Kopp originally proposed the establishment of Teach for America through her undergraduate dissertation at Princeton University. She was certain that many individuals in her generation were looking for a way to take up significant responsibilities that would truly make an impact in the world that surrounds them and that the best college students would pick teaching over more money-spinning opportunities, if only a prominent and well-established teachers’ corps existed.
With this concept in mind, Kopp set her plan in motion shortly after she graduated and built Teach For America in 1990. The company recruited recent graduates and professionals to teach for two years in underprivileged rural and urban communities across United States. Teach For America aims to enable its corps members to create short-term yet long-lasting impacts on students as well as become lifelong frontrunners in advocating educational equality. The company’s corps members need not be certified teachers, but those who are can also apply.
In Teach For America’s first year in business, it has placed about 500 teachers. By 2010, the organization accepted nearly 50,000 applications which resulted to 4,500 new members. A huge number of applicants came from Ivy League, Spelman, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and University of California-Berkley.
Without a doubt, Kopp has pioneered a brand new revolution in the educational industry, and in doing so, has not only transformed the often unjust system of education, but also changed the lives of the thousands of individuals that became a part of her organization.