Teach for America slammed for Oakland strike stance

Hundreds of Teach for America alumni are criticizing the educator placement program for telling members to cross the picket line during a potential teacher strike in Oakland, California, or risk losing thousands of dollars at the end of their service.

More than 300 alumni signed the letter delivered Monday to Teach for America’s leadership, asking it to stop “pressuring” young teachers to break a strike that could come next week.

The Associated Press obtained the letter sent to a nonprofit known for placing high-achieving college graduates without formal teaching training into two-year educator jobs in low-income communities.

Payton Carter, a 1999 Teach for America alumnus and current Oakland teacher, said he was outraged that members may lose an award worth $2,000 to $10,000 — a financial incentive the nonprofit uses as a recruiting tool.

“We feel it’s really unethical and an unfair use of the funding, as basically financial leverage to coerce them into crossing the picket line,” Carter said. “No TFA corps member would willingly do that because of the professional damage to relationships.”

Spokesman Jack Hardy said Teach for America didn’t provide recommendations on what its 58 teachers should do in the school district, where a possible strike would affect 36,000 students. He said there’s a misunderstanding on the guidance it communicated outlining rules from Americorps, a federal service program that bans striking and provides the awards at the end of teachers’ two-year service commitment.

“We don’t have a position on the strike or organizing. Our corps members, we stand behind them, we stand beside them. Our goal is to help them be successful,” Hardy said.