RI Teacher: “I Quit”

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1. concerned citizen says:

   December 14, 2012 at 9:49 am

   Bravo! I wish everyone who quits teaching (given the high turnover rate in the profession, that is probably tens of thousands of people per year) would make a video like this.

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   • Tim says:

     December 14, 2012 at 10:31 am

     Even though I sympathize with this Teacher, I feel that more Teachers that are “fed up” should do what they feel is right in the classroom. Instead of quitting, let them fire you and fight it all the way! I would love to hear their reasons for dismissal!

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     • Jennifer Baker says:

       December 14, 2012 at 7:25 pm

       Sometimes, for mental and physical health reasons, quitting has to happen.

2. Mind Margins/Run Nature says:

   December 14, 2012 at 10:04 am

   I quit two years ago for most of the same reasons. For years I stayed because my principal trusted her best teachers to make their own academic decisions in the classroom, and shielded us from as much of the out of control testing as she could. When she left, and a new principal and new superintendent made it impossible to teach the way I knew was best for my students, and when I felt I was selling my soul by following their dictates and educationally unsound policies, I left. It was very tough to go after twenty years, but you do eventually reach a point where you just can’t be a part of the insanity any longer.

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3. Joe says:

   December 14, 2012 at 11:56 am

   I agree.

   The system is designed to fail.

   Charter schools run by a different set of rules. (school choice, no unfunded mandates, etc.). Then they try to compare charter school results to public schools.

   This insanity is to encourage a high turn over rate and keep salaries low by having younger people. Teaching will be a job and not a career.

   The pension problem will be solved, because there will be very few that will ever teach long enough to become vested and receive any kind of pension.

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4. Former RI 2nd grade teacher says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:27 pm

   Thank you, Mr. R., for speaking out on behalf of your students and many, many teaching colleagues across the country who are experiencing this same oppression in the classroom. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve a goal.” Your actions to resign from your teaching position, to lose a salary, and to share your video with all of us are the epitome of nonviolent action. Thank you for teaching our children with excellence and according to your guiding principles. I believe your action will put us one step closer to achieving the goal–to re-center teaching and learning decision-making based on individual student’s needs (not their test scores), guided by the expertise of teaching professionals.

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5. Tom Hoffman says:

   December 14, 2012 at 1:36 pm

   I had the pleasure of working a bit with Mr. Round at Fortes Elementary back when it was considered a model school winning major grants from the Disney Foundation and others. In fact, when the Gates Foundation announced their $20 million dollar grant to Providence (and tiny Coventry, RI, whose superintendent was one John Deasy), they did it in front of Fortes, exactly because of the work teachers like Stephen Round were doing there.

   Then NCLB, suddenly the exact same school was “failing,” and everything had to stop, and the school had to become exactly like every other school.

   You can still see a lot of the work that Mr. Round and his whole community were proud of at http://www.iceharvestingusa.com/

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6. M.F. says:

   December 14, 2012 at 1:37 pm

   Educators should not have to display the reality of their strife after the fact in video format. Let’s face it! If camera crews were allowed to enter our public schools unannounced and candidly film the magnitude of what encompasses a small portion of an educator’s day, then the country would rally for higher pay and improved working conditions. So, the real issue is that the truth of what goes on in our public schools is denied to the public by our government.

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   • Wilbert says:

     December 14, 2012 at 1:56 pm

     The truth isn’t so hard to find. People don’t care. Some do, most don’t. If they did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

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7. George Buzzetti says:

   December 14, 2012 at 5:21 pm

   He said it like it is. What a shame. The fish rots from the head is the old saying that is applicable here for sure.

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8. Joe says:

   December 15, 2012 at 1:46 pm

   I retired two years early, because of POOR administration and NCLB mandates. Health is better, lost lots of weight, and I am a happier person. I wonder why anyone stays in the profession

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