Teach For America's presence in Texas may be in jeopardy thanks to the state's $20 billion budget shortfall. Lawmakers seeking to slash programs have commissioned a study that will look at the effectiveness and retention rates of almost 1,000 Teach For America (TFA) teachers across the state. The question they hope to answer: Are those TFA teachers worth $8 million dollars?

Teach For America teachers commit to teach for two years in the state's most difficult to staff, lowest performing schools. The $8 million investment-$4 million for each year of the commitment-funds TFA's 5 week training program as well as ongoing support of the new teachers. Individual school districts then pick up the cost of salaries and benefits.