B.R. to benefit from record number of Teach For America applicants

A record high number of applicants wishing to participate in the Teach For America program—about 57,000 total, an 18% increase over last year—will have a positive impact on Baton Rouge area schools later this year, says Michael Tipton, executive director of the South Louisiana chapter of the national nonprofit group. “While we are still in the selection and assignment phase of identifying our teachers for this fall, the more diverse and stronger base of applicants we get from across the country, the stronger and more diverse base we’ll be able to bring to the Baton Rouge community this fall,” Tipton says. Applications this year came from more than 2,600 schools across the country, including 21 colleges and universities in Louisiana. Among them, 2% of graduating classes from LSU and Southern University submitted applications, Tipton says, while 23% of Dillard University seniors applied and 10% of Tulane seniors. Not only did more college graduates apply to participate in the program this year, Tipton says, there was a 34% increase in applicants with graduate school degrees. The South Louisiana chapter includes more than 300 members and alumni, who are teaching an estimated 12,000 students in the region. Teach For America works to “ensure that kids growing up in poverty get an excellent education.” Selected applicants agree to teach for at least two years in low-income communities throughout the United States. —Steve Sanoski