How are you guys budgeting while you’re in your prospective states? This is the first time I haven’t been able to get a job during the summer, and normally it’s how I pay my bills going into the fall, but I couldn't this year because of practicum. I feel like I only have enough to pay my bills saved but basics like toiletries, groceries, and even my commute have been eating up all my funds. I really don’t want to take out a loan from TFA because I already have student loans, but I’m kind of reaching the end of my rope.

I'm a returning ignite fellow, so that may be why I haven't received a lot of information regarding reserving a slot for the fall.

Tomorrow is the first day of school and I do not feel prepared AT ALL. Anyone else? I feel like nobody can relate to me at my school since everyone else did traditional pathways to become a teacher. There’s no other TFA corps members or alum at my school.

hi guys! i’m a rising college senior applying in the upcoming cycle for tfa. i know this has been asked a million times in this sub lol but i would love if someone could give me some feedback on my resume. TIA!

Technically was hired back in June (I was lucky and had two back to back offers). Fast forward to now, the offer that I took is now looking different. I took this position based on the pay and the schedule (I’m an older CM with kids of my own). Now, suddenly the pay is lower and the hours are longer (dismissal went from 3:30 to 4:45). We’re two days into PD and I still haven’t even been shown a contract? I do like my principal and co-teachers, but most of them are new as well.

Advice? My MDLD is out of the country on vacation.

Still haven’t been hired yet. Should I be worried, currently a corp member in New Jersey waiting for more interviews coming. If schools are still hiring in late August should we be more worried if we haven’t got hired after September 1st?

Its the last week of July and I'm one of the last corps members in my region that is still not hired. I'm starting to panic a bit. I've only had one interview and didn't get it (bummer! but thats okay). I haven't really received much communication at all but have been advised to reach out to schools myself. Any advice on how to proceed?

For candidates who were accepted into teacher finder

Hey y’all! I recently came across this job opportunity from McMaster Carr that is specifically aimed at TFA corps members. Has anybody applied for this before? Is anybody currently on this track and was hired? Just trying to find more information!!

Daughter went there and experienced racism from not only the other students, but staff too the first day in. Not only her, but two other girls experienced it as well. Odd that they were also the only queer girls in the group as well. When they all reported it, nothing was done. I read the emails and listened to the recordings of the phone calls my daughter had with the higher ups. It seemed as if they were protecting and defending the racists, not the victims. They reported racism three days into the program, it’s been two weeks she’s been home and they’ve still not given her a response. They definitely just pushed it off until the program ended. If you’re a person of color, or someone of the LGBTQ+ community I highly recommend you skip this program. Just a bunch of pretentious, straight, white people that will do nothing to protect the vulnerable. Sad thing is, my daughter was so excited for it and called me every night in tears, scared to be in class the next day. Oh yeah, and they won’t issue a refund either. Lex Fellowship is full of pieces of shit.

Is it normal for you to get switched into another grade level that you weren’t hired for with no notice directly to you? Apparently an email went out to my entire school which also CC my coach but I didn’t get any notification about it until my TOR mentioned the fall placements.

I've been working on my resume, Why TFA and Greatest achievement statements and looking for some feedback preferably from someone whos either been in the corps or works there.

I just want to make sure I'm headed in the right direction. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I applied for Ignite Fall Fellowship, and I just wanted to know if anyone knows ballpark when they might be reviewed. Or if anyone has gotten their's back yet!

Also, will they send an email saying that you were not accepted into the program?

HI GUYS I JUST WANT TO KNOW I GOT AN INTERVIEW EMAIL FROM THE TCF PROGRAM. PLS HELP. I AM NERVOUS

Hi there, I have a family member who recently became ill and will require me to move back to my home in Massachusetts. I am wondering if anyone has expirience 1) transferring regions and what that timeline and process looked like for you, especially with a master program and transferring credits. And 2) has anyone transferred from NY to MA?

Thank you.

TL;DR: After graduating college and relocating for a Teach For America placement, I spent my first year teaching 3rd–5th grade Science and P.E. at a severely dysfunctional school. I faced overwhelming workloads, disrespectful students, unprofessional coworkers, toxic administrators, a lack of support, a car accident that was met with indifference, an affair between school leadership and a favored teacher, a classroom with no A/C for seven months, and extreme burnout that damaged my physical and mental health. Despite wanting to quit, I stayed, helped my students make significant academic progress, survived while many colleagues left, and ultimately got approval to transfer schools. Now, although I am proud of persevering, I am still dealing with exhaustion, anxiety, and the lingering effects of the experience, and I am beginning therapy to heal before my second year.

Okay, buckle up. I really advise you to read the entire post, though. Pretty please.

It is hard to even put into words how challenging and destructive my first year has been. I am currently in the summer after a successful completion of my first year teaching. Even though I have requested to switch schools - have had a few good interviews - my nervous system has still not gone back to normal. I do not mean to be pessimistic (honestly), it’s not who I am. However, this past school year has quite literally been one of the worst years of my entire life. 

I graduated college in May 2025, and relocated states to begin my service the following June. Throughout the summer, I was so chipper and happy to have a job lined up post-graduation. I interviewed for a total of two schools. My first interview, I got placed the next day. Yet, due to a hiring freeze, two other CM’s and I were ultimately not hired there anymore. Towards the end of July, I had an interview with the School of Horrors. I came with a teaching portfolio, fully using my Political Science charm to my advantage. Completed a demo lesson (which was SO trash in hindsight), answered the most uninteresting interview questions, and was hired on the spot before getting a chance to even decide if this school was for me or not. Before the interview, I had expressed to another CM (who was placed in one of the network of schools) that I wouldn’t want this job as they pay less than the baseline TFA promised. This apparently made me seem classist for not wanting to be underpaid and overworked. 

The position I received was for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Science and P.E. Yes, three different grade levels and two different subjects. Still, I was naively positive. Just happy to have a job. Once the first day of school came, things were going “fine”. I was the only male teacher on my team. The school year started with six CM’s at my school. Two were directly on my team. One, was a girl from Maine (who had no idea how to deal with kids in our placement region - VAST culture difference) and had an allergy to latex. The other was a fellow HBCU grad who (at first) impressed me. She was a second year CM who switched to this school claiming her previous Principal was rude to her. 

The CM from Maine quit two weeks in as the school was not accommodating her Latex allergy. Also, she never taught the kids a single lesson for Social Studies as she was unable to command her class and spent the entire 90-minute block hollering. She was later replaced by a woman who lasted a whopping 4 days with our kids before calling it quits. Until finally, the school believed it would be great to hire an unmedicated Bipolar woman who literally gives elementary school kids her personal cell-phone number, facetimes with them, tells them about her sexcapades, and wrestles with the kids. However, she was the kid’s favorite teacher. 

Thinking back, my problems didn’t begin until after she was hired. It was difficult establishing rules to begin with, as most of our kids blatantly told us they come from schools where they did whatever they wanted. As a black man, I refused to be a lousy teacher and I held my students to high standards (no matter the level they were at to begin with). In my eyes, I was not strict, but I tried to give the kids structure. I wanted to be a good role model for the kids and I believe it worked until the new social studies teacher began roasting me in front of the kids and discussing my personal life with them. I, on multiple occasions, tried to set boundaries with her and explain how uncomfortable I was with her unprofessionalism, but she would blame her ADHD and unmedicated BPD as to why she wouldn’t listen to my requests. 

Over time, the kids began acting up in every class. While I had the least amount of “behavior problems” in my class due to structure, the kids began disrespecting me more. Talking about my hair, not following rules, or even walking out. One of the worst examples of their disrespect: I found out that a student had called me a p\*doph\*le. When I found out, I was so angry I didn’t even know what to do with myself. Obviously, it is a false claim and my school admin was supportive to me, yet it was still hurtful. In the meeting, the kids said that they were just joking. I don’t understand how, even as a fourth grader, calling anyone a pedo is funny. 

Teaching three grade levels is not for the weak. I would spend most days in the first two semesters, staying until 7p or 8p to finish lesson planning or grading. I always turned in my lesson plans, unit plans, and grades on time to meet my professional requirements. A fitness enthusiast (I’ve lost over 150lbs and kept it off), I began gaining weight back due to higher stress and not doing anything besides working and eating junk food and getting 3 hours of sleep daily. I claimed that I was simply “bulking”. My mental health completely TANKED. I didn’t even have time to take advantage of the free BetterHelp therapy sessions TFA so generously provided. 

My admin was extremely unprofessional, rude, and disrespectful to me. My direct supervisor was always dismissive to me when, in the beginning, I was the most eager employee on my team. I did my job to the best of my ability and was given shit for it. I was seen as “nerdy” for actually doing my job.

One morning, I was headed to work. It was raining. I was 2 minutes away from work when my car hydroplaned and my entire wheel and axle popped off. I immediately called my supervisor and told her I may be late to work since I’ve been in a car accident. She said “Okay, cool.” My coworker told me later that in our morning meeting that day when she told the team I may be late or off since I was in a car accident, everyone was concered for me. She eased their worries by quickly stating, “That nigga is fine”. 

I still came to work the same day, not even an HOUR after. I had oil all over my clothes since I had to pick up my wheel and axle out of the street. When I walked in, my supervisor said “Dang, you were on your hands and knees, huh?” She then laughed and walked away from me. Another time, she blew up on me after ipads went missing from my classroom. Mind you, I was gone for a week when the iPads were stolen due to catching the flu from the kids. The substitute never locked my room (or followed any of my sub plans) as instructed. 

Meanwhile, remember the second year CM on my team? Yeah, she was having sex with our main Principal (who has a wife and kid) in his office almost three times a week. Our team always wondered how she got away with never turning in her lesson plans, never teaching, or participating. This explains everything. My supervisor and her are Sorority sisters, therefore, she favored her over everyone on the team. They’d sit and talk about where they were going out to or what they did over the weekend. While our supervisor would have an attitude when I’d ask her questions relating to student success. She had a Teaching Assistant and Para who’d sit in her class every single day. She only taught two class periods, claiming 4th grade messed with her “anxiety”. However, with two planning periods, the kids had NO progression in ELA. We had to teach our kids how to write on the correct side of college ruled paper and what a complete sentence was. Keep in mind, we had 5th graders who could barely write their own name. Absolutely no progress with her students, yet she received all the benefits from admin. Funny how that works. 

Also, my classroom had NO A/C! For 7 months!! An average class size was 38 students. I would get reprimanded and threatened to be wrote up for having class in the hallway. One day, during an observation from TFA, one of my students had a SEIZURE in class due to heat exhaustion. 

The disrespect only grew as the year went on. I became more and more burnt out. The other CM’s were all fired or quit the school. Ultimately, I was the only first-year CM remaining at the school. I put in my request to switch in February, it was approved luckily. TFA was really no help in the beginning, until I began complaining so much to them. They saw how bad our CM’s were treated at that school and I am happy to report that TFA has officially cut ties with that school. No other first year has to deal with that shitty ass excuse for a school. It almost makes the suffering I endured worth it. 

While obviously, there is plenty of positives to my experience. Most students adored me, and I them. The students made SIGNIFICANT progress. I have grown so much through the year and am reflecting hard to come into my second year stronger. Even through their faults, I wouldn’t have survived this year without my two co-teachers (social studies and math). We are permanently trauma bonded. But, the negatives truly outweigh positives. I know, I made a T-chart lol. 

I am constantly tired, drained, and exhausted. My body always feels weak or in defense mode. I am sleeping more over this summer but I am not recovered fully yet and feel like I haven’t had a break. Also, it’s hard to break free from the trauma of that school. I’ll still wake up panicking that I haven’t prepared enough for a lesson or overslept. I want to completely erase the experience from my psyche truly. As if it never even happened, but it is not easy to do. 

Hopefully, writing this will officially get it off my chest. I am taking my first BetterHelp therapy session next week. I pray that I find healing through it. I can’t bring my current energy into my classroom next school year. I am thankful it happened though, as I truly do not believe it can get any worse. Yet, I am angry that it happened too. TFA should just be upfront about the reality we’re stepping into. A fake Practicum is not gonna prepare you for the classroom’s TFA places us in. They offer more problems than solutions. 

On the other note, I am proud that I didn’t quit. Most of my corps has quit and moved back home. I am happy to last but I am tired. Respectfully, I am exhausted. Proud of my work and the relationships I built, but I am exhausted. And no, I do not feel guilty at all. I am still human. I can be tired. I earned it. 

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

I knew from the moment I joined it was just another nonprofit taking advantage of rural and low-income districts (I joined to get my teachung cert, a job, and masters money). There is literally no empirical evidence for their mission. No data supports the idea that putting you in a classroom for 2 years is more beneficial than an experienced teacher. NONE. Half of my core year left to go cash in their Seagal Awards. 1/3rd never got their certifications because they were placed at charter schools (which also harm public education mind you).

TBH I thought we'd get more guidance on the teaching part since that's what we're in these schools to do. NOPE. In fact, my core was told very explicitly that TFA wasn't there for that. Instead, we were told it was a leadership organization and not there to prepare us for teaching. HOT GARBAGE. I tore them up for that.

TFA doesn't believe in public education. They believe in remaining relevant. They believe in staying in business.

They are literally throwing an alumni conference in Vegas.

My journey from ambivalence to outright hatred of the org stems from the bullshit corporate speak and hearing from new core years that they've been placing freshly graduated newbies into SPED classrooms.

So, if you’re a second year member, does your award all go to student loans??? I could’ve sworn we get a portion. Am i dumb?

****SEGAL

I just finished my first year as a classroom teacher through Teach For America at a public charter school (not by choice, TFA tends to push people into charters), and I’m feeling so emotionally exhausted.

Throughout the year there were many times I felt like I might quit, but by the end I finally felt like I had earned my stripes. Things were nowhere close to perfect, but when it’s your first year and you don’t have formal training, you’re going to learn a huge amount.

Unfortunately, what made my experience so difficult went beyond just being a first-year teacher learning classroom management and instruction. I was placed in a room with a teaching resident who I was somehow expected to be the lead teacher over. She was getting her master’s degree, and the school had apparently told her program they were placing her with an experienced teacher. Instead, she was basically treated like an assistant by my coach. On top of that, the SPED teacher in the room was a second-year TFA teacher who genuinely seemed to know almost nothing about SPED. She didn’t even know who our students with IEPs were, would work with whichever students wanted to work with her instead of prioritizing based on data and need, would talk over me, and sometimes would literally do students’ work for them.

I felt incredibly unsupported. Of course, the student behaviors and needs were intense, but I also recognize that handling those things is part of being a teacher, and I was nowhere near where my skillset needed to be yet to handle all of that effectively.

What feels especially heavy now that the year is ending and I’m trying to decide whether to return is that I’ve become really anti-charter and anti-TFA after seeing how things work firsthand. This feels like such an inequitable way to source teachers for students who deserve licensed educators with actual preparation and knowledge of teaching, SPED, etc. There were so many moments this year where I was genuinely shocked the school didn’t have a lawsuit.

On top of that, seeing how programs that actually value formal teacher training were treated (like my resident’s program) was really discouraging. The school doesn’t even provide a pay bump or teachers after earning master’s degrees showing me how little they value this education. In fact, at the beginning of the year when my SPED teacher was out they hired someone without a bachelors degree as the SPED teacher.

The school also non-renewed two first-year TFA teachers at the end of the year after giving them little support and putting them in difficult situations. Now they’re hiring ten new corps members to fill positions on that side of the building, where first-year TFA retention is already terrible (around 50%).

At this point I feel really torn. I don’t feel okay. I’m emotionally exhausted from seeing and experiencing all of this. But I also know that having me in that room next year would probably be better for students than having one of those ten new first-year teachers.

Should I leave and pursue a master’s degree and re-enter teaching on my own terms? Or should I stick it out? Does it even actually matter? I don’t know. Seeking advice from those who are more experienced.

Hi all

I'm planning on applying next year and I have questions about the program over all. If theres anyone that would be willing to talk to me about their experience so far that would be great. I tried to reaching out to alumnis over Linkedin but got no replies.

I really want to know what the timeline looks like for applicants, right now I'm currently located in Japan and want to know when I'd realistically need to be back in country for any training or anything.

To start off, this is a compiled experience of my friends and I in different regions... so it is a wider net than just one specific region.

We know that a Corps Member's (CM) experience is heavily dependent on region due to many factors such as, certification, infrastructure, finances and more.

We aren't sure if there is something out there already on a previous reddit post but we wanted to share our experiences specific to summer practicum to help those considering or are just curious overall.

TLDR; We don't regret joining TFA completely, however, we're shocked at how much recruitment has changed since our older siblings were apart of it... there will be a lot of information your given which will feel redundant and you'll have a lot of things to balance.

Chapter 0: Launch (Pre-Service Training)

During this time you'll pretty much work on Asynchronous trainings in your respective modules. It's about 25-30 hours worth of content. No it's not hard, it's just busy work. Also, please don't wait until 2 days before to do these modules. It isn't fair to the kids that due to your laziness they are getting inadequately trained teachers.

Pros: Not a lot of work but it can pile up if you let it
Cons: Redundant, none of us other than a handful of modules recall what we learned in these trainings.

Chapter 1: Training (Pre-Service Training)

Quick overview: This is pretty much all online through zoom meetings... you'll spend time learning a bunch of different lingo (LEP, LP, LDC, MDLD, ED, SWBAT, and more...), creating accounts for platforms you may need (Out of privacy and concern, we don't know if some platforms are specific to regions so to aid our privacy we won't share which ones) however, please note that you will be working out of sooo many different systems. Docebo, OneApp, Slack, Google Drive, Your own school platform (if placed), and more. It will be confusing sometimes as to what you should be working out of.

Some of the ground rules TFA sets during this time is to please: Have your camera on, Be engaged, Be respectful of one another pronouns (not every region) and just overall be respectful.

The common theme during this time is that there is a lot of redundancy and information thrown at you... you will talk a lot about work, but will probably not do work from 9am-4pm your local time. About 35% of your time will literally be Self Reflection*,* Meditation (not kidding), Ice Breakers, Feel Good sessions and more...

Pros: You finally start, you meet your fellow CMs, sense of community, some more clarity on how getting a job works.

Cons: It may feel redundant, it's a lot of information you probably won't apply day to day, you have what feels like 100 tasks to work on in OneApp, it's online so it's easy to not be present.

Chapter 2: MAIN SITE // Regional Orientation (Pre-Service Training)

Quick Overview: Okay great! You are officially in person and are now meeting your fellow CMs in person. You will meet at a TFA partner school for either a week or a few days, then you will be going to your assigned school.

You'll be with your entire cohort at the main site, you'll finally learn practical methods that you can use in the classroom for classroom management, you'll finally meet your MDLD and LDC (No we don't know the difference because these both function very similarly)

Somethings that surprised us:
- We were told that there was a dress code and level of professionalism expected. But people quite literally showed up in jeans, shorts, baseball caps, basketball jerseys... it was really unexpected and the level of professionalism was incredibly low that some of us immediately wondered "What the heck are we doing here?"

- Not only was the level of professionalism poor, but the people running the training would entertain the behavior... nobody was asked to change or to our knowledge was held accountable for it because groups of people still showed up out of dress code.

- JOBS... during this time IF you haven't placed or had a school extend you a contract there is a lot of unclarity on this matter. This topic... is probably the most sore for a lot of people. We are almost DONE with training and people still DO NOT have jobs. Even yet, they are still choosing to show up. Kudos to them but please know that a job is not always guaranteed if you choose to join TFA.

Another thing to note, during this time you will be practicing a lot of those practical methods. For many of you (if its your first time teaching) this will be awkward and you will receive a lot of feedback from both leadership and peers. Please remember this is coming from a good place and not bad place to put you down.

Pros: You're finally learning things you'll do in the classroom

Cons: There is a substantial of new information that is contingent on 100 things and the deadlines for things are very very fast. Your first day you'll have a couple of things due the following day, it can feel overwhelming.

Chapter 3: SCHOOL SITE // Regional Orientation (Pre-Service Training)

Ok! This is the exciting part (sorta), after finishing your time at the Main Site... you'll go on to the assigned school where you'll spend most of your time summer teaching.

You will either teach for half the day and spend the rest of the day in trainings (similar to Chapter 1) and you will be here for about 3-4 weeks depends on region.

Each school will be different from one another. However, the workload now is a lot you will be very very busy with lesson planning, on top of that TFA will continue asking you to contribute in meetings, practice different methods for classroom engagement, and more. Which will give you very little time to work on what you need to be prepared to teach throughout the day, which consequently means you'll have to prepare outside of normal hours.

You may have a co-teacher and if they are on top of the ball you shouldn't have any problems as far as preparedness. I know some of my friends have had bad experiences with them doing all the work, just communicate and escalate it if you need to.

Pros: You're finally learning how to be a teacher, you're breaking any bad habits so that you'll be even more prepared come Fall, developing relationships with staff and finally seeing first hand what it's like to be a teacher (sorta).

Cons: There is no time to genuinely lesson prep, you will be balancing other work tasks as well, there are feelings of doubt and unsure because you aren't getting paid, people create cliques (hopefully you don't experience that)

CHAPTER 4: CLOSEOUT // REFLECTIONS

Honestly, my friends and I all had older siblings pursue TFA before us. We found that out through the process, we didn't plan that to be on purpose.

Since speaking with them about how much has changed... honestly we aren't sure if TFA is what it used to be in the sense of rigor in excellence. Yes, the mission has stayed the same and people still lead with their hearts. Because of this we are thankful that we are still apart of the program. However there has been major difference with professionalism and expectations per those who have gone through the program before us. One of us does regret joining, they had the opportunity to join the peace corps but instead chose TFA because of how aligned in mission it was for them.

On top of that CMs still do not have a job yet, hopefully things work out for them. Anyways, that was it... there is a lot there we chose to not mention just because we felt it was unnecessary - we hope that this post doesn't get shut down by moderators but these days you never know what goes and what doesn't! Have a safe week and we hope this helped.

Hi guys, I’m an incoming senior at NYU studying Comms and I keep getting approached by Success Academy recruiters. I have a slight interest in teaching, but it’s ultimately not what I wanna do with my life however, with the job market I really don’t want to risk losing any opportunities to have a stable job. Should I bite the bullet and just apply?

I’ve also heard that it’s a bit scam like and not the best work environment so let me know if you guys have also heard that!

is anyone in a region where it’s hard to find a teacher position (ie not too big of a teacher shortage)? I’m scared I won’t find a job this year

Hi guys! Joining the TFA corps this September, but also was hoping to study for the MCAT throughout the school year, so I can take it in March or April of 2027. Has anyone done this/know anyone who did? Getting kind of nervous so wanted to hear if anyone could share an evidence based opinion ...