As reported earlier here, Teach for America–the corporate teacher recruitment program–is having internal problems that it won’t admit in public. Heads are rolling. The diversity department was eliminated. Yet public relations for a major corporation like TFA require an offensive strategy. Mercedes Schneider has studied the PR strategy and describes it here. She reviews a report by Bellwether Partners (where Secretary of Education John King’s wife works), advising TFA on its image problems. Its biggest PR problem, it seems, is the TFA alumni who criticize the organization for its arrogance, its indifference to replacing experienced teachers, its inflated claims of success, and its constant self-promotion. They have figured out that no matter how many TFA are recruited, they cannot end the poverty that their students suffer, nor do they close the achievement gaps rooted in poverty.
A funny story that Mercedes uncovered:
According to the report, TFA just didn’t…
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21st Century Theater 