What has the economic downturn done for the number of Teach For America applicants?
When school starts next fall, Teach for America will send an unprecedented number of college graduates to teach in poor communities across the country; but not as many as the group would like. Teach for America this year chose 4,100 recruits from more than 35,000 applications, an increase over last year’s class of 3,700 recruits. While the group has never accepted every applicant, this was the first time it had to turn down people who met all its rigorous criteria. “For the last nine years, really the only constraint on our growth has been recruits, just finding enough people who we really believe are ready for this,” said Wendy Kopp, the group’s founder and chief executive. “This is the first year when we’ve had to turn away people who would have met our admission bar in any previous year,” Kopp said. The constraint is the economy. Tighter budgets have forced some school districts to cut back on hiring, though overall 500 more spots for Teach for America are available this year. Also,
Teach for America: The 2009 class The Associated Press – 19 hours ago A record number of college graduates this year joined Teach for America, the program that trains top students to teach in poor communities Sources: Teach for America: The 2009 class The Associated Press – 19 hours ago A record number of college graduates this year joined Teach for America, the program that trains top students to teach in poor communities
When school starts next fall, Teach for America will send an unprecedented number of college graduates to teach in poor communities across the country — but not as many as the group would like. Teach for America this year chose 4,100 recruits from more than 35,000 applications, an increase over last year’s class of 3,700 recruits. While the group has never accepted every applicant, this was the first time it had to turn down people who met all its rigorous criteria. “For the last nine years, really the only constraint on our growth has been recruits, just finding enough people who we really believe are ready for this,” said Wendy Kopp, the group’s founder and chief executive. “This is the first year when we’ve had to turn away people who would have met our admission bar in any previous year,” Kopp said. The constraint is the economy. Tighter budgets have forced some school districts to cut back on hiring, though overall 500 more spots for Teach for America are available this year. Also
