The founder of Teach For America, Wendy Kopp, who is one of the education reform field's most renowned and successful entrepreneurs, was on the Colbert Report earlier this week on comedy central. The interview, which can be seen here, was an unusual mix of humor and serious reflection on educational inequity. You hear doctors talk about how they have to have a sense of humor in order to get through some of the toughest parts of their jobs, well the same is true for those who deal on a daily basis with the deep and at times heart-wrenching challenges that face millions of American children in school each day.

A couple highlights of the interview (before a more pertinent reflection on what we've learned from Teach For America over the past decade):
- Colbert's opening "good Kopp, bad Kopp?" throw-in,
- the "school of hard knocks" that Colbert retorts is more important than 'bookworm' education (before admitting that he himself, of course, attended Dartmouth College)
- Colbert's proposal to eliminate all educational inequality by eliminating schools altogether (a silly idea, of course, but it does force a relevant question which is, what level of inequality are we willing to tolerate in educational opportunity? We'll never be able to totally level the playing field since affluent families will always have access to resources and environments that we wish we could, but simply cannot, provide to all children)
- The end of the interview zinger (you'll have to watch the video for this one!)

The most important reflection to be made, of course, is that it is an unqualified good thing for the field of education reform and for those passionate about closing the achievement gap when bold leaders like Wendy have time in the spotlight, and I'm glad she accepted the interview with Colbert because of how many millions of young people she can reach that way. Wendy has been a role model to numerous young educational entrepreneurs--hundreds of charter school starters, and the staff at Our Education included--and she deserves high praise for how the model that TFA has built and the impact they've had over time.

Regardless of what people think about the actual classroom impact of TFA teachers (and there are experts on both sides of this debate - pro-TFA here and anti-TFA here), there are al least a few good things that cannot be argued with. First, the program does create access for thousands of talented college graduates to a field that is otherwise very hard to enter without a teaching certificate that can be cumbersome to obtain for one who is interested in other subject areas in a liberal arts education. And the benefits of these experiences may indeed be critical as TFA teachers emerge as leaders in numerous other fields over the next decade. Second, the program has pushed the conversation forward among ed reformers on the teacher certification track in general. For if highly motivated college grads without a four year school of education preparatory experience can do on average just as well as traditionally prepared teachers, what value does the certificate hold, and what should the implications be on our current operating theory (high barriers, low accountability - as opposed to low barriers, high accountability) in staffing the field? Third, the program reinforces a notion that is often lost among policy makers: at the end of the day, the problem we are dealing with is a people problem, a human capital problem first and foremost (as opposed to a technology problem, etc.). Students tend to all agree on this simple point, which is part of TFA's most optimistic premise: if every child had a great teacher in every classroom, that would make all the difference in the world.

What are your thoughts on TFA? Would love to hear from potential applicants, current corps members, casual observers, anyone!