The Exchanges

Q Yeah. So you, you keep, you keep saying, uh, we, so I'm assuming that you and, and I guess a couple of friends, like, came up with, with a plan to launch this thing?

A Yes. Well, our plan was, let's show people that the college students want to do this. So, I mean, that was pretty much, you know, because we were hearing no one was going to do anything. The school districts were telling us, if you get these people from these colleges, we had a list of 100 colleges, and they would look at the list. I remember meeting the head of human resources in Los Angeles, and I mean, he had his legs kicked back on the desk the whole bit, and he started laughing when he looked at the list of a hundred colleges and said, okay, I'll tell you what, you get 500 people From these colleges to want to teach in my schools, and I'll hire all 500 of them.

AI assessment note: “Yes. Well, our plan was, let's show people that the college students want to”

Q And were you just thinking about this stuff, or did you, did you start to do something about it?

A Well, actually, I had organized a conference alongside some other students at Princeton about improving our education system, and it was at that conference where we had pulled together students from all over the country, and they were some of the most incredible student leaders, and they were saying, we had no idea there was a need for teachers in urban and rural areas we would teach, and it was really sitting there that I thought of this idea, like, why aren't we Channeling these people's energy into teaching. Um, and what struck me was this idea that we would essentially build a movement among the rising generation of leaders to channel their energy to teach in urban and rural public schools, knowing that that would have a really important immediate impact in, in classrooms and schools and, and in the lives of kids. So I became obsessed. I mean, the minute I thought of it, I just thought this would change our country. It would change the consciousness of our country, and it became the answer to everything. Like, I need to propose this in my senior thesis.

AI assessment note: “I had organized a conference alongside some other students at Princeton”

Q Yeah. Um, you say to him, this is my thing, this is my program, and what did you ask him for? How much, how much money?

A Well, I asked him for a million dollars. I needed, you know, another two million, basically. And he spent, I mean, I was in there for probably two hours, and he spent the whole time thinking about his friends who would do this. I mean, he really loved the idea, and he kept saying, I think Sam Walton would do this. And I kept thinking, oh, no, I know where all this leads. Like, no. Like, you are the one. I know you're the one. You care about education. You, you're an entrepreneur. You understand this. And he finally, like, I actually think he decided I wasn't going to leave, and he said, I'll tell you what, I will give you 500,000 dollars if you can raise the other 1.5 million. Huh. And that was the moment I knew it's done. Like, I knew that his, his credibility and that kind of leverage, I could just go back to everyone else and that they would all come in.

AI assessment note: “Well, I asked him for a million dollars.”

Q Yeah. So you, you keep, you keep saying, uh, we, so I'm assuming that, that, that you and, and I guess a couple of friends, like, came up with, with a plan to launch this thing?

A Yes. Well, our plan was, let's show people that the college students want to do this. So, I mean, that was pretty much, you know, because we were hearing no one was going to do anything. The school districts were telling us, if you get these people from these colleges, we had a list of 100 colleges, and they would look at the list. I remember meeting the head of human resources in Los Angeles, and I mean, he had his legs kicked back on the desk the whole bit, and he started laughing when he looked at the list of a hundred colleges and said, okay, I'll tell you what, you get 500 people From these colleges to want to teach in my schools, and I'll hire all 500 of them.

AI assessment note: “Yes. Well, our plan was, let's show people that the college students want to”

Q Yeah. Um, you say to him, this is my thing, this is my program, and what did you ask him for? How much, how much money?

A Well, I asked him for a million dollars. I needed, you know, another two million, basically. And he spent, I mean, I was in there for probably two hours, and he spent the whole time thinking about his friends who would do this. I mean, he really loved the idea, and he kept saying, I think Sam Walton would do this. And I kept thinking, oh, no. I know where all this leads. Like, no. Like, you are the one. I know you're the one. You care about education. You, you're an entrepreneur. You understand this. And he finally, like, I actually think he decided I wasn't going to leave, and he said, I'll tell you what, I will give you 500,000 dollars if you can raise the other 1.5 million. Huh. And that was the moment I knew it's done. Like, I knew that his, his credibility and that kind of leverage, I could just go back to everyone else and that they would all come in.

AI assessment note: “Well, I asked him for a million dollars.”

Q What was the idea, like, that there were all of these talented college graduates every year who were willing and, and could contribute a few years to teaching kids in, particularly in low-income areas? I mean, and that, that just was, that, that resource was being underutilized?

A Yeah, I mean, I felt like, you know, when I was thinking about my own self and all of my peers at Princeton, you know, folks were really searching for, you know, what do we want to do? And not a whole lot of people knew exactly what they wanted to do. So they were doing what was in front of them. I mean, at the time, this is late eighties, so all the recruiters were literally investment banks, management consulting firms, and a couple of brand management firms. I mean, if I was at Princeton, liberal arts majors at Princeton. I mean, those were the companies that were banging down our doors. And so my thought was, you know, how different would it be in our country if we had many of the most promising future leaders instead of, you know, working on Wall Street for two years right out of college, teaching for two years in urban and rural areas.

AI assessment note: “how different would it be in our country if we had... teaching for two years”

Q So how did that first summer go of training?

A Oh, it was terrifying. Um, you know, I mean, it was the first year. We had 489 people cooped up in dorms for eight weeks. Um, a diverse group, not as diverse as, you know, we would all hope and as Teach for America has achieved at this point, but, I mean, we had a mix of folks who had never been in an environment like this and were never, had many of them who hadn't been working in Um, urban, rural communities. So there was just a lot of tension and a lot of issues to sort through, and it was, it was very, you know, it was exhausting. I mean, you start teaching and you see the microcosm of the world playing out in your classroom. You know, you see kids who are facing all the challenges of poverty and lack of adequate health care and nutrition and Racial discrimination, the whole bit, and it's very overwhelming. So the pioneering first corps members had to kind of find their way to the solutions, um, you know, often from other teachers in their schools, and we ultimately were learning from them.

AI assessment note: “Oh, it was terrifying. Um, you know, I mean, it was the first year.”

Q When you are, you know, 24 or whatever, 25, however old you were at the time, and the whole team is like, hey, we wanna, you know, I mean, it's essentially like a vote of no confidence, even, even if it wasn't, but it kind of was. Did you, did it shake you? I mean, did you feel like, did it exacerbate any self-doubt?

A Oh, yes. It did, um, but I didn't know what to do. Um, I mean, part of what was leading me to Stay in it was just a sense of responsibility. Like, I couldn't figure out how to get out of it. I mean, honestly, if someone had appeared who I felt like could get us out of this and get us to a point of stability or something, I would have just turned the whole thing over to them at this point. There's no doubt about that. I mean, I was just, in fact, I was kind of looking for this, but I just, I couldn't seem to find the answer other than to keep, put my head down and keep going at it until we could get out of it.

AI assessment note: “Oh, yes. It did, um, but I didn't know what to do.”

Q So once you did get out of it and, you know, became more financially stable, were you able to start seeing the impact of Teach for America?

A Well, I think, um, I mean, we were seeing, even in year five, we were starting to see real evidence of, you know, the immediate impact of our teachers, of what some of our alumni were starting to do. Um, it's like we were starting to see the big idea play itself out. These people aren't leaving. They're dedicating themselves to this. They're becoming the pioneering leaders we thought they could be. So that's what kept us going through these dark years, like realizing that actually this really Is a good idea. Like, it really is working because we were seeing enough evidence in classrooms and enough evidence, even in whole schools, that actually when you meet kids who are facing a lot of challenges and have a lot of assets, but, you know, with high expectations and the extra support they need, they'll excel at an absolute scale. So that recognition is what really inspired us to say, okay, how do we take this to the next level?

AI assessment note: “we were starting to see real evidence of, you know, the immediate impact”

Q And were you just thinking about this stuff, or did you, did you start to do something about it?

A Well, actually, I had organized a conference alongside some other students at Princeton about improving our education system, and it was at that conference where we had pulled together students from all over the country, and they were some of the Most incredible student leaders, and they were saying, we had no idea there was a need for teachers in, in urban and rural areas. We would teach. And it was really sitting there that I thought of this idea, like, why aren't we channeling these people's energy into teaching? Um, and what struck me was this idea that we would essentially build a movement among the rising generation of leaders To channel their energy to teach in urban and rural public schools, knowing that that would have a really important immediate impact in, in classrooms and schools and, and in the lives of kids. So I became obsessed. I mean, the minute I thought of it, I just thought this would change our country. It would change the consciousness of our country, and it became the answer to everything. Like, I need to propose this in my senior thesis.

AI assessment note: “Well, actually, I had organized a conference alongside some other students at Princeton”

Q When, when you are, you know, 24 or whatever, 25, however old you were at the time, and the whole team is like, hey, we wanna, you know, I mean, it's essentially like a vote of no confidence, even, even if it wasn't, but it kind of, kind of was. Did you, did it shake you? I mean, did you feel like, did it exacerbate self-doubt?

A Oh, yes. It did, um, but I didn't know what to do. Um, I mean, part of what was leading me to And stay in it was just a sense of responsibility. Like, I couldn't figure out how to get out of it. I mean, honestly, if someone had appeared who I felt like could get us out of this and get us to a point of stability or something, I would have just turned the whole thing over to them at this point. There's no doubt about that. I mean, I was just, in fact, I was kind of looking for this, but I just, I couldn't seem to find the answer other than to keep, put my head down and keep going at it until we could get out of it. So what

AI assessment note: “Oh, yes. It did, um, but I didn't know what to do.”

Q So how did that first summer go of training?

A Oh, it was terrifying. Um, you know, I mean, it was the first year. We had 489 people cooped up in dorms for eight weeks. Um, a diverse group, not as diverse as, you know, we would all hope and as Teach for America has achieved at this point, but, I mean, we had a mix of folks who had never been in an environment like this and were never, had many of them who hadn't been working in Um, urban, rural communities. So there was just a lot of tension and a lot of issues to sort through, and it was, it was very, you know, it was exhausting. I mean, you start teaching and you see the microcosm of the world playing out in your classroom. You know, you see kids who are facing all the challenges of poverty and lack of adequate health care and nutrition and Racial discrimination, the whole bit, and it's very overwhelming. So the pioneering first corps members had to kind of find their way to the solutions, um, you know, often from other teachers in their schools, and we ultimately were learning from them.

AI assessment note: “Oh, it was terrifying. Um, you know, I mean, it was the first year.”

Q So you just, it didn't, it didn't phase you?

A Well, it's not that it didn't, I mean, the fact is, it made the work so much more difficult. You know, it's easy now to justify a decision to go off to work for the consulting firm for two years, because you don't even know, like, is Teach for America really a good thing? Like, there's enough question out there in the blogosphere, you know, and, and so it definitely made the work more difficult, but You know, as the criticism became probably at its most extreme, we were seeing incredible impact in communities. I mean, when we started placing teachers in Washington, D.C., it was the lowest performing of all the major urban districts. Its kids were two years behind the kids in Harlem. And, you know, now it's the fastest improving urban school system in the country. Wow. You know, everything, graduation rates, enrollment rates, everything moving in the right direction. And the fact is, if you took the Teach for America people out of that city, not just the teachers during the two years, right, but the 900 teachers who are still in the system, and the, the school principals, and the last two schools chancellors who presided over the system for a decade, and probably three.

AI assessment note: “Well, it's not that it didn't, I mean, the fact is, it made the work so much more difficult.”

Q So you just, it didn't, it didn't phase you?

A Well, it's not that it didn't, I mean, the fact is, it made the work so much more difficult. You know, it's easy now to justify a decision to go off to work for the consulting firm for two years, because you don't even know, like, is Teach for America really a good thing? Like, there's enough question out there in the blogosphere, you know, and, and so it definitely made the work more difficult. But, you know, as the criticism became probably at its most extreme, we were seeing Incredible impact in communities. I mean, when we started placing teachers in Washington, D.C., it was the lowest performing of all the major urban districts. Its kids were two years behind the kids in Harlem. And, you know, now it's graduation rates, enrollment rates, everything moving in the right direction. And the fact is, if you took the Teach for America people out of that city, not just the teachers during the two years, right, but the teachers who are still in the system and the The school principals and the last two schools chancellors who presided over the system for a decade.

AI assessment note: “Well, it's not that it didn't, I mean, the fact is, it made the work”