WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, ALTeach for America: Who are we hiring?

Take a look at the national Teach for America website, and you will find phrases like "helping to lead an educational revolution," "enlisting committed individuals," and "accelerating impact."

The organization says it can back these words up with action, particularly in schools that have a disproportionate number of minority and poor students.

About 43 urban and rural regions across the country have taken them up on the offer. The Huntsville City School Board voted to do the same in November 2011, with a contract worth $1.7 million.

"My interest is in children, and Teach for America has a proven record around the country," said Huntsville City Schools superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski.

"We are thinking differently because we want different results," said Huntsville City School Board president Laurie McCaulley.

McCaulley says the board is working to eliminate the 40-point achievement gap between students in Title One schools and those who are not. After meeting with several former TFA teachers, she decided the program would get her vote, simply because nothing else they have tried has worked.

"Every day we do not have an effective teacher in the classroom is a day the children cannot recapture," said McCaulley.

However, some people are wondering how effective a TFA teacher can really be.

While TFA teachers are recruited from some of the top schools in the nation, many of them are not education majors. Their training is a five-week course on teaching methods and classroom management. After that, they are placed into Title One schools for at least two years. Some of them stay in the classroom after fulfilling their two-year requirement, but many choose to leave the education field entirely.

Philip Kovacs, a professor of education, says that is a problem.

"TFA does not do anything to address issues of bad teachers who are already in there. What it does is keep potentially great teachers out," said Kovacs.

Kovacs believes the school board moved way too fast in voting for the program.

He says students in these particular schools need powerful teachers who are in it for the long haul, not just people who are only in the program to pay off student loans. While the website touts proven results over a short period of time, Kovacs says the organization's own research simply doesn't support that claim.

"The problem is the six out of 12 research reports on TFA's website that show mixed results at best. Now if there was overwhelming evidence, which there is not, that this was happening, then I'd support it 100-percent," said Kovacs.

Erica Mossholder agrees. In 2006, she was a TFA teacher in Texas, and she didn't finish her two year contract simply because she realized she wasn't effective and she didn't believe the technique used in closing the achievement gap was either.

"For me, it was a little too much focused on teaching the test and meeting certain metrics, and not so much taking into consideration the people in the program, and the way that the metrics affected the students," said Mossholder.

Both Kovacs and Mossholder say there are plenty of great teachers already in the area – state certified teachers with educational backgrounds, looking for jobs.

In fact, Kovacs says quite a few of them were part of the 154 teachers who were laid off just last year.

So, we asked Board president McCaulley about the teachers already in our own backyard.

"The 154 are all back but 16. We can account for all but 16 of those. So we're taking that issue off the table," said McCaulley.

However, there is a rumor still "on the table" about these teachers getting paid $5,000 more than regular teachers. McCaulley says that is not true.

"The Teach for America teachers do not receive the $5,000. The company receives the $5,000 to help underwrite their professional development. But it does not go to their salaries. They are making the same amount that the rest of our teachers are. Not a dime more or a dime less," said McCaulley.

However, TFA teachers are eligible to receive more than $10,000 toward their education, courtesy of AmeriCorps.

Regardless, McCaulley says she knows Teach for America is not a silver bullet that will solve every problem.

Paula Montgomery-Rodney knows the same thing, but believes it certainly is a step in the right direction.

She became a TFA teacher in Texas in 2002, and only recently stopped when she began having health problems. Rodney taught math, and her class consistently had high test scores in the subject. She believes the 30 teachers on their way to Huntsville will have some positive impact, and some is better than none.

She says if not this program, then what?

"I live by the philosophy that true insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over, and wishing and hoping for different results. And whatever it is we have done, it has not been working," said Montgomery-Rodney.

Under the contract, Teach for America will provide 170 teachers to Huntsville City Schools over the next four years. However, the contract is reviewed every year, so if the TFA teachers do not provide results, the Board of Education can cancel the contract.

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