Teach for America vs. DonorsChoose

A couple of years ago I decided that I wanted to choose one particular cause to focus on in terms of my charity donations and efforts. I figured that by focusing I could greatly increase my impact. So I've been focusing on education. I've been going to presentations, talking to teachers, reading about some of the issues,...

I just attended an incredible panel discussion at HBS which included the founder of Teach for America, the superintendent of the DC school district (the one that's trying to install incentive pay and get rid of teacher tenure!), and two founders of charter school systems (one of which takes an incredible community-wide holistic approach).

Well, anyway, what prompted this post, first, is my extremely strong desire to rant against Teach for America. The founder of Teach for America was part of this panel, and even she couldn't convince me to believe in the organization. Teach for America recruits graduating college seniors to teach in under-achieving schools for two years. The organization recruits the teachers, matches them with schools, and trains them over the summer.

Now if TFA gets smart, young, motivated teachers into the classroom, that's good, right? Well, the founder reported to us that it costs them $20,000 per teacher. Keep in mind that the school district is still paying the teachers salary and benefits as usual. The $20,000 is for recruiting and training essentially. I just checked the Teach for America financial statements, and she clearly was not including overhead type expenses in the $20,000 number. Including that, it's over $30,000 per teacher. Now granted, some of these teachers are probably quite good, but are we really willing to put $30,000 into some college kid who wants to teach for only two years and then go do something else?

In the past two years, with my focus on education, I have talked in depth to half a dozen young dedicated motivated teachers all of whom were devoted to teaching. They either had or were getting masters in education. They were all working in low income areas and who were struggling for resources. I've spoken with a teacher who literally had to share one dictionary with the other three second grade classes in her school. There was one dictionary for the entire second grade. And she was in a school where many of the students didn't speak English as a first language. Imagine what she and those three other teachers could do with a fraction of that $30,000 - with even $300 to buy some dictionaries. The saddest thing about the young teachers I've spoken with is that I can already see some of them becoming so frustrated, exhausted and disillusioned that they are losing their drive.

My second motivation for writing this post was to praise my current favorite non-profit: DonorsChoose.org. It has what I thought was high overhead before I looked at Teach for America - about 25% - but they provide a valuable service for that 25%. DonorsChoose allows teachers to place specific requests for supplies they need or projects they want to do with their students. Donors can then go on the website and choose specific projects to fund. You think that students need more math and science - fund those projects. You think students need more physical activity - fund those projects. You care about early education - fund resources for K-3rd grade classes. DonorsChoose buys the actual supplies and delivers them to the teacher, and then follows up by requiring the teacher to submit a report of how the project went, along with pictures of the students using the supplies, and "thank yous" to the donor. It's incredible getting those pictures and thank-yous. The students are not only enjoying their materials, but seem so amazed that someone cared enough about them to donate. The overhead expenses are basically for DonorsChoose to screen the requests, fulfill them by buying the supplies, and follow up. The rest of your money goes straight to the project you chose.

I think Charter schools are doing some amazing work and increasing our knowledge of what can work. I'm optimistic about the changes that are happening in DC and what those could mean for the long-run of teachers contracts across America. But I think the political reality in America is that change will come slowly and unevenly. I'm not going to get involved politically - that's not my strength. So while I wait for others to take care of that part - I'm going to do my part to help teachers who are devoted to their lifelong teaching, and desperate for resources. I will help a few classrooms at a time, but at least I will know that I am making a very concrete difference - providing dictionaries, an overhead projector, math games, or books.

I'm also involved right now with an organization called Maitri which has a very different mission - providing support and help to victims of domestic violence among South Asians in the bay area. What I've realized with Maitri is the value of spreading the word about an organization that we care about. Maitri is trying to raise money for a shelter, and has a tight December deadline to raise 1M$ to get 1M$ of matching money from the city of Santa Clara. I can only donate so much, but by spreading the word I can do a lot more.

The combination of that lesson from Maitri, and everything that I'm learning about education has inspired me to post about both Teach for America and DonorsChoose.org. Consider looking at these organizations more closely, and if you also, like me, value what DonorsChoose is doing, consider helping to spread the word.