The Walton Family Foundation announced today it will donate $49.5 million over three years to Teach For America in an effort to double the amount of member teachers nationwide.
Colorado’s Teach for America branch is expected to receive $3.1 million over the three year period, allowing the organization to double its 2007 roster.
“In the long run, it provides a pipeline for education leaders,” said the foundation’s director of K-12 reform, Jim Blew. “In the short run, it provides excellent teachers in hard to staff classrooms.”
Teach for America recruits teachers nationwide. Members do not have to have an educational background, but go through a summer training program before they go into classrooms making a minimum two-year commitment.
Some unions have criticized the organization saying it creates instability in classrooms with teachers that don’t stay long, and don’t gain as much experience.
“There’s a long history of teachers leaving the profession after a couple of years, it’s not limited to TFA,” Blew said. “We look at it as a positive that there’s a two year commitment and in fact about half stay on afterward.”
Sean VanBerschot, executive director of the TFA branch in Colorado, said the donation will also help the branch start targeting more local recruitment.
“We feel it’s a great place to recruit diverse individuals who can teach in Colorado and represent the students they’re teaching,” VanBerschot said. “The idea is a lot of these will be students our teachers have been working with in the classroom.”
The investment makes the Walton Family Foundation the largest private donor of Teach For America.
Previous donations from the foundation total about $2.4 million in Denver.
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372 or yrobles@denverpost.com
