It’s been over three weeks since I put on my red City Year jacket for the last time. The 2016-17 Corps graduated on May 9th, and I’ve been planning to write this blog post all year. Yet, I’ve been putting it off.
I know I must address some of program’s critical flaws. The mission of City Year is to “put idealism to work” in the nation’s school system, but this self-sacrificing idealism doesn’t always help the children.
At the same time, I know that Donald Trump’s proposed budget puts nearly every national service program on the chopping block — and, imperfect as City Year is, I have seen how much the schools we work in depend on our service. I don’t want anything I write to be used as an argument in favor of City Year’s elimination. (Here’s a post that outlines all the arguments in favor of keeping the program.)
Pedamagog 