I’ve written in the past about how highly I value Rethinking Schools Magazine. The magazine, and articles from it, are on many of my “The Best…” lists, including The Best Magazine/Newspaper Websites For Useful News & Intellectual Stimulation.

They’ve done it again.

They’re publishing an exceptional article by Barbara Miner titled “Looking Past The Spin,” which is a not-to-be-missed analysis of Teach For America.

It reinforces, and amplifies, all of my concerns about TFA, which I wrote about in Why I Oppose Teach For America Coming To Sacramento.

Our School Board will be taking a final vote next week on whether to invite TFA into Sacramento.

I’ve written a lot about my concerns related to scapegoating teachers, firing all teachers in one school, and the tendency by some to look for magic bullets in school reform.

Education Week today published an excellent column by a former school Superintendent titled Is Firing Teachers The Answer?

Here’s an excerpt:

We should pay attention to what a quarter-century of research on successful school change has taught us. Children’s learning will improve if a teacher does something different and better in the classroom. I rarely met a teacher who was intentionally doing a bad job. As my understanding evolved, I realized that the issue was less teachers’ willingness than their ability to meet the daunting challenges they faced. So my strategy also evolved: from just clearing out the deadwood, to developing the skills and capacities of the vast majority of teachers who wanted to do a good job but needed help.

There’s a lot of wisdom, I think, in this short column.