Teach For America is a network of leaders transforming the education landscape in Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana in order to ensure that one day all students have access to an excellent education. We recruit and develop promising young leaders to teach in low-income schools for at least two years, then support their impact throughout their career, both within and outside of the education system. 

Our region’s 3,400 corps members and alumni work across sectors to improve student outcomes and drive systemic change. After their initial two-year teaching commitment, two-thirds stay in education, a community that makes up over 7 percent of Chicago’s teachers and over 20 percent of Chicago’s principals and assistant principals. Teachers in our network achieve an average 1.4 years of academic growth with their students, and our principals lead the highest-rated schools at nearly two times the rate of their peers. Our alumni are policymakers, and also lead the highest impact education organizations in Chicago, such as OneGoal, The Chicago Public Education Fund, and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.

Teach For America works in partnership with urban and rural communities in 53 regions across the country to expand educational opportunity for children. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding leaders to make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to end educational inequity. Today Teach For America is a force of 56,000 alumni and corps members committed to profound systemic change.

From classrooms to districts to state houses across America, they’re reimagining education to realize the day when every child has an equal opportunity to learn, to grow, to influence and to lead. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.