Continued: Schools get rich talent in return for flexibility

There was a time not long ago when it seemed as if the top graduates of America's leading schools all wanted to be investment bankers or work for the big consulting firms.

Some of them still do, but a growing number of "the best and the brightest" are opting for a very different path. They want to be teachers. Encouraged and recruited by an organization called Teach for America, they specifically want to close the gap that separates too many low-income and minority students from the education they need to survive in the 21st century.

As a result, 40 of the nation's top college graduates will be reporting for work at some of the Twin Cities most challenged public schools in September. These new instructors will be teaching in the Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center schools and in charter schools in both Minneapolis and St. Paul for at least two years.

This influx of teachers is significant testimony to the willingness of state and local education officials to put results over process. Because they provided the flexibility needed for Teach for America corps members to become alternatively certified, these new graduates will be able to get to work immediately. Teach for America teachers will be trained and fully certified by Hamline University during the two years each has committed to teach here.

In return for this flexibility, the schools are getting new teachers from a talent bank that has never been richer. They come from the Ivy League, from the best colleges in Minnesota and from states around the country, with a grade point average of 3.6 (on a 4.0 scale) and majors ranging from industrial engineering to music. Sixteen percent of graduating seniors at Yale this year applied to teach with Teach for America, as did 450 seniors from schools in Minnesota, including the University of Minnesota, Macalester and Carleton.

Teach for America's expansion to the Twin Cities is funded with a $2.7 million grant from local businesses, including Medtronic and General Mills, as well as leading area foundations. This reflects our respect for the results achieved by the program in other cities and our commitment to addressing the alarming rate at which our state is failing to ensure a proper education for far too many young Minnesotans.

In a state renowned for academic prowess, it should concern us that one of our largest school districts is falling behind the rest of the country. A national study published last spring rated Minneapolis 45th among America's 50 largest cities when it came to our high school graduation rates. Equally troubling is what young people aren't learning while they're still in school. Less than half the students in the city school system are proficient in reading, and only 40 percent in math. The numbers are particularly discouraging if you single out math and science, the two areas most crucial to the future of our children and the future of the nation.

This is unacceptable. It's time to do something different. It's time for Teach for America, an organization dedicated to eliminating these kinds of inequalities.

In the Twin Cities, teachers will be assigned to schools where the household incomes of 70 percent of the students qualify them for federal free lunches. This poverty is a challenge that draws many to Teach for America. And they get results. An Urban Institute study published in March finds that Teach for America teachers often deliver superior performance for their students, as measured by exam results. The positive results span all subject areas but are particularly strong in math and science.

We commend the dedicated and resourceful teachers already at work in our schools. We know that they share our excitement about these exceptional allies who will join them in their schools in September. Together, they can drive real change for the students who deserve the opportunity.

William Hawkins is chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. Kendall J. Powell is chairman and chief executive officer of General Mills.