Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Does TFA Displace Veterans -- Do They Stay?

This from This Week in Education:

The most recent episode of Treme, David Simon's New Orleans-based follow-up to The Wire, includes a biting rap about TFA candidates displacing veteran teachers that will ring true or false depending on your perspective:

Four years at Radcliffe, that's all you know
A desire to do good and a four point oh
You're here to save us from our plight
You got the answer 'cause you're rich and white
On a two-year sojourn here to stay
Teach for America all the way
Got no idea what you're facin'
No clue just who you're displacin'
Old lady taught fathers, old lady taught sons
Old lady bought books for the little ones
Old lady put in 30 years
Sweat and toil, time and tears
Was that really your sad intention?
Help the state of Louisiana deny her pension

At this point in the scene, another character breaks in and reminds the speaker that it was the government, not TFA, who let the veteran teachers go.  The response?  "A scab is a scab is a scab."

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