A letter from a disgusted teacher:
I QUIT
Kris L. Nielsen
Monroe, NC 28110
Union County Public Schools
Human Resources Department
400 North Church Street
Monroe, NC 28112
October 25, 2012
To All it May Concern:
I’m doing something I thought I would never do—something that will make me a statistic and a caricature of the times. Some will support me, some will shake their heads and smirk condescendingly—and others will try to convince me that I’m part of the problem. Perhaps they’re right, but I don’t think so. All I know is that I’ve hit a wall, and in order to preserve my sanity, my family, and the forward movement of our lives, I have no other choice.
Before I go too much into my choice, I must say that I have the advantages and disadvantages of differentiated experience under my belt. I have seen the other side, where the grass was greener, and I unknowingly jumped the fence to where the foliage is either so tangled and dense that I can’t make sense of it, or the grass is wilted and dying (with no true custodian of its health). Are you lost? I’m talking about public K-12 education in North Carolina. I’m talking about my history as a successful teacher and leader in two states before moving here out of desperation.
In New Mexico, I led a team of underpaid teachers who were passionate about their jobs and who did amazing things. We were happy because our students were well-behaved, our community was supportive, and our jobs afforded us the luxuries of time, respect, and visionary leadership. Our district was huge, but we got things done because we were a team. I moved to Oregon because I was offered a fantastic job with a higher salary, a great math program, and superior benefits for my family. Again, I was given the autonomy I dreamed of, and I used it to find new and risky ways to introduce technology into the math curriculum. My peers looked forward to learning from me, the community gave me a lot of money to get my projects off the ground, and my students were amazing.
Then, the bottom fell out. I don’t know who to blame for the budget crisis in Oregon, but I know it decimated the educational coffers. I lost my job only due to my lack of seniority. I was devastated. My students and their parents were angry and sad. I told myself I would hang in there, find a temporary job, and wait for the recall. Neither the temporary job nor the recall happened. I tried very hard to keep my family in Oregon—applying for jobs in every district, college, private school, and even Toys R Us. Nothing happened after over 300 applications and 2 interviews.
The Internet told me that the West Coast was not hiring teachers anymore, but the East Coast was the go-to place. Charlotte, North Carolina couldn’t keep up with the demand! I applied with three schools, got three phone interviews, and was even hired over the phone. My very supportive and adventurous family and I packed quickly and moved across the country, just so I could keep teaching.
I had come from two very successful and fun teaching jobs to a new state where everything was different. During my orientation, I noticed immediately that these people weren’t happy to see us; they were much more interested in making sure we knew their rules. It was a one-hour lecture about what happens when teachers mess up. I had a bad feeling about teaching here from the start; but, we were here and we had to make the best of it.
Union County seemed to be the answer to all of my problems. The rumors and the press made it sound like UCPS was the place to be progressive, risky, and happy. So I transferred from CMS to UCPS. They made me feel more welcome, but it was still a mistake to come here.
Let me cut to the chase: I quit. I am resigning my position as a teacher in the state of North Carolina—permanently. I am quitting without notice (taking advantage of the “at will” employment policies of this state). I am quitting without remorse and without second thoughts. I quit. I quit. I quit!
Why?
Because…
I refuse to be led by a top-down hierarchy that is completely detached from the classrooms for which it is supposed to be responsible.
I will not spend another day under the expectations that I prepare every student for the increasing numbers of meaningless tests.
I refuse to be an unpaid administrator of field tests that take advantage of children for the sake of profit.
I will not spend another day wishing I had some time to plan my fantastic lessons because administration comes up with new and inventive ways to steal that time, under the guise of PLC meetings or whatever. I’ve seen successful PLC development. It doesn’t look like this.
I will not spend another day wondering what menial, administrative task I will hear that I forgot to do next. I’m far enough behind in my own work.
I will not spend another day wondering how I can have classes that are full inclusion, and where 50% of my students have IEPs, yet I’m given no support.
I will not spend another day in a district where my coworkers are both on autopilot and in survival mode. Misery loves company, but I will not be that company.
I refuse to subject students to every ridiculous standardized test that the state and/or district thinks is important. I refuse to have my higher-level and deep thinking lessons disrupted by meaningless assessments (like the EXPLORE test) that do little more than increase stress among children and teachers, and attempt to guide young adolescents into narrow choices.
I totally object and refuse to have my performance as an educator rely on “Standard 6.” It is unfair, biased, and does not reflect anything about the teaching practices of proven educators.
I refuse to hear again that it’s more important that I serve as a test administrator than a leader of my peers.
I refuse to watch my students being treated like prisoners. There are other ways. It’s a shame that we don’t have the vision to seek out those alternatives.
I refuse to watch my coworkers being treated like untrustworthy slackers through the overbearing policies of this state, although they are the hardest working and most overloaded people I know.
I refuse to watch my family struggle financially as I work in a job to which I have invested 6 long years of my life in preparation. I have a graduate degree and a track record of strong success, yet I’m paid less than many two-year degree holders. And forget benefits—they are effectively nonexistent for teachers in North Carolina.
I refuse to watch my district’s leadership tell us about the bad news and horrific changes coming towards us, then watch them shrug incompetently, and then tell us to work harder.
I refuse to listen to our highly regarded superintendent telling us that the charter school movement is at our doorstep (with a soon-to-be-elected governor in full support) and tell us not to worry about it, because we are applying for a grant from Race to the Top. There is no consistency here; there is no leadership here.
I refuse to watch my students slouch under the weight of a system that expects them to perform well on EOG tests, which do not measure their abilities other than memorization and application and therefore do not measure their readiness for the next grade level—much less life, career, or college.
I’m tired of watching my students produce amazing things, which show their true understanding of 21st century skills, only to see their looks of disappointment when they don’t meet the arbitrary expectations of low-level state and district tests that do not assess their skills.
I refuse to hear any more about how important it is to differentiate our instruction as we prepare our kids for tests that are anything but differentiated. This negates our hard work and makes us look bad.
I am tired of hearing about the miracles my peers are expected to perform, and watching the districts do next to nothing to support or develop them. I haven’t seen real professional development in either district since I got here. The development sessions I have seen are sloppy, shallow, and have no real means of evaluation or accountability.
I’m tired of my increasing and troublesome physical symptoms that come from all this frustration, stress, and sadness.
Finally, I’m tired of watching parents being tricked into believing that their children are being prepared for the complex world ahead, especially since their children’s teachers are being cowed into meeting expectations and standards that are not conducive to their children’s futures.
I’m truly angry that parents put so much stress, fear, and anticipation into their kids’ heads in preparation for the EOG tests and the new MSLs—neither of which are consequential to their future needs. As a parent of a high school student in Union County, I’m dismayed at the education that my child receives, as her teachers frantically prepare her for more tests. My toddler will not attend a North Carolina public school. I will do whatever it takes to keep that from happening.
I quit because I’m tired being part of the problem. It’s killing me and it’s not doing anyone else any good. Farewell.
CC: Dr. Mary Ellis
Dr. June Atkinson
Where on earth are the teacher unions? How is this happening? There was a day when teachers would take a united stand for change. Guess what? It worked. My first year of teaching was 1980 in New York State. My first day on the job I drove into the parking lot to encounter a picket line. Yes, it was illegal to strike, but we did it anyway (We were docked two days pay for every day we struck–3 days of strike equaled six days of lost pay which admin kindly took out of our pay checks right before Christmas). It was worth it. After 3 days we were back in the classroom and I got a 10 percent raise which made me no longer (barely) qualify for food stamps. Teachers continued to move towards earning living wages and better working conditions throughout the 80’s and 90’s…up until NCLB and well funded political machines with extremist agendas. Teachers from California to North Carolina need to take a stand, support one another, and say enough is enough. Imagine what would happen if we held a national teacher strike. It would last 2 days. If we care about our students as much as we say we do, we wouldn’t think twice. I currently teach in Nebraska where we thankfully have no charter schools and common sense still rules. Low pay, but overall teachers are respected and by and large the state government stays out of our business. However, there are groups with agendas trying to push their way into our state as well. I fear it’s only a matter of time before a North Carolina disaster spreads here, too. If teachers don’t take a united stand, we will continue to be steamrollered by folks with power who couldn’t do our demanding jobs for one single day.
North Carolina is a right to work state. It is the right of the employer to choose applicants.
http://www.nrtw.org/c/ncrtwlaw.htm
Where are the unions? They don’t exist in North Carolina. Unionization has been outlawed. Look where that has gotten us.
North Carolina is a “right to work” state, which means unions are not allowed by law, although our Republican Governor likes to spout off about our “teachers union” which does not exist. It is a sad, sad state of affairs for North Carolina.
That is cute, unions have been beaten down. They mean nothing, don’t you remember all those states breaking the teachers unions a few years ago. Remember the media painting the picture of the over paid teacher with 2 months off every year.
The unions are all but eradicated in most of this country.
Where are the teachers’ unions? Bill Gates bought them. http://raginghorse.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/bill-gates-continues-to-purchase-major-teacher-unions-and-at-discount-rates/
So create new unions — only call them “Professional Associations” to throw off the right-wingers. When the labor movement first began, *all* unions and organizing (and strikes) were illegal, and the “labor wars” were real shooting wars. Nonetheless, the unions eventually won. It can be done again.
And I know a very old, very honest, very skillful union that would be happy to help you: the Industrial Workers of the World. Yes, the infamous Wobblies. They’re still alive. Google http://www.iww.org, and ask your questions there. Good hunting!
Here is a letter we recently emailed to the Governor.
Dear Governor McCrory,
My wife and I moved here in ’98 from New York. North Carolina promised us a chance at living our dreams and becoming teachers. Although it was difficult, we moved 600 miles south, away from family and friends, away from the comforts of home, to start a life in Davie County. Culture shock aside, things went well. We assimilated quickly and seamlessly became crucial parts of our school and community’s culture. Both of us were elected Teacher of the Year for our schools, became National Board Certified Teachers, and achieved our Masters Degrees from North Carolina Universities. Life was good. Each of us became respected members of our school. We bought a modest house in a new neighborhood and in a few years two children were born.
We made a good living, able to take small vacations and laugh. We could fill up our tanks and buy groceries without having to constantly check to be sure we could afford these necessities.
We didn’t expect to become rich doing the job we love to do. We knew from the very beginning that the payoff in education is not the savings account, but in the touched lives and future investment. We knew we would always need to balance our checkbooks and account for the summers off, but we were okay with that. We were able to live our lives, put two children in day care, and still invest a little bit for the future.
Sixteen years later, things are different. Now going to the grocery store causes the pacing of floors and hand wringing. No longer can we fill up our car’s gas tank without thinking about what we might have to give up if we do. Today, we had an honest discussion about downsizing our house, not because one of us lost a job, not because one of us was demoted (on the contrary, both of us actually have MORE responsibility and job expectations grow daily), but because we can no longer make it on a salary that has not come close to growing alongside the cost of daily living. Gas prices have gone from $1.02 a gallon to $3.25 a gallon since we moved here in 1998. Milk prices are through the roof. The cost of daily living rises, yet teacher’s salaries in North Carolina stay stagnant. Teachers have not moved up a pay scale since 2008, with only 1.2% increase in salary in the past 6 years.
Your announcement this week about raising beginning teacher salary was a step in the right direction. However, what message does this send to teachers who have already dedicated countless hours to the children of North Carolina’s future? To teachers who have shaped YOUR life? We are not sure what the intended message is, but the received message is that our contribution is not important, that we are antiquated and easily replaced. ALL teachers need a pay increase, especially teachers that bring in years of experience and much needed leadership to every faculty.
This, for us, is the first step in this fight for what we feel is right. Please consider the priorities your cabinet has outlined as important for North Carolina’s future.
Thank you for your time,
Jeremy and Kimberly Brooks
Did you get a response? Public education in NC is ridiculous! The NRMS district adopted an IPad and MacBook initiative and charged parents $40 -$50 for children to use and bring them home. Parents thought ALL textbooks would be loaded but they weren’t. Some of the schools have no copying paper but the district could afford to purchase that equipment. And common core? That’s ridiculous! The teachers spend more time outside the classroom trying to learn it. Hello? When will they have time to teach the material to the students? No TAs. And NO pay raises in years! And the EOG scores continue to go down in most schools. I have plans to remove my children when the school year is over.
Thank you for exposing the heartbreaking facts about the lack of vision and sheer arrogance of the different administrations who lack the courage to lead. The soul of education is being tortured and sacrificed to the gods of expediency and the next shortsighted handout, all at the expense of real success for this generation and beyond.
Follow your heart and stand by your decision !!! Many blessings to you in the near future !!
This is one of the million reasons our family homeschools our children. My children will learn how to live in the real world because they are in it everyday. I do not teach them how to take tests nor do I know what is going to be on their tests prior to it being administered. Despite all this, they consistently score 2-4 grade levels ahead of their grade in almost all subjects. It’s time to stop teaching the test, it doesn’t work. Teach kids how to function in real life and watch them soar!
John Taylor Gatto reached a similar decision a few decades ago, after being honored as “Teacher of the Year” by the state of New York. Docile, semi-literate, sleep-walking factory hands and cannon fodder are the desired and designed end-product of Prussian-style education. Gatto found his way ahead. I pray for you, and for your family, that you will discover open doors to amazing opportunities, now that you are, and are thinking, “out of the box.”
The overhaul of many traditional institutions in America are underway. The teachers union contributed to the true ‘one type fits all’ point. There was no other profession in the US unionized. You can’t unionize a profession like you do a quantifiable bread delivery driver or factory worker. Silly silly silly.
Many education associations fight for our profession as being innovation and the need for more autonomy. There are definitely many variations within the union system but many of them are trying to work against the top-down approach and standardization through research, community partnerships and the voices of those actually in the classroom. I consider my association to be a voice of reason and positivity amongst the many nay-Sayers and critics who know very little about what it takes to be in the classroom.
I should have revised my post. I meant to say “innovative” rather than “innovation.”
Mango – NC is and always has been non union…IT’S IN THE SOUTH! So your analysis doesn’t fit. There are lots of “professions” that are Unionized and function very well – Nurses, Electricians, Pilots, Engineers etc.
You have it completely backwards. When teacher’s unions were strong, we had individualized education and the ability to use creative lessons. Now that the unions have been eliminated, the standardized test rules all. Teachers of the late 60s and early 70s banded together to get the most creative and innovative ways to teach into the classroom. These were the strong union years. Standardized testing has only been implemented and insisted upon in the last ten years as the unions crumbled to nothing.
Your letter is amazing. How could anyone view you as part of the problem. As the mother of three here in Oregon, I wish you were able to come back. I am moving my daughter to a home-school program because of the public school problems. You remind me of an amazing teacher here in Oregon, named Mrs. Coe, who retired a couple of years ago for many of the same reasons you listed. Come back to Oregon and start a charter school program with Mrs. Coe — you’d be fully enrolled in no time at all. The Education system NEEDS teachers like you.
So sad..I hope you can perhapes find a better way to lead our children..Go talk to Oprah..you think Im kidding but Im not.
OpRah is a hardcore rheeformer. She thinks John Legend and Pitbull are better teachers than actual teachers.
What is ironic about Legend and Pitbull is that they would have not benefited from the music programs in the public schools they attended if the reforms they champion were in place while they attended public schools. Those programs are increasingly being scuttled in favor of more test preparation in reading and math in line with those reforms.
Amazing article and so very true. Accolades to your decision. As a frustrated teacher myself, you could not have been more brutally honest. The education system in our country is pathetic and is failing in every possible way. My girlfriend posted this to my FB page and asked why I didn’t approve it to be posted. Why? Because as KY becomes another state pulling teacher tenor it would provide them with a reason to fire me. I was recently named our (Eng) department head and have been given more responsibilities, more paperwork and more red tape to work into my already full plate. There is no support for teachers and administrators’ only aim is goal is to meet numbers, they no longer take care of or back up teachers. It’s become a blame game. Sad, failing and pathetic.
Lol democrats instituted these changes and the unions supported it. Have fun blaming republucans while getting EXACTLY what you liberal sheep deserve.
Who CARES what political party started any of this? If we as a society and a nation push aside close-minded party politics and stopped playing the blame game, maybe we could do some good.
The issue here is a broken education system. Guess what? Republicans and Democrats alike are waging a war on the education of our children, and useless party mouthpieces like you are only making the problem worse.
What we need is a governmental system that places value on education, instead of seeing it as a repository from which budget shortfalls can be repaired. Until we value the education and enrichment of our young people, we will continue to create uninformed followers who can do nothing but spout off about the superiority of whatever political campaign prints the prettiest brochures. We need to encourage teachers and end the crushing burden of sub-standard “standardized tests”. We need to reduce class sizes and promote learning for the sake of information gain instead of “teaching to the test”.
We need to fix things, and we need to do it without losing all the powerful educators we have.
Seriously Michelle, if you’re going to stand behind the Republican party maybe you should learn to spell it correctly. Just a thought. And for the record, most of these problems started with that disaster called No Child Left Behind that REPUBLICAN president G.W. Bush was responsible for.
Not quite accurate, Maddy. The Liberal Libertine, Ted Kennedy, joined with Bush to push this egregious concept through the federal legislature. It is disgustingly ironic for Teddy to support NCLB when he left Mary Jo Kopechne behind in the car underwater. We ALL have sins to account for here, Republicans for tolerating Bush so long, and Democrats for tolerating Obama now. Texas beef built the USA but Texas bullshit in NCLB is destroying it. Remember though, public school teachers made love to that impossibility (i.e. that ALL children can be above average.) That’s their sin, and, of course, the election of Obama and accepting of Arne Duncan’s stimulus money fed bribes for adopting the CCSS. Republicans may be a little stupid and slow, but their crimes are as practically nothing compared to what Arne and his money are imposing nationally.
I’m disheartened by your comments. I have been working in the business world for about 20 years now and have slowly been taking the classes needed to become an elementary teacher in NC. I thought if I was a teacher I would be in a more stable situation, not less stable and certainly not MORE miserable than corporate America. Now I am re-thinking the idea of pursuing teaching in NC. Is it any better in the charter or private schools? Thanks for your input and good luck to you!
Karen
There was a time when teaching was a job that one looked forward to everyday…..Creativity was abound….Individualized Teaching was the way to find success for every student..Students were involved in all sorts of activities and the arts….There were field trips…Students learned age appropriate material……
Today….after Big $$oot..rules the schools…..
Teachers dread going to work.
Why? You are concerned with one and only one task…..Just one…
Only One….
Getting the students to pass the numerous tests that are administered starting in September..
Good Luck finding the materials…..
If you are still in school..Take a course on giving students 5 hour tests…..
Then read the superintendents letter to the parents after the tests are administered and scored 6 months later..
The tests will be used to evaluate the teachers..and if you have negative evaas scores 3 years in a row..your head will be on the Platter and you will be put on a Plan of Action….
You will have to write detailed lesson plans and spell out every single word you are going to say…
What are you going to teach…in detail..
How you are going to present the lesson..in detail…
How you are going to evaluate whether all of your 35-40 children mastered the material..How are you going to reteach….
Your lesson plans must be on your desk…written out and in detail every single day……
No outlines..Detail with all of the education jargon included
(Marzano etc)
Some principals will post your scores on the wall and in the halls..
Saw it with my own eyes…
Your Super-In knows about this but continues to Harvest the young 28 year old Puppet Principals who have taught at least one year in one school..or the Diploma Mill PHD’s that have your Super-In so fooled she thinks they are the Real Deal…
This has not happened to me as I have no interest in teaching anymore…but I have seen this happen…..and I have seen the teachers,….leave….by the dozens…
You do not teach for the money….
My mother always said to find a career you really enjoy so your life would be full of happiness and fulfillment..
(as teaching once upon a time…used to be..)
You will be competing with other teachers…Do not expect any help unless they bring on the coaches from the outside..They bring in consultants and coaches for the veteran teachers of 20-30 years..Have seen it….Coaches = 2 years experience in a high performing school….then are supposed to tell (they have never showed as they do not have a clue) the 20-30 year teachers how to teach the low-performing students to get the same scores as the students in the rich high performing schools..
Teaching is now officially Testing…Get used to it..
On your board everyday of the year should be you main objective.
“Students will be able to pass the State Test(s) (that you will never see) by 80% or better…
PS..Some schools have the principals hanging outside the doors…spying….
PS..Some schools have teachers that report every word you say to them..
PS…Do not talk to any other teachers as they are your competition..
PS..Do not share any of your material as if they get higher scores than you…you will be punished…
PS..Prepare to work on weekends…and if you try to be the best teacher…prepare to work 17 hour days..
PS..COVER all of the standards…Dare to stay from that pacing guide and you will be reprimanded and graded down..
PS..Prepare your budget to include at least 20% going directly to school supplies….
PS..Prepare for one of the most unrewarding careers that exists on the Planet today…
PS..Change your plans today and go to work for SAS..
Good Luck…I would go Private..or I would not go at all..
Thanks very much for your reply as I really am trying to figure out what to do. I’m aging out of being a medical sales rep (they like to keep the younger ones) and have been laid off from my job (again). As I mentioned, I’m taking classes but have many more to take. I’ve certainly sacrificed a lot of time with my kids to take the classes. Now, I’m not sure if I should continue or not. I’d hate to continue to sacrifice only to land another job that I hate to go to for far less money. I have a friend who works at SAS…maybe I will call her 🙂
Evan you are correct. Both sides have been very heavily involved in these standardized tests..and many of these programs were actually started upon prior President Bush. Both sides seem to think it will improve our world-wide standings but it is clearly not working. When you add on to it a low regard of teachers, a dismantling of unions across our nation…(under mostly republican governorship)…When you have people wanting to play the “name game” rather than acknowledging the problem, that just makes the problem worse. Those that point fingers are generally those that don’t know how to tackle problems and pointing fingers just compounds it. Liberal sheep..hardly? There are quite frankly”sheep” on both sides as the rude comment above clearly reflects.
Little Jose raised his hand.
The teacher, Miss Jones, started to call on him;
when his advocate, the ESOL teacher, stepped in to say “I have the specialized training to take care of his needs. I’ll take care of it”.
Meanwhile, the AP was wandering the hall and the commotion. He Lotus-noted the Principal, who said ” I have a Specialist degree in Educational Management. I’ll take it from here”.
He wrote memo to the Superintendant who said: “My doctorate and experience tells me that this needs to go the Board immediately.
The Governor’s assistant saw the published Board agenda, and had the Governor direct the State Department of Education take over (with much press coverage).
The USDOE recieved word of the press coverage and stepped in saying :”this is our territory, States are incompetent to take care of the needs of their children”.
Meanwhile, little Jose peed his pants. That was all he wanted in the first place.
You do not know more about a child’s needs just because you are further up the ladder.
More power to the classroom teacher!
She needs to check out American Montessori Society and find an accredited Montessori school and check it out.
Wow, I can’t remember the last time I heard a good whine rant like this. I’m no fan of what teaching has become (in many ways), but I think the fact that you quit and are ranting says quite a bit. Good Luck!
You all realize that you are all commenting over a year after that letter was written??
NC teachers need to get together and fight back! Fight back to change the
Laws in NC to be able to be unionized with a strong union like teamsters
Local 391. Teachers need help and strong backbone to lean on! The kids
are our future, if teachers are under paid, getting bad insurance, too many
add responsibilities, too many kids per classroom and so on. Teachers will
lay down and not give 100% to know they will be getting an extra 25% more
added to them. Teachers need to stand up, join together and fight!!!!
With all due respect, teachers need to teach. Her whinefest reflects little on the realities of education in NC. For decades the status quo was to throw money at schools with negative results. You want unions? Boy, that’s a great idea with no basis is reality.
Actually the problem is the people making decisions, “Management” are not listening to the people who see the issues “workers”. When workers need a louder voice, they need to ban together so management can hear them. Especially in something as important as teaching our youth.
Are there bad unions…yes… are there bad management yes. To use your ideas to assume all unions are bad and assume all management is good is an idea with no basis in reality.
My son is 7 I see his teachers trying to teach him how to pass a test instead of the tools he really needs. Luckily we can fill in the gaps, but my Wife decided to end her career so she could be a stay at home Mom. Not everyone can do that in this day and age.
Ravitch explains what is going on in “Reign of Error”. If you haven’t read her book, I suggest you do. Unlike the private sector critics of public education, Ravitch reports all the facts—not just the ones the critics cherry picked to support their agendas.
Ravitch also ends her book with what we should be doing in the schools instead of supporting a culture of testing—-a testing culture that no other country in the world is doing. Countries with the best public education systems in the world support their unionized teachers 100% and let the teachers make most of the decisions on how and what to teach in the classroom with little or no meddling from politicians and private sector CEOs.
The testing culture in the public schools did not come from teachers or their unions. The testing culture was forced on the public schools by Washington, and the goals set by Washington are impossible for anyone to achieve. In fact, evidence shows that on average when compared to the public schools, Charter schools and the private sector schools that are slowly replacing the public schools are performing worse than the public schools they are replacing. But the same laws that Washington passed only holds the public schools accountable and ignores the charter and public schools letting those schools break every element of the law legally.
It is obvious that you haven’t read Ravitch’s book, “Reign of Error” when you say, “For decades the status quo was to throw money at schools with negative results.”
Not true. The public schools have demonstrated steady but slow improvement and progress for decades and when we look at more than a century of progress in the country’s public schools starting in 1900, there is NOTHING but PROGRESS as the high school graduation rates go from 3% to 90% last year.
But the only numbers the critics report are the ones they want you to hear—like the on-time graduation rates for 17/18 year olds which is also at its highest point in the history of this country.
The critics don’t bother to mention the other 15% who did not graduate on time because they didn’t qualify. The high schools have minimum standards for high school graduation. Students must take and pass a given list of classes; earn enough credits in addition to passing a competency exam to prove they earned that HS diploma. The 15% that didn’t graduate on time went on to earn their high school degrees late by taking adult, night classes—part of the public schools—or attend classes at a local community college—also part of the public schools. The U.S. Census reports that by the age of 24, 90% of Americans have earned a high school degree, and late is better than never.
The reason you believe that there has been no progress in the public school is probably because you have fallen prey to the propaganda of the critics and enemies of public education.
The evidence is out there from primary sources if you just looked for it and stopped relying on libertarians; conservatives; neoconservative; progressives and fundamentalist Christians [who all have agendas that lead to the same goal to destroy the democratically run public schools] who cherry pick the facts to demonize the public schools making them look like failures and turning teachers into scapegoats for the ills of society; poverty and broken families they have no power to fix.
The critics of public education keep telling the public about the achievement gap between Blacks and/or Hispanic/Latinos compared to Whites but never bother to tell the public all the facts because the truth does not fit their political, personal, profit driven and religious agendas to strip education from the democratic process and to privatize it.
Example: In 1992 the achievement gap for eighth grade reading average scores between White & Black students was 30 points. In 2011 that gap was 25, the smallest in history. In addition, in 1992, the average reading score for Blacks was 237 but in 2011 that average score was 249 but the Whites also improved the average score from 267 in 1992 to 274 in 2011.
So tell me, where is the lack of progress? The gap between white and blacks in reading on average improved by five points while the Blacks improved average reading scores by 12 points and the Whites, at the same time, improved average reading score by 7 points.
And that is only one example. There are many more when you look at all the facts instead of just the cherry-picked facts the critics spoon feed ignorant Americans who have been manipulated to only believe them.
This campaign to paint the successful public schools [there still room for improvement but there is no evidence that improvement hasn’t taken place once all the evidence is studied] as failures reminds me of the campaign in California more than a century ago when Standard Oil decided to close down the most successful rapid transit system in the world called the Little Red Car in Southern California that never operated at a loss in its history. Standard Oil bought politicians in Sacramento and got them to close the Little Red Car down so Standard Oil would have a meca for the automobile leading to more gasoline, oil and tires sold that Standard Oil and its private sector corporate allies produced.
But this war against the schools is worse because it is out to destroy a part of the democratic process that made America what it was before the last decade started to take those hard earned freedoms away from working middle class Americans.
Wake up and stop being a patsy for these wealthy Americans who want to take control of America’s future from the democratic process and rule the country from a CEO’s office instead.
You are so misinformed I feel sorry for you. Oh, the ignorance!!!! SOBXDude, are you a teacher?
Why not try teaching in one of the many quality private schools in NC? Or go to work as an educator in a supplemental mentoring business that helps students outside the traditional public school classroom? There are a number of ways to utilize your skill and experience to help others, and be paid for it. Don’t just quit, reposition yourself for success by by-passing the problem. And watch out for “Common Core” which is the next step in the downward spiral of education, more propaganda than teaching, Good luck to you.
This was a sad and seminal letter . . . . . very seminal.
Shame on North Carolina. The state and county put so much effort into revitalizing Ashville and all its quaint architecture, but it lets its school system decay. I will NEVER visit this state and tour there. NEVER.
Shame on the governor, his connections and the vile National Governor’s Association.
The educational problems didn’t have their origin in the current governor, but in past governors, mostly democratic. The problem is not a new one, but one that has been growing over years. Your post is more political than practical. As a resident of NC who is well aware of the problems in the school system administrative level and its effect on the front line teachers, I can say with confidence that the state has many great things to offer. Your declaration to NEVER visit NC is emotional, short-sighted, and shallow. You are only missing out on the many great things the state has to offer and making room for others to come see this (other than public school education) great state.
I was so moved by your letter that I felt the need to comment. I too was a teacher in Charlotte, NC and I too quit with no notice or anything because of how deplorable and mismanaged the education system is in NC. Teachers are the obvious scapegoats for the unimaginable stupidity and ignorance of those in the upper heirarchy of NC public academia. I would go to work every day begging for the day to end even before it began. I was so stressed that I lost weight from not eating because my guts were constany tied up in knots and always felt like I had to watch my back. My principal and her cohorts at Coulwood Middle School were sneaky, underhanded and divisive and were wonderful at undermining the great things that good teachers were doing because it wasn’t relavent to the EOGs. They were inept and could care less about the welfare of the students or teachers because they were only concerned with covering their asses. But I can’t really blame them any more than myself because like them, I was a coward and feared of speaking up. I have since moved on with my career in Knoxville, Tennessee where I now feel that I am valued and my supervisors actually care about what I have to say and encourage me to try new and different things with my students that may or may not be related to the EOGs because they believe in the process of learning rather than on the outcomes. I am happy again. I have fallen in love with teaching again. I am now standing on that side of the fence which is greener. I would recommend Knoxville, TN to teach and send your kids to school. Wonderful things are happening here and I’m truly blessed to be a part of it. I now go to work eager and excited and feel like I am important and making a difference in the lives of my students. I truly am sorry that your experience was like that of most NC teachers. I admire your courage for saying enough is enough. Thats what I did and now I am happy again being part of an honorable and rewarding career – a teacher. 🙂
The problem for education is societal and the continued beating up of teachers as the convenient scape goat for education ills is not going to solve the problem.This direction is only going will make the best teachers leave. The pay is rotten and many will find out that the work conditions are horrible. Over fifty percent of new teachers quit within 5 years. (Is it up to 60% now who quit?)
While I was a teacher,I looked for a job outside education but I didn’t have any other skills to fall back on and had to keep looking for another elementary music position. I worked in C**** H*** [Illinois] for 12 years and left there when a referendum didn’t pass and I was going to be put in a fourth grade classroom as a regular teacher. We didn’t have any planning time except the 4th grade teacher across the hall was going to take 50 kids (my class and hers) for an hour for art. I was supposed to take her kids and mine once a week for one hour of music.I didn’t feel that I could adequately do a classroom job since all my experience was teaching music. That job stress would have been overwhelming working with kids who had all the problems of living in poverty. I quit the classroom job in C*** H***when I got a job teaching music in M****** [Illinois] four days before school started. I lasted there one year but wouldn’t have stayed anyway. It was one of the worst districts, although all districts where I have worked had at least one school that was mentally unbearable because of the stress. (While I was working in M**** one drug dealer shot another drug dealer at an intersection several blocks from my elementary school. The following summer, some kids found a dead body on the grounds behind the middle school also located next to the killer intersection.) I next bounced to B***** [Illinois] (2 years), F*** [Illinois] (one year) and B***[Illinois] (2 years).
I went to a job fair at the University of Northern Iowa in February of 1996. While there, I got a job as a band and elementary music teacher in Bolivia. The job in Bolivia was very difficult for me both because of the culture and the poverty of the country. It was considered a starting place for teachers who want to go overseas. I figured I had to stay there for the two years of my contract so that I could prove that I had the ability to withstand the stress of working overseas and continue my quest to work in Malaysia, where I had taught for 2 years with Peace Corps.
The first three years of teaching in Malaysia were the best of my whole career. We had materials, planning time and time to be creative. The kids were always a delight and class sizes were small. Teachers were happy. I thought I’d found heaven on earth. That changed when a new board president worked to get two principals (my elementary) and middle school and the superintendent fired. The new people hired were excellent academically but totally unfeeling emotionally. The stress level in the schools increased to the point where everyone was the walking dead. I loved the kids but hated going to work and lived for vacations. I stayed only because of the money.
I’ve figured it is strange that I didn’t have enough ability to continue work in lower class poverty schools or mostly middle class schools in the U.S. but was good enough for Kuala Lumpur where parents are either corporate leaders or embassy people. The International School of Kuala Lumpur is considered one of the top international schools in the world. [A big reason that I couldn’t get tenure in the U.S. was my salary. With a Master’s plus grad hours, two beginning teachers could be hired for the same amount of money.] Most people who have worked overseas don’t want to come back here and teach in American schools. Our culture really doesn’t encourage education, but it does encourage more testing and is being taken over by business as another source of money. Unfortunately, this madness is now being absorbed by American schools overseas.
Funding for public schools are being cut, salaries are being based on test scores, tenure is being taken away and many teachers are quitting or loosing their jobs. (Should I add that friends of mine who are teaching wish they were closer to retirement?) Anyone who thinks this can continue and while maintaining any semblance of progress is living an illusion.
And that folks, concludes my morning lecture. Ugh on it all. As many retired teachers say, “I’m glad I’m out of it.”
some of You are claiming it’s the fault of our governor that has just entered office. Well guess who was running the show for the 20 years before he was elected or are you telling me that this just started. When North Carolina ‘s school administration open their eyes long enough to see that throwing money at education is not the fix but don’t blame this governor, call up hunt and predue. This happened on their watch.
This is happening ALL OVER OUR COUNTRY!!!!!!!! It goes way higher than governors.
well sadly the American people are not into paying their educators. But they will pay all that money to go to a sports or entertainment event. Time to ask yourselves what is more important and stand up to Arne Duncan and Washington.It’s up to the parents!
West Virginia … represent! Same thing goin’ on in this state where Mountaineers are supposed to be free. Administration has no idea how to manage people, just data and tons of it. They have to justify their jobs and create high-paying positions at the top just for them. In WV we’re all about data. In fact, we have to post data walls in our classrooms and halls with results of all of our testing. It’s all about getting the kids to compete. We even have to keep tons of data on our own teaching abilities.
Yep, in WV the teachers now do the evaluating on themselves based on data that they have to come up with. The administrators don’t even come into our classrooms to observe. They just look at data from a pretest we’ve given then a posttest to tell whether we’ve taught our kids anything. Teachers at my school had to rank themselves as educators and the administrators then decide whether we’ve ranked ourselves correctly based on evidence and data. Teachers are so overworked, many just ranked themselves as accomplished instead of distinguished to avoid the huge amount of paperwork required to prove how hard they work . This is great for the state because they won’t have to worry about “distinguished” teachers trying to push for higher salaries. If we’re all ranking ourselves as mediocre, then it will be easier to cut salaries and the public can further rant about how horrible our teachers are.
This year alone, I’ve given more than 5 national, state, or county practice tests or tests and it’s only December. My job is so interrupted, my students don’t know from one day to the next whether any real teaching will be done in my classroom. What’s hilarious is that we are testing students before they can even be taught the material. And forget time to collaborate with other teachers or grade papers or even build lessons. It’s sucked away by “data teams” and i-pad trainings and monitoring “grab and go breakfasts.” What a joke..
I understand the letter, because I’ve wanted to write it myself for many years. When education actually becomes all about the kids and not about the grownups, I may start enjoying my job again.
Teacher here, 11 years. You hit the nail on the head. I don’t know any teachers who aren’t looking for other jobs.
Public education is awful. “Yes Men” at the top keep bobble-heading idiotic crap. Teachers are quitting all over and families with means are putting their kids in prep schools. But with the online schools, why NOT just home school?
Texas,
Homeschooling usually means very dedicated parents with one or more parents in the home supervising the kids to make sure they are working on the home schooled lessons. It would be a rare kid that could be left home alone all day to learn online.
And studies going back for decades show that this does not fit the average parent or child.
The average parent in America spends 3.5 minutes or less each week in meaningful conversation with their children while the average child spends more than 10 hours a day dividing time up between watching TV, listening to music, playing video games, sending text messages, talking on the phone or spending time on the computer social networking or leaving school to hang out with friends at the mall before getting home.
You may want to also read this from the aacap.org on Home Alone Children:
http://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/Facts_for_Families_Pages/Home_Alone_Children_46.aspx
And then consider reading this from Psychology Today: Your Home is Not a Democracy.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-home-is-not-democracy/201306/is-my-child-sociopath-part-one
Thanks for the lucid, relevant and frightening thoughts in your post! I am so terrified that the same situation exists in the public education forum… After 28 years in private school education, as a science educator and administrator, I just walked away. I tried to find solutions, but there were many who were so fearful of what might happen to them that they acted as if everything would resolve itself… so I walked away… That took me to writing my observations about the dichotomy of our educational system.(independent schools).. that book was published in December 2013..Unveiling the Enigma of Independent Schools: From the Perspective of a Veteran Educator…I am still searching for some solution..any solution to fix the broken parts…
I blame Obama’s Race to the Top. It’s just another version of NCLB. It’s either home-schooling or private school. Public Education in this day and age is a form of child abuse as far as I’m concerned.
Please support teachers by liking THE BLISSFUL TEACHER on fb…I created my own line of anti stress mists lol, please spread the word!!!
Hmm. I would think for those “mists” to be truly effective at relieving teacher stress, they would be legal only in a few states. Besides, if teachers want to get that kind of stuff, they can just ask their students.
Thanks for posting this. I need these reminders whenever I am tempted to pursue public school teaching as an escape from the adjunct hell I have been in since the 1990s. American education, except for a very few sectors, is in a horrible state at every level. It’s time for me to consider something else entirely.
Actually, public education is not in a horrible state.
In fact, it’s doing a better job now than at any time in America’s history.
The problem is that public education has been under attack for more than thirty years by private sector profiteers and/or idealists who use propaganda laced with cherry-picked facts, misinformation and lies and one of their goals is to also destroy the two teacher unions because these democratically run labor unions are the loudest voice against the private sector reform movement financed by a flock of billionaires tyrants who are worse than Somali pirates.
If it is doing a better job why is the U.S. now near the bottom in math and science as compared to its former position at the top?
What ranking are you talking about?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/us-students-lag-around-average-on-international-science-math-and-reading-test/2013/12/02/2e510f26-5b92-11e3-a49b-90a0e156254b_story.html
George Privacy: the US was NEVER at the top of the international test rankings. Fifty years ago, when the first international test was given, we came in last. We have outperformed the other 11 nations by every metric in the past half century. The scores of 15- year-olds on standardized tests predict nothing about the future.
There were far more than 11 nations in the test I mentioned. I will look up the test results I referred to, i distinctly remember the US coming in first in math and science on the particular test I was remembering. This test was back in the 60s if I remember correctly.
Actually, I now believe the results I was thinking of were a competition rather than general testing. I believe for many of the international tests that do broad testing, you are right that the US for a long time has done poorly. I withdraw my comment from earlier.
Sad to say that many of us feel this same way… Right to Work does not work They need to create a Union and quick…
Sorry, but NC state employees (which includes teachers) are forbidden by law to unionize. Now they just proposed a salary schedule with a big fat raise BUT if you sign on for it, you lose all tenure rights. And guess what else you agree to? Future arbitrary changes in salary due to budget shortfalls, etc., without notification or prior notice. Bait & switch… this same legislature just passed a tax cut for the rich last year and is currently in the process of approving fracking on a fast track. They’ve been known to pass laws at 1am to try and keep people from noticing. I wish the tea party type folks that voted them in would wake up and vote them back out.
Those that are retiring need to form the union . What can they do to them? They are the only ones that can speak up and not be discriminated against. Someone needs to get them together and propose this to them. That someone probably needs to be someone who’s already quit!
Well at least this teacher had the opportunity to give one last valuable lesson to her students that needed her most. When you don’t like your job or the way things are going, quit, give up on the students that needed you most. Quit your job, put your family at financial risk, quit, don’t try and make things better, quit…. It’s the American way. Quitter….
What were her other options to improve her situation? Her health? Just curious. You are quick to call names and throw stones, but what should she have done instead? If you can’t come up with better options, you have no right. You are not in her shoes. And, remember that she moved her family across the country to continue teaching only to be kicked in the teeth by a system that cares more about the bottom line that it’s children.
She is not a quitter. Go teach for a year.Give your heart and soul.Then when health takes a hit…don’t quit, wait so the kids see a teacher that didn’t use the oxygen mask first. Don’t. Judge till you have been in the trenches.
As the wife of teacher just being certified in PA and seeing his struggle to get hired I am quite annoyed by this post and completely agree with TJ. We are having to move states away from our families in hopes of him getting a job, throwing up a hail mary. He has spent the last year substituting in a Pittsburgh Public school and I have never heard him complain once because he at least was taught his students life lessons if nothing else. Guess what teachers like you shouldn’t be teaching if that is your view because there are young graduates who would uproot their whole life just for an opportunity to get some experience no matter how bad that experience may be. He puts up with the politics of teaching (which he was well aware of getting into it) because he loves kids and he knows if he is bounding by the school at least he can help build their character. So by all means quit and go back to New Mexico because their are young willing teachers who would give anything to fill your empty position.
It would be quite interesting to have a survey that differentiated job satisfaction by subject and responsibility. I suspect there would be a chasm wide enough to fly a Boeing 747 through separating librarians, health ,Phys Ed, media tech specialists and the always growing metastasizing camps of counselors, social workers, peer mediation experts, etc. and the “dying on the vines” academic instructors of Mathematics,English (oops, I meant Language Arts), Chemistry, Physics, Life Sciences and History teachers. I also have a great deal of respect for Art and Music teachers.
When was the last time a Phys Ed teach her was blamed because Johnny can’t hit a curve ball or his “vertical” is only 20 inches?
The very folks who are now running schools and making policy decisions that fly in the face of anything close to sanity are largely poor academic college graduates who gravitated to the Lowest Common Denominator majors with rare exception.It is now Politically Incorrect to suggest that schools should be academic institutions and not
social organisms,community indoctrination gulags and baby sitting camps.
Hey , dummy , with your plethora of degraded, worthless Educrat degrees, have you ever for just a second, considered technology is by itself not education but only a tool to be carefully used to enhance learning. No wonder we have a nation of iPhone and iPad addicts totally lacking the very skills that were required by those who designed and built these products. Does anyone really believe this newest of popular fads that defers to
social media will make our students educated citizens to compete on the world stage.
We already hold a well deserved reputation as the Dumb Americans.
By the way, in successful countries that know 40 to 50% of our “fraudulent” college graduates have , at best, a high school diploma, there is great restraint. Not this leapfrogging from”fad to fad”, all of which should come with an asterisk warning there is no accepted clinical proof of their efficacy.
Hello. im a 21 yr teacher veteran of NC. I just googled “I’m a NC teacher and I quit.” (It’s not even October) and your letter popped up. Would love to chat with you. I’m so done and don’t know what to do. Would welcome your input.
Where are you teaching now? Why are you frustrated?
You ask, “Why are you frustrated?” I think most teachers, even retired ones, have already answered that question.
The Washington Post offers the complex answers to this easy to ask question. There’s too much to copy and post here. If you want to learn the answer to your question, You will have to click the link and read it for yourself.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/06/12/why-so-many-teachers-leave-and-how-to-get-them-to-stay/
If you Google “Why teachers leave teaching”, you will get back more than 68 million hits.
For instance:
http://teaching.monster.com/careers/articles/2999-why-do-teachers-quit
http://www.thebestschools.org/magazine/why-teachers-quit/
Even in the UK where the privatization of public education is also in the fast lane thanks to the likes of Pearson and Gates.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/i-dropped-out-of-teaching-after-six-months-so-im-not-surprised-other-teachers-are-leaving-in-their-a6905346.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/why-do-teachers-quit/280699/
It’s 2020 and everything you complained is still here, and it’s even worse. Artificially capped salaries, reduction in retirement, doing janitor work b/c their hours are protected and we’re at-will employees who can be forced to pick cotton for massa with no recourse. I hate it. I have been treated like a problem from the start. I’m have medals from my actions on 9/11, I have 3 degrees, I have run two private schools successfully, I have managed millions of dollars, ate lunch with generals and presidential cabinet members, and been asked to apply for Rhodes Scholar consideration at Oxford. North Carolina treats me like a problem teen who’s constantly late for their shift at taco bell. I hate this state and the top down management system where local admin are foreman with power and teachers are scumbag, lazy losers who get a whole 7 weeks off in summer and need to be treated like slaves with an attitude.
Billy, South Carolina is only one of 50 states. With the long history of your allegedly illustrious life, you must be old enough to retire by now.
Why not do some homework and find a state that you may like? There must be one out of the fifty that would fit.