnership with UNC, said the program is highly selective and emphasizes leadership experience.

“We are looking for people who are passionate about working with kids in low-income communities who believe that education inequity is a solvable problem and want to be a part of that solution,” Matthews said.

Matthews said she is working to increase the number of applicants for the program at UNC by hosting events such as networking nights and working with Students for Education Reform’s Education Week in November.

Hannah Fussell, a UNC graduate, is currently a member of Teach for America. Fussell said she decided to apply to the program after working with Student U, an academic enrichment program in Durham where she was exposed to vast inequalities in the educational system.

“Students would tell me things like, ‘I can’t do this,’ ‘I don’t have internet at home,’ or, ‘I can’t go to the library because my mom doesn’t have a car,’” Fussell said.

She said she was devastated by these conversations and decided to apply to Teach for America.

Fussell was accepted into the program and began working with the Miami-Dade corps in 2014. While she is grateful for the experience, she said there are parts of Teach for America that have been stressful.

The organization places graduates in schools that don’t necessarily have enough teachers, and the declining rate of participants in Teach for America only makes that more difficult, she said.

“The difference between Teach for America not having recruits and having recruits is seen at my school,” Fussell said. “The year before me, there were six Teach for America recruits. My year there were four, and this year there are zero.”

Fussell said her school was left with six vacant teaching positions — meaning some students were left having new substitute teachers every day, an effect that puts their education even further behind.

She said parents aren’t able to advocate for their kids because they had the same experience.

“The students in these low-income communities don’t know what it’s like to have a really strong teacher,” Fussell said.

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