The Seattle School District and Seattle Foundation put out the following press release today:
The non-profit Seattle Foundation today announced they will finance the yearly fee for the Teach for America participants in Seattle Public School.
The Seattle School Board voted in November 2010 to approve a contract with TFA. Seattle Public Schools has hired three TFA teachers for the 2011-12 school year, with two additional applications pending School Board approval. The TFA candidates went through the regular school-based hiring selection process, which includes interviews with community members and staff.
The TFA teachers receive a typical first-year salary from the District and are members of the Seattle Education Association. They will, however, receive additional support from TFA during the school year. The Seattle Foundation will cover the $4,000 fee per teacher paid to TFA– an estimated $20,000 total. This fee is used to offset the cost of training.
“We know that an exceptional teacher in every classroom can help close the achievement gap and increase the academic success of all of our students. Teach for America brings even more exceptional and motivated teachers into our classrooms,” said Norman B. Rice, President and CEO of The Seattle Foundation. “Education remains one of our top priorities, and I want to thank local community members for supporting Teach for America by donating to The Seattle Foundation, including James R. Faulstich, Matt Griffin and Evelyne Rozner, Intelius, Inc., Will Poole and Janet Levinger, Ann Ramsay-Jenkins (William M. Jenkins Fund), and the Satya and Rao Remala Foundation.”
If more TFA teachers are hired in Seattle during the next year, Teach for America can use additional Seattle Foundation grant funds for the training and support of those teachers, Rice said.
For more information on TFA, see www.teachforamerica.org. Click here to read more about the District’s contract with TFA. For more information about The Seattle Foundation, see www.seattlefoundation.org
The Seattle School Board’s vote to allow Teach for America teachers into the schools was a controversial one, drawing sharp criticism from teacher’s union supporters and others. These teachers go through an alternative certification process and commit to a two-year stint with the national nonprofit Teach for America. The district has a three-year contract with Teach for America and the program will have to go through an evaluation and reporting process before the contract is renewed.
