Last month Parents Across America-Seattle along with several teachers did a peaceful demonstration outside of the Apple store in Seattle. The protest was regarding Apple giving out free I Pads to Teach for America recruits. Unfortunately certified teachers with experience in their field and a long-term commitment to our communities were not considered important enough for such a gift.

It’s was a corporate promotion of a corporate-backed organization.

Shortly after the protest, the display was taken down sooner than originally scheduled. The display in Portland also disappeared when Apple received word that members of a PAA affiliate in Portland along with teachers were also planning to demonstrate outside the Portland location.

Check out the video teach for corporate america: rotten to the core and watch it all the way through to the credits. The last credits are an amazing list of the corporate backers of Teach for America.

I’d also like to give a plug to the creator of this video. She did exceptional work as always on this video and I would recommend her to anyone.

Her contact info is:

jana brubaker

studio6other

206.359.0530
Enjoy the video.
Dora
Post Script:
After looking at the credits again I can only imagine how much money Wendy Kopp is amassing between the corporate donors, the $50M from the Department of Education and of course the yearly fee that she charges for each recruit who is placed in the school district beyond their salaries. In Seattle we are paying $4,000 for each recruit for every year that they teach in our public school system. For the first year, a few of the 1% did ante up at the last minute to cover the cost of these recruits in Seattle. Next year? Who knows.
Kopp’s husband, by the way, was a Teach for America employee at one time. Now he is President and CEO of the KIPP charter franchise. New York called them the “power couple in education” rivaling only Bill and Melinda Gates.
The New York Times goes on to say:

The effort to reconstruct the schools in New Orleans and manage 41 charters there is thick with educators who have worked with Ms. Kopp and Mr. Barth.

Eli Broad liked to call himself a “Venture Capitalist”. Since then many people refer to him and others as “Vulture Capitalists”. That term does ring true.