What we believe

 

WE BELIEVE...

Urban Education is the single greatest social justice and civil rights issue in America today.

We believe that urban students are in great need.  We believe that educational injustice exists along economic and racial lines for these students. 

We believe that these students deserve an opportunity for an excellent education… regardless of which school they attend or what neighborhood they call home.  

We believe, that all students can learn and all students – as those made in the image of God – have amazing potential for a life… potential for spiritual and emotional success; and potential for living this life with purpose.

And, we believe, that a career that seeks to meet the educational needs of these children is a worthy and noble calling.  It is a life not wasted.

Teachers can make the difference.

We believe that teachers are a key to a child’s future.  
We believe that a teacher can have a more positive impact in the life of a child than anyone else– other than a parent.  
We believe that there is no other profession that allows for greater leverage and potential blessing in the life of a child than does teaching.  
We believe that teachers are professionals and should be trained as such.  

We believe, as many do in the education world, that teachers are to be leaders who are to…
Demonstrate lives of character and integrity
Possess a disposition of patience and self-control
Establish and communicate a Vision to students and parents
Work hard and maximize their time well

And, finally, we believe that urban teachers need exceptional training and on-going support to be the leader that is necessary to close the education gap in our city. 

Teachers are the backbone of America’s education system. Recent research has confirmed what many educators have long suspected: teachers matter more to student learning than anything else schools do. Indeed, studies have found that high-quality teachers can offset—or even eliminate—the disadvantage of a low socioeconomic background. Those of us who are serious about improving education in America, particularly among our neediest children, cannot ignore the importance of improving human teaching capital.

Yet within the field of education, teachers are often insufficiently recruited, inadequately trained, inequitably distributed, and unfairly compensated. This is a justice issue.  In response, Memphis is devising a bold new way to tackle this education injustice for our city’s children: the Memphis Teacher Residency.