Americorps, Peace Corps, Teach for America

Please remember that this is not the Political Forum. Discussions of the national debt, etc. are off-topic to this thread. Thank you for your understanding.

Looks like some Americorps folks are being sent home now. :cry:

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Was just coming to post this! All Americorps NCCC teams were de-deployed on Tuesday and the kids are being sent home. I still think overall this is part of a very interesting and educational experience for my kid. A shame that it’s not something others will be able to experience in the future. They did a lot of good out there! Food shelters, habitat for humanity, trail maintenance, disaster recovery and preparedness were all part of their scope. But also just training a bunch of young, energetic kids how to be kind, think of service to others, work as a team, and build their character.
Farewell Americorps! In the 30 years you existed, you helped a generation of kids grow up to be better human beings. An incredible legacy when you think about it.

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As stated above, AmeriCorp members are let go. My D knows a few people who planned to work with AmeriCorp after graduation this year. I haven’t heard yet what communication they’ve received, but I presume their offers have been rescinded. I will update this thread once she talks to them after spring break; she is obviously not bringing it up first but they are close friends so I’m sure it will be discussed.

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I have not read anything about Teach for America being at risk at this point. Perhaps since the majority of their funding is from private sources, it will survive for now. However, as a member of AmeriCorp I am concerned. TFA has updated their FAQ to indicate some benefits may be in jeopardy.

“Given the nature of the AmeriCorps competitive grant process and the dependence on Congressional funding cycles, we cannot guarantee these benefits for corps members serving during the 2025-2026 school year until receiving final confirmation in June 2025.”

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29% of TFA’s cash contributions come from public sources, and 71% come from private sources.

The actual salary and benefits package comes from the school district and you are an employee of the district, not an employee of TFA. My daughter was in the teachers union. She had to interview with multiple people in the district, do 2 demo lessons, etc. The school does not have to choose you.

There is an Americorp grant which can be used toward a masters at their affiliated school (if your state requires) or toward loan repayment. Also- each year of TFA your student loan gets reduced by about $1500. I assume funding for this has ended.

When my daughter did TFA there were a lot of anonymous private donations that covered the cost of dinners, Broadway shows, social gatherings, gift cards for expensive shoes, etc.

If schools have to lay off teachers they typically do this through seniority- last in first out. It doesn’t mean that a TFA hired teacher will be let go if somebody was hired later. They follow the teachers contract.

Now, of course, we are living in unusual times (putting it mildly) and I have no idea how funding will happen for districts in big cities and rural areas
.moving forward. Those are the districts that have TFA affiliated teachers- it’s not Great Neck or Chappaqua.

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I believe a huge issue for AmeriCorp was that it receives over a billion dollars of taxpayer money yearly, yet had failed their last 8 audits. It is not closed down, about 75% of staff have been let go while there is an attempt to understand why they have not been able to pass a financial audit in that length of time. If they can do so, funding can be re-instated.

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I understand it is the DoE has failed the last 3 audits, but only can find info about TFA failing in 2008. It is the Pentagon that has failed 7 consecutive audits.
Also, TFA receives about $40million annually, not a billion.

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I haven’t expressed an opinion, was just correcting what I thought was some incorrect data. :woman_shrugging:

Don’t go away mad


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Ok, but here is the thing. My post was in response to another about AMERICORPS. I specifically re-stated in my post my information was about Americorps. You then countered with numbers / data that are from TEACH FOR AMERICA. These are 2 entirely different organizations! I am not saying you are purposely trying to confuse the issue, but who is posting incorrect data? However, I will say your post did cause me to take a deeper look into Teach for America and well the financials are troubling as well. Ok - done with this.

My admittedly still learning understanding is that TFA is part of Americorps. I think that is why the other poster brought TFA into the discussion.

I could be wrong.

But I think we are all learning so maybe patience for all is good? :woman_shrugging:t3:

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Fair enough. I made a mistake and thought the discussion had turned to TFA specifically.

You are right and I was wrong.

Since you felt the need to look at my posting history, I would think you might have seen that I don’t tend to dig in and have irretractable positions on too many issues.

It is frustrating to try to participate in a dialogue and learn more only to have someone attack your motives, throw up their hands and storm off after a single post they don’t agree with.

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My S graduates in May and (knock on wood) will be serving in Americorps’ Go Fellowship program.

He has been placed at a charter school in NE and is suppose to start this summer.

We are hoping that private donations (which supposedly comprise a big part of the budget for the program) will be able to offset any cuts to Americorps” partial funding of this program.

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Just a reminder - this is a non-political thread, so speculations, assumption, and even facts regarding political motives should be posted in the Politics Forum.

Thank you all for your compliance.

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Americorps NCCC, which was shut down this week, has a budget of $37.7 million this year, scheduled to increase to $42.4 million next year. Even if they manage to keep that budget, they probably won’t need it. I doubt many kids will sign up going forward. They’re volunteers looking to get a year of service on their resumes, so I would think they would look for an organization that would be more likely to honor their commitments.

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My child graduates in a month, and the surprise for them has been how the DOGE cuts have impacted not just federal programs but also the civil sector: so many NGOs that do important global work depend upon grants from the federal government. And in the private sector, there is massive concern about the unpredictability of federal economic policy and how that will impact us in the next few years, so many private sector positions working overseas are in a pause now as well.

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For all these kids going to school for policy or wanting to work for an NGO or the government, etc. it’s a crazy time to go to school.

My guess is we will look back in four years - and the current “state” of solid majors will be different. Who knows - maybe even social sciences will be getting cut - if all these jobs disappear.

I don’t know what the hot majors will be - I assume majors like accounting and engineering will always be “solid” but there’s just no way to know.

In many ways, it’s unfair to be a kid today - having to choose what you study.

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Even the research sciences are in flux
 friend’s child who was going to start grad school fall 25 has watched as her funding evaporated at school after school as NOAA was dismembered. And similarly with so many of the basic sciences, and health sciences.

It will be interesting to see how many international students stop coming here for grad school, and how many US students will start going overseas for grad school (which was the advice given to my friend’s child).

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