Out-Class: Teach for America Podcast
- Ms Kopp wanted to improve the condition of American public schools. At Princeton University, her undergraduate thesis was regarding the concept “Teach for America.” Her purpose was not directed towards making money. She genuinely wanted to build a non-profit organisation that would profit others in society. She managed to build one of the most successful non-profit organisations because she understood the real needs of the underserved schools. TFA now operates with a budget of about $300 million, and it provides teaching opportunities to teachers across America. TFA is an idea that changed lives. Ms Kopp got the idea while she was talking to some people in a conference. She got to know that the community lacks a proper school, and students do not get adequate access to education. It was a turning point in her life. She realised that contrary to popular belief, America is not a place of equality. Alongside other students from Princeton University, she pulled students all over the country and encouraged teachers to teach underprivileged children as well. She wanted to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged students. The TFA program inspired thousands of college graduate students to teach some students who belong to the most remote areas of America. She used her research project and considered various models. It led her to build the organisational strategy for the non-profit. TFA now consists of 50,000 alumni and operates with a budget of nearly $300 million. It has been possible because Ms Kopp was passionate about making a change.
- Ms Kopp comes from a privileged background. She was brought up in Dallas and completed her education from there. She never knew that inequality also exists in America. Children from rural communities do not get access to quality education. Therefore, Ms Kopp was serious about making a long-lasting change. She made consistent efforts in order to overcome regional as well as international challenges that she faced while building the non-profit. She was supposed to get a minimum of 500 people to operate the non-profit. This number is the minimum criteria as per the national standards. Moreover, she was supposed to raise two and a half million dollars to start the non-profit. It was highly challenging for her because raising such a huge amount requires access to multiple sources as well. Moreover, she consulted with the head of the Princeton University, and she realised that it is challenging to even raise 2500 dollars. Thereafter, she came across Fortune magazine, and she found an interesting article. The article was about ways in which corporate America is serious about making a positive change in education. Ms Kopp realised that it is an excellent opportunity to meet the corporate people and ask for funds. She wrote letters to them and tried to convince them for funds. Moreover, the college grads were also looking for an opportunity to do something that would create a difference in the lives of people. Eventually, she met someone who was willing to help her by giving her an office space so that she can initiate the project. On her way, she also met like-minded people, and despite challenges, she made efforts.
- Teach for America was a mission for Ms Kopp. She lacked practical teaching experience or any credentials and despite that succeeded in motivating other college grads who would be willing to teach rural communities in America and who would be satisfied with low pay. Eventually, Ms Kopp was able to inspire a group of individuals. During the selection process of teachers, the candidates went through interviews and teaching sessions too. Ms Kopp was able to motivate and inspire the candidates. It led to the development of a learning environment where the teachers succeeded in bringing change in the lives of the underserved communities. Initially, she had no idea about the execution of a non-profit. She was concerned about raising funds as she had to raise two and half million to execute the business.
- Ms Kopp and her team were continually making efforts to make TFA successful. The organisation has been facing criticism from communities. Despite that, the team continued to put more efforts and serve more underserved communities. Even Ms Kopp was accused of being too rigid and autocratic at times. Nevertheless, she was clear about her good intention. She wanted to keep things right, and therefore she wanted to execute her plan for TFA. The journey was difficult, yet criticism has improved the activities of TFA. Eventually, the program has a huge impact across communities in America. When teachers were placed in the Washington DC branch of TFA, it was one of the lowliest performing branches of TFA. The knowledge level of students was way below the knowledge levels of students in other locations of TFA. The purpose of building the non-profit was to reform the education system for rural communities. Ms Kopp was positive about bringing the reform. Therefore, constant criticism pushed her and her team members to do better every time. They were a group of like-minded people who were willing and able to make a positive change. The idea of welfare was at the centre of building the non-profit. Systematic challenges of running the TFA program were high, and the critics were another barrier. Nevertheless, she was able to tackle the issues. Eventually, TFA managed to operate on a budget of 300 million. Now, TFA has 7000-8000 teachers and 50,000 alumni. Finally, the founder of TFA managed to create a huge educational impact. She partnered with other organisations and co-founded Teach for All. The organisation now employs 14000 teachers, and it is spread across 45 countries.
- The core values of TFA are an inspiration to anyone willing to make a difference in society. The network of leaders and staffs at TFA has a shared commitment, and it has created new educational opportunities in the nation for the underserved communities. Among various core values of TFA, the two notable ones are Pursue Equity and Learn Continuously. Pursue Equity at TFA refers to the creation of equal educational opportunities for children across America. It is one of the core values because TFA is making efforts to change structures, policies and practices so that equity can be achieved. It also indicates that the organisation is serious about uprooting all forms of inequitable systems that discriminates people based on their background and status. The organisation examines its function in perpetuating change. Similarly, Learn Continuously is another core value that motivates TFA to achieve its mission. The organisation has embraced change and realised that curiosity leads to innovation, which, in turn, leads to improvement. Constant learning would allow the organisation to continuously improve its status. It would be possible to make informed decisions. Learning from failures, setbacks, as well as success, is the only way of moving forward. Moreover, it is necessary to learn from other experienced team members because they can give a sense of direction. These two core values have inspired me to make a positive change in my community, as well. The people in my community suffer from health-related issues because they do not get sufficient access to healthcare. Hence, I would like to ensure that everyone gets access to quality healthcare. In order to implement real change, I can focus on using the two notable core values of TFA. Everyone must have access to quality healthcare, and any form of discrimination or inequity must be uprooted before serving the community. Similarly, it is necessary to continuously learn from experiences and other team members so that mistakes and errors can be avoided.