Giving all children the ability to attend and succeed in school: That's what "our generation's civil rights movement" should be, according to Wendy Kopp, president and founder of Teach for America.

Kopp, who granted a phone interview to The Badger Herald last week, said she is convinced that college graduates were looking for a way to make a difference in the world, so she created Teach for America, a sort of Peace Corps for teachers.

The program began in 1990 with 500 college graduates enlisted to teach in low-income communities across the country. Today, about 4,400 teachers are spread throughout the country as part of the program.

The overall goal, Kopp said, is preventing poverty from being a deterrent to college by improving high school educations.

"People are very committed to public education, and at some level we believe poverty results in low educational outcome," she said. "What we see in the classrooms of our teachers is, in fact, students can overcome the problems of poverty."

According to Kopp, students who study in the nation's inner cities graduate high school at an eighth-grade skill level and proceed to struggle when they reach college. But she added that many schools are improving, the majority of which are run by Teach for America.

Amy Duarte, a 2004 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, taught in Washington, D.C., for two years after college and called it a "life-changing experience."

"Despite all of these things, I set the goal that we would make two years' progress in one year," Duarte told The Badger Herald. "I spent a lot of time outside my school — building relationships with parents and other teachers in the school. My students made two years' progress — some even more."

Each of the first-grade students Duarte taught was learning the English language for the first time under her leadership. Many of those students could not read, write or count to 10.

Duarte received her bachelor's degree in political science and history from UW, and her plan was to move on to law school immediately after her time with Teach for America. However, because of the rewarding experience she received, she took a job as a Madison-based Teach for America recruiter.

And while she doesn't rule law school out, Duarte said she would study education and immigration issues as a law student because teaching inspired her to take these on as her passions.

Kopp added she knows people like Duarte are intensely affected by their experiences with Teach for America.

"We know the experience of teaching in urban areas is important," Kopp said. "The lessons they learn shape their future decisions."

Duarte is coordinating an event Wednesday where three Teach for America participants and UW alumni will be talking to students about their experiences with the program. The event will be from noon until 2 p.m. on the second floor of the Red Gym.