In urban school systems, the percentage of teachers that leave the profession is disproportionally high. Part of the driving force for this high rate of teacher turnover are alternative certification programmes, like Teach For America (TFA) which recruits teachers only for a short-term teaching commitment. This study contributes a novel perspective on these teachers’ decision to stay or exit the classroom after this two-year commitment by analysing extensive open-ended qualitative interviews with 30 TFA participants in Los Angeles. Within this sample, a majority enter the programme without viewing teaching as a long-term career option, though they are willing to extend their initial two-year teaching commitment for several years, though not much longer after that. Only a minority of these teachers entered TFA as a means of becoming long-term classroom teachers. No teachers changed their long-term career plans as a result of their participation in TFA. Implications are discussed.