Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach for America

I decided to read this book because I am currently in the process of applying to Teach for America and wanted to find out the truth about what it's like to teach in a challenging public school in America as a corps member. What I found out were those things and more. I didn't expect such a detailed account of what it takes to make TFA work as an organization nor did I expect to read stories from school administrators and especially not a corps member who quit. He believed that TFA "trumpeted the success of teachers making `significant gains,' and because the corps members are all psycho, and because they have always been told they can do anything they set their minds to, they chase this impossible goal, running themselves ragged to change the world." I don't know what it's like to teach in a school like Locke, but I think Donna Foote tells it like it is. She reminded me how important the quality of a teacher is to a child's education and how dedicated corps members are to their cause no matter how overwhelming it might be. The four corps members depicted approached their teaching in different ways but each seemed to make a difference in their students' lives by the year's end. Reading this book made my heart sink and then rise again. Wendy Kopp's story alone is inspiring, but I felt like I actually knew the characters in this book while reading. I couldn't put it down. This is a must read for anyone thinking about applying to Teach for America or anyone who has a negative view of teaching as a profession. For me, it reaffirmed my dedication to the cause of education reform and reassured me that TFA is a place I belong. For others it might do just the opposite.

As a second-year Teach for America corps members, this book is the perfect answer to an experience that can not truly be understood by anyone outside the TFA community. After years of trying to explain the experience to family and friends (and failing, time and time again), I was amazed after only one chapter how right on Donna Foote got it. It was like someone was right there with me starting at Institute and then heading into the classroom in the fall. For any corps member who needs validation their feelings of failure and defeat, needs a reminder as to why they signed up for this in the first place, or just needs a sense of who else is going through what they're going through, this book is for you. HIGHLY recommended!

With the opening disclaimer that author Donna Foote is a friend, I want to say I believe this is a well-written and important book about the difficult task educators face. The book has the page-turner momentum of a John Grisham novel and will open the eyes of those who have never ventured inside a stark urban high school. In addition to providing a fascinating history of Teach for America, Donna offers up a compelling recap of education and race relations in Los Angeles, told from within the walls of Locke High School, one of the most challenged schools in America. This is must reading for educators, parents and government officials.

As a young teacher in an inner city school district, I found this book informative, accurate, and extremely compelling. The book precisely portrays the conditions of inner city schools and the difficulties that the students, as well as the teachers, face. The author, Donna Foote, weaves together an incredible story of four inner city school teachers with factual and informative details about our educational system as a whole. A book I picked up and couldn't put down until the end, I would recommend this book to any reader!