NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein addresses TFA Alumni at the Summit
On Saturday, the Midtown Marriot in NYC hosted the Teach For America Alumni Summit which brought together close to 1,000 alumni from the Teach For America program. It was a gathering of teachers, school leaders, politicians and others who are dedicated to fighting the great problem of educational inequality for our country’s poor. Some of my heroes spoke including TFA founder Wendy Kopp, KIPP founder David Levine, School Superintendent Cami Anderson as well as Chancellor Joel Klein who is slowly but surely bringing accountability and structure to the NYC school system addressed the assembled to share and celebrate progress, share lessons learned and inspire continued effort.
Members of My TFA "Family" Romina, Anne and Nell
It’s always good to re-connect with old friends and feel inspired about the incredible efforts of so many to close the gap in student learning that exists in our country. My favorite moment was Cami Anderson’s talking about how “good ideas are a dime a dozen,” but what really creates change is people’s getting in there and doing the hard work. While DC Schools Chancelor and TFA Alum Michelle Rhee was not in attendance, her name wasn’t far from everyone’s lips, as she is fighting to change teacher tenure rules in DC so that failing teachers cannot simply remain in their jobs because they have been there for a long time.
Worth checking out this article in the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/education/13tenure.html?ref=education
