Teach For America will host a panel at AU on Oct. 20 to speak on the current state of the U.S. public education system and the D.C. public school system.
Teach For America is an organization that recruits recent college graduates to teach at urban and rural public schools across the country, according to its website.
Adam Rupe, the D.C. regional recruitment manager, said the panelists will answer questions about what it takes to ensure that all children receive a proper education that will prepare them for the work force or for college.
“The education system in America isn’t where it should be right now,” Rupe said. “It’s one thing to understand education in an academic sense, but it’s another to understand it and figure out the reasons behind it.”
The panel will consist of Teach For America alumni, educators and others who are concerned about education in the United States. It will focus on the state of education in the lower-income Washington neighborhoods and how it compares to the educational standings of other low-income areas around the country.
The list of panelists has not yet been confirmed.
Teacher For America Campus Campaign Coordinators Olivia Stitilis, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, and Deon Jones, a sophomore in SPA, will moderate the panel.
Stitilis said the purpose of the event is to inform AU students of the educational inequities in D.C. schools.
“Many students at American know that D.C. public schools face challenges, but they have no idea of the scope or the magnitude of the problems,” she said.
Stitilis said she hopes the panel will educate students of the achievement gap that exists for D.C. public school students.
The panel will be held in the Mary Graydon Center room 4 at 7 p.m.
