The New Teacher Project, also known as TNTP, was first founded by Michelle Rhee to supply bright young teaching staff to inner-city schools. However, in Tulsa, the second largest city in Oklahoma, they took it upon themselves to turn a troubled school around. After all their hard work, all their efforts went down the drain. So why didn't TNTP work in Tulsa?
According to John Thompson, a teacher and a historian, everything started with boasting and setting very high expectations. He talked about the story saying that the school replaced at least three-fourths of their faculty at the beginning of the academic year. McClure School Principal Katy Jimenez also said that she has never felt the kind of vibe and energy the school is currently having.
"The team has come together in an amazing way. My returning teachers gave up their summer to build a team they wanted to be a part of. Their investment is very deep. We are exhausted but so excited," Jimenez added, dianeravitch.net reported.
When the "faculty restart" happened, only 10 teachers were retained and the school hired almost 30 new ones. Tulsa World reported that the school was sincerely committed to making a positive change in a low-income neighborhood with one of the city's highest crime rates. However, as time passed, those new recruits left one by one.
Kindergarten classes had four different teachers by October, and the 4th graders were split into two classes consisting of 33 and 34 students, respectively because the other teacher was nowhere to be found until winter break. "This year was almost excruciating," the principal said. "What you can't say to parents who live in this community is your community is so challenging that it runs teachers off. ... Chaos is what it feels like. The culture is survival."
Scholasticadministrator.typepad.com reported that even during the restart, there were still two vacancies that remained unfilled because there weren't enough people who applied. Jimenez said that she is not surprised with it anymore because many, if not most of the best teachers for the job have already heard talks about the program, and some don't want to be a part of a program that is set to fail.
