Posted by
Defend America on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 4:58:37 PM
Union opposition to Teach for America volunteers blocks progress in Detroit
Union opposition to Teach for America volunteers may keep a valuable education resource out of Detroit
The Detroit News
No other big city needs great teachers more than Detroit, home to
the nation's worst-performing urban schools. Yet the city's teachers
union is trying to undermine efforts to bring some of the country's
brightest young educators to the Motor City.
Leaders from both
the Detroit Public Schools and city charter schools are working to lure
Teach for America -- the nonprofit that supplies highly motivated young
college graduates to poor urban classrooms. But the effort is
threatened by opposition from the Detroit Federation of Teachers.
The
union has succeeded in blocking Teach for America before. About 50 of
the nonprofit's members taught in the Detroit Public Schools from
2001-03, when the union successfully demanded they be thrown out,
saying they took union jobs.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100228/OPINION01/2280310/1008/Union-opposition-to-Teach-for-America-volunteers-blocks-progress-in-Detroit