The Atlanta school board race is getting some national attention because four candidates are veterans of Teach for America. Their TFA’s stints are raising concerns among those who question the motives and modus operandi of the national organization, which puts bright college grads into the classroom after boot camp-like training.

Critics contend that TFA has a larger goal than recruiting smart college grads to teach in poor schools for two years. (See story in the Atlanta Progressive News in which critics voice concerns that the influence of TFA on the privatization of public education.)  

The four candidates are District 7 incumbent Courtney English who is seeking re-election and unopposed District 3 candidate Matt Westmoreland who will replace Cecily Harsch-Kinnane.  

Eshe Collins is running for the District 6 seat held now by Yolanda Johnson. Jason Esteves is seeking Emmett Johnson’s District 9 seat.  

Writing on her blog about the TFA candidates in Atlanta, education historian Diane Ravitch said this week, “This seems to be the TFA long-term plan, as Wendy Kopp has often stated: to build a cadre of leaders with a strong network of funders across the nation. We know what this has meant in Louisiana, the District of Columbia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, where TFA-trained leaders have fought for privatization, high-stakes testing, test-based teacher evaluation, and merit pay. “

Here is my view:  The Teach for America backgrounds of these candidates do not alarm me. In fact, their TFA service demonstrates two qualities critical for school board members in Georgia:

 1. They care about education. Teach for America has a tough admission process; it takes the best of the best. So, these folks had to work hard to get chosen. This is not a three-page application.

 2. They want to change education. They believe it is possible.

In Georgia, not all school board candidates run because they care about education or believe change is possible. Some of them care about taxes – keeping them low. Some of them care about selling more insurance or starter homes.  And not all of them want change. I have seen school boards that clearly want to maintain the status quo and the football title. Folks elected them to leave things alone, not shake them up.

So, I am happy to see energized young people running.

However, I would be wary of any candidate who believes that privatizing public education – an experiment with a bleak track record as far as the research is concerned -- is the solution.  

A Teach for America credential doesn't automatically suit someone for school board service. Nor does it disqualify them.

Here are the candidates and an AJC story on them: 

(I searched for their campaign websites so please click on them to learn more about each candidates. Some candidates had no sites but Robert Stockwell at Financial Deconstruction has some basic info on them so I linked to his blog.)

 •District 1:  Brenda Muhammad , incumbent, and Leslie Grant

  •District 2: Byron Amos, incumbent, unopposed

  •District 3: Matt Westmoreland is the sole candidate

  •District 4. Nancy Meister, incumbent, and Taryn Bowman

  •District 5:  Raynard Johnson, Steven Lee,  Charles Lawrence, Mary L. Palmer, Kathy Green

   •District 6: Dell Byrd, Eshe Collins, Anne Wofford McKenzie and Shawnna Hayes-Tavares

   •District 7 – Courtney English incumbent, and Nisha Simama

  •District 8 - Cynthia Briscoe Brown, Reuben McDaniel incumbent, Mark Riley, Tom Tidwell and Dave Walker

   •District 9 -  Eddie Lee Brewster, Jason Esteves, Lori James,  Ed Johnson and Sean Norman