TFAers being used to replace thousands of experienced, laid-off teachers

WaPo reports that 4,500 Teach for America recruits will be placed, mainly in inner-city in public schools, this year after five weeks of summer preparation.They will take the place of thousands of riffed veteran teachers.

In an economy in which options have narrowed for new graduates, competition is intense....

"What's terrific about it is that it makes teaching sexy for a group of people for whom teaching would not ordinarily be sexy. And it attracts bright people," said Arthur Levine, former president of Teachers College at Columbia University. But he said five weeks of training is not enough. Nor is it adequate, he said, to know the subject matter: Teachers also must know how to connect with children.