Article

National program aims to alleviate teacher shortage

For more information on “Teach for America,” visit their website at www.teachforamerica.org
Paul Kilminster - Staff Writer

When one mentions the crisis in New York City, images of the World Trade Center rubble immediately come to mind. However, one crisis that is bearing down on both New York City and the nation is a crisis in education and a shortage of qualified teachers.

An organization called “Teach for America” exists for the sole purpose of alleviating this epidemic. The group is a national corps made up of recent college graduates, men and women who dedicate two years of their lives to teaching in the public schools of low-income communities.

Wendy Kopp, a graduate of Princeton University, came up with the idea of “Teach for America” and developed a plan for it in her undergraduate senior thesis. Kopp then secured a seed grant from Mobil Corporation, which helped to get the program off the ground. Twelve years later, “Teach For America” has placed 7,000 corps members of all academic majors in 16 urban and rural areas.

Students who are accepted into the program receive a full two years’ salary, a $9,450 education award and loan forbearance.

Many BU students were excited and interested by the opportunities to help others that “Teach for America” provided.

“I am very interested,” said Winston Thompson, a junior majoring in accounting. “There is such a dire need for teachers, and teaching is arguably the most important job in society. It’s unfortunate that it seems like there has to be a ‘deal’ just to attract people to teaching, but if I was able to, I would jump on this deal.”

Joseph Angeles, a junior majoring in general education, agreed.

“Teachers had a big influence on my becoming, and I want to give back what they have given me - knowledge,” he said.