The Case For National Service

The Activists
Bryan Snyder / Reuters / Corbis

Teach for America

Article Tools
Print
Sphere
RSS

Founder: Wendy Kopp

When: 1990 in New York City

Website: teachforamerica.org

Bright Idea: Connect the worst American schools with the brightest young college graduates.

Impact: Much as previous generations of Peace Corps volunteers committed two years to assisting developing countries, top graduates now spend two years teaching at the U.S. schools where their talents are most needed. By 2010, TFA plans to manage 8,000 corps members, who will make up 10% to 30% of the new teachers in the 33 communities they serve.

The Next Wave: TFA alumni have gone on to start several programs focusing on educational inequity and other issues.

—The New Teacher Project: Increases teacher quality in struggling schools by helping districts recruit and prepare more than 23,000 teachers nationwide. One program, in New York City, helps mid-career professionals make the transition into teaching.

—Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP): Started in inner-city Houston in 1994, it expanded nationally with the help of Gap founders Doris and Donald Fisher. KIPP supports a network of 57 free college-prep public schools in under-resourced areas. The 14,000 KIPP kids sign commitment forms pledging long hours and quality work. Sixty percent of KIPP school leaders and 33% of KIPP teachers are TFA alums.

—YES Schools: A network of charter schools in Houston that serves low-income, minority students, YES sets a high bar for graduation: students must be accepted to a four-year college to get their diplomas.

—by Jeremy Caplan and Kristina Dell

Next: VolunteerMatch >>

Commentary: Caroline Kennedy

Making a Difference at Home

Inspired by their work abroad, Peace Corps volunteers return to the U.S. as teachers, bringing the lessons they learned to the kids who need them most

Commentary: Michael Kinsley

National Service? Puh-lease

Michael Kinsley thinks TIME editor Rick Stengel's call for compulsory national service is naïve. What we really need is better free-market capitalism

Service Abroad

How Others Serve

Abroad, civilian service ranges from diplomacy to firefighting

Election 2008

What These Presidents Would Ask of You

The candidates push for cash incentives, loan help, new service corps

Influentials On The Ground

The Activists

These nonprofit stars started small but took on big problems, from education to poverty to making volunteers more effective. The clearest sign of their success? The spin-offs built on their bright ideas

Get Involved

Resource Guide

Here, TIME provides a variety of websites to help you get started on giving back

Podcast

A Call For National Service

Caroline Kennedy and Jeff Sachs talk with TIME Senior Editor Jyoti Thottam about the value of community and national service in the U.S. and abroad, their concerns about required national service, and the role of a universal national service program

Interviews

Voices of the Volunteers

Four volunteers, and the founder of Teach for America, talk about what motivates them, and what they have learned

Military Service

Would National Service Be Better Than the Draft?

Some argue that a military option as part of a national service requirement would be good for the country. Others say it would be bad for the military

Talkback

How Do You Serve Your Community?

Now it's your turn to speak up about the value of volunteering and national service. Why do you volunteer? What impact do volunteers make in your community? Do you think the United States should have a national service program?

For the Kids

Young Volunteers, TIME For Kids Wants You!

Nominate an American kid or youth group involved in a remarkable volunteer or service project. Each month, TIME For Kids will choose one project to feature in its pages