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Boston's Morning Newsletter
How Teach for America in Mass. is attracting Gen Z educators
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Shaping the minds of tomorrow: Although many schools across the state are dealing with teaching staff shortages, the number of educators in the Teach for America program in Massachusetts has grown by 40% over the last year, according to Shannah Varón, executive director for TFA Massachusetts. That’s thanks in part to “new tactics” employed to attract Gen Zers. Of the currently 192 Massachusetts educators working for Teach For America in Boston, Chelsea, Lawrence, Fall River and Springfield, Varón says a “vast majority” are Gen Z.
- The carrot(s): It starts with some small financial wins in a field that doesn’t have many, according to Varón. TFA offers a $5,500 transitional award signing bonus (and it’s $8,500 for those who were Pell Grant recipients in college). Through both the AmeriCorps Education Award and a partnership with Boston University, TFA also offers master’s degree programs at “an extremely low cost,” as well as free licensure, said Varón.
- Why the focus on recruiting Gen Z? Varón says students can better relate to Gen Z educators: “When students see teachers who look like them … who are digital natives the way they are, we see them engage more. [And] by having teachers who inspire young people to come to school in the first place, we’ll be able to get them to do the learning that they need to do.” Varón also notes the youngest generation of adults have a zest for civic engagement.
- An uphill battle: Still, the demand for teachers across Massachusetts is “far outstripping” the number of applicants. (In June 2020, the state even authorized an emergency teaching license to keep educators flowing into the system, but those first licenses are set to expire this year.) Varón said many of the teachers in the TFA program receive four or five job offers while interviewing.
- PSA: If you know someone who would like to work with Teach for America Massachusetts in the next school year, the deadline to apply is Feb. 5.
Trader Joe’s drama: Tomorrow, the National Labor Relations Board is expected to hear complaints against Trader Joe’s by union members working at the retailer’s Hadley, Massachusetts, location, according reporting from the New England News Collaborative.
- The complaints: Workers represented by the store’s union allege there has been retaliation for union activism. Union spokesperson Maeg Yosef says they’re hoping to reach an agreement that would reinstate an employee the union says was improperly fired, and boost a retirement plan considered lesser-than for union workers than non-union workers. “The fact that the NLRB found merit in our charges …is, I think, in itself, a victory,” Yosef said.
- The bigger picture: In July 2022, the Hadley store was the first Trader Joe’s to unionize. Since then, only four other locations across the country have unionized.
ICYMI: The New England Patriots have appointed former player and assistant coach Jerod Mayo as Bill Belichick’s successor. Mayo, 37, played eight NFL seasons with the Patriots, and since 2019 has served alongside Steve Belichick as one of the team’s linebackers coachs. The promotion makes Mayo the first Black coach in the Patriots’ 64-year history and the NFL’s youngest coach.
- What players are saying: Linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and former Pats safety Devin McCourty sang Mayo’s praises. “Players love him. I love to play for him. He gets the best out of his players,” said Bentley.
- Not done yet: Belichick was both coach and general manager for the Patriots. With Mayo as coach, team owner Robert Kraft still has another spot to fill. In the meantime, Mayo will be center stage at Gillette this week when he’s formally introduced as coach during a press conference Wednesday.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Mayo as the youngest coach in NFL history. He's the youngest at this time.
