Teach for America Called It “Medical.” I Didn’t.

March 11, 2026

Before Anything Went Wrong, I Was In It

I completed all my onboarding work.

That part matters.

Teach For America’s own records show I was in the process, doing what I was supposed to do, and completing required coursework across April and early May 2023.

TFA’s onboarding log ties all of that to my name, region, and 2023 corps year, with modules completed through May 2, 2023.

On May 18, 2023, TFA sent me a hiring email confirming: “Congratulations, you’re hired!” for a teaching position at Élan Academy in New Orleans.

*TFA’s own hiring email confirming they hired me for a teaching position before this all went down.*

This hiring email matters because I was placed early in the interview process, and I was a STEM placement!

This was not some casual “maybe”.

Then I Ended Up in the Hospital During Pre-Service

That is where things started to shift…

On June 2, Dana Cager emailed me after a call and told me to complete a form by June 9.

The next morning, I replied with a simple question: what’s the difference between “release” and “medical withdrawal”?

*Dana’s response on June 3, 2023. Even then, the language already felt slippery.*

TFA Told Me I Was “Being Released”

By June 5, the ambiguity was gone.

TFA told me directly that this was not about me asking for a release.

*Dana Cager’s June 5, 2023 email stating that I was “being released,” not requesting a release.*

Dana Cager wrote: “you are being released.” She also said that because I was in the hospital during missed time, it “falls under the medical category,” and that I was being released “due to a medical situation, thus the medical release.”

I Objected in Writing at the Time

I said so plainly in real time.

That same day, I replied:

“I am not requesting a medical release… You have released me because I was in the hospital. I don’t understand why I’m being asked to make it appear as though I have asked to be released when I have not.”

*June 5, 2023: TFA said I was “being released.” I replied that I was NOT requesting a medical release.*

The Emails Kept Getting More Cryptic

On June 7, I made my position even clearer.

I wrote that I was not signing anything, that I would be seeking legal counsel, and that the emails felt “VERY cryptic.”

*My June 7, 2023 response: I was not signing anything, and I said that something was not right.*

That was my reaction to the process as it was unfolding, not years later.

Dana Cager wrote that because I missed TWO subsequent days of (virtual) Launch Live while hospitalized, they had to exit me from the program. More on that later.

She then laid out several possible categories for that exit:

No show
Declined
Resignation
Request for release / medical withdrawal

Dana said that because my absences were due to hospitalization, they chose the language of medical withdrawal.

This June 8 email is telling for a few reasons. TFA contacted my “emergency contact” which was my mother while I was hospitalized.

Then, in this same email, Dana framed the situation in a way that tried to shift responsibility away from TFA’s decision-making and onto circumstances around me.

*June 8, 2023: TFA laid out its exit categories, and mentioned contacting my “emergency” contact over TWO missed (virtual) Pre-Service meetings.*

Dana also stated that if I involved legal counsel, I needed to inform them so they could involve theirs. That detail speaks for itself.

June 8, 2023: TFA explains exit options,
and said I needed to inform them if I had legal counsel.

And there is another reason this part matters: corps members are allowed to miss two days of training. That was stated in online training materials.

At the end of the day, TFA is saying that missing TWO days of virtual Pre-Service while I was hospitalized justified pushing me out under a so-called medical withdrawal. That is ridiculous.

Dana also put that if they did not hear from me by June 20, they would process a medical withdrawal “in good faith”.

Then TFA Made It Official

*June 27, 2023: TFA made the so-called medical withdrawal official and called it “good faith.”*

On June 27, 2023, TFA sent an official letter stating that I had been granted a medical withdrawal from my two-year commitment (with the Executive Director CC’d in the email).

The letter said this was because I missed TWO days at the start of (virtual) Pre-Service while I was in the hospital.

It also tied that status to future return conditions and repayment obligations connected to transitional funding.

*The official making the so-called medical withdrawal final.*

So by that point, what had began as confusing and contradictory language had become an official status.

What the Record Shows

The record, in order, looks like this:

TFA hired me.
TFA’s records showed I completed onboarding work.
I was hospitalized during pre-service.
TFA told me I was being released, not that I was asking to be released.
I objected in writing and said I was not requesting a medical release.
TFA processed a medical withdrawal anyway.

Why I’m Posting This

This is why this post exists.

Not bitterness. Not drama. Documentation.

This was not some vague misunderstanding or one rude email.

It was an administrative decision wrapped in policy language, with the terms shifting while I was questioning it in real time.

The paper trail makes that plain…