The Hiring of Unqualified Teachers

Recently a reader told me about an ingenious organization founded by a lady named Wendy Kopp. It is called "Kopp's Teach for America." This organization was designed when Wendy Kopp noticed the shortage of teachers in areas with schools deemed "difficult." Wendy Kopp decided to do something for the benefit of everyone; the socially disadvantaged children, the poor parents, and the stressed and overrun teachers and principals in the difficult schools.

Wendy Kopp recruited university graduates and had them sign into her organization for two years. They would be sent to the toughest schools in the nations with the heroic quest of teaching the difficult students with little financial aid and perhaps changing their outlooks on life.

This seemed to be an extremely risky business with a high failure potential. However, it is still running today, twelve years after the initial launching of the project.

Kopp has met with a lot of adversity over her project, but so has anyone who has tried anything like it. Kopp seems unbothered by the critics and their negative remarks. Some argue that the poor kids need teachers with years of experience, not university graduates who have no concept of discipline. Others say that Kopp should divert her energy (and money) into teacher training instead.

Kopp's recruits are not half-heartedly entering this project. They have a long and serious commitment to follow through on if they sign up. Not only do they have the two years of teaching, they have seven weeks of pre-service education courses and summer school which includes on-the-job training.

Still, the new and innocent teachers are often overwhelmed at some point during their jobs. They require help from other teachers who know the tricks of the trade. This makes some educators upset but others take it all in stride. Many of the recruits are high-achievers who have extremely high motivation and leadership skills. Test scores in some states, like Georgia, are said to be higher for the students of these teachers rather than those for non-recruit teachers.

Unfortunately, the program is not expanding as quickly as the number of interested professionals. Many have left information sessions disappointed because they were turned away when they knew that the schools were actively seeking out new teachers.

Close to 800 people signed up in Georgia alone for a similar program, "Teach for Georgia," but not all of them were accepted and fewer still ended up with jobs. However, numbers of recruits accepted is

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