Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For America, reflects on the organization's near-collapse during a funding crisis with the federal AmeriCorps program.
Insight
Wendy Kopp: Educational inequity cannot be solved by classroom teaching alone
“We have here a deeply entrenched and systemic issue that cannot be solved from within classrooms alone, right? This is, no amount of teaching is going to solve this. We need incredible teachers, but we also need some of those people who understand what you und…”
Assertion Partly supported
Wendy Kopp: D.C. schools went from lowest-performing to fastest-improving urban district
“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.”
Insight
Kopp: Social entrepreneurs must invent their own funding sources to survive
“I think it's kind of the definition of social entrepreneurship, like, you know, there aren't natural funding sources, so you almost have to create them, and ultimately, by your existence, help shape them, and until that's happened, it's just excruciating to ma…”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Kopp: When TFA entered DC, its students lagged two years behind Harlem
“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.”
Opinion
Wendy Kopp: The United States is not a place of equal opportunity
“Our country that claims to be and really aspires to be a place of equal opportunity really isn't one.”
Insight
Wendy Kopp: National service programs need 500 members for national significance
“I had looked at the origin of the Peace Corps, and there's this incredible paper, and the paper was this beautiful analysis that concluded that it had to start with 500 Core members. That That was the smallest possible number that would seem nationally importa…”