This comment was posted by a teacher in Boston who couldn’t tolerate what was happening to her school, her students, her profession.
She writes:
“Dear Dr. Ravitch,
I am a newly-resigned, 15-year veteran in the Boston Public Schools.
I had to get out; I spent years obsessing over the internet trying to make sense of what was happening & why I was continuing to let it. All my research did was leave me feeling more confused, & thinking I could spend forever trying to make sense of nonsense.
On 4/1 I resigned.
On 4/5 I was testifying before the Joint Committee on Education in support of some MCAS bills. I hope my testimony was powerful.
On 5/7 I plan to do the same; this time it’ll be on charter schools.
I plan to testify at as many hearings as possible until it makes a difference.
I’ve reached out to the directors at Citizens for Public Schools (Massachusetts’s advocacy group) & am very much looking forward to working with them in any capacity that they need.
I’ve already grown impatient with how time-consuming the whole legislative process is; what’s happening within our schools is a CRISIS, & each passing day brings new evidence supporting that claim. There’s NO QUESTION high-stakes tests are BAD; teaching to the test is BAD; businessmen making decisions about non-business related matters, especially when children are involved, are BAD. & we hope someday legislation makes things GOOD again, but the legislative process isn’t exactly efficient, so in the meantime…what? We just continue along as expected, regardless of the damage?
I resigned from the BPS because I couldn’t justify doing what I was doing each day by complying with malevolent mandates and stupid sanctions while knowing the harm it would cause. This was NOT what I was put on this earth to be doing; this was HARMING children, including my OWN!
I could never explain to myself WHY I was continuing to do it; all I knew was that as long as i was in the BPS, I’d be doing it. Refusing to comply all by myself wouldn’t be effective, & I longed to sleep at night again, so I left. I am the single mother to a 6, 7, & 8 year old boy, & I left my only source of income behind when I did. THAT’S how bad things are.
Today my priority is doing whatever i can to help undo this corporate takeover and get the schools back on track. But again, the legislative process is a slow one, & the harm’s been already overwhelming & substantial enough. I believe drastic measures are in order, at this point. & I believe it has to come from within the schools…the teachers are the only real ones who have any say in what is going on in the classrooms, so why aren’t they uniting to do something about it? In MA, at least, it’s starting to already feel too late…
There is not a teacher in America who SUPPORTS this corporate reform. Individually, we all vehemently oppose it; our blood boils because of it; we know it’s toxic. Collectively, however, we DO support it. We support it each & every day, no matter how it contradicts our entire pedagogy. No matter how much it sucks to live life like that…going against the core of who we are, we obey the rules. WHY? WHY ARE WE CONTINUING TO BE EVER-SO-OBEDIENT?
I spent over 2 years desperately seeking that answer to that very question; only to become more & more unable to – & that’s why i resigned.
& one of the many intense emotions that came with making that decision was Anger. Anger towards the teachers for making this happen. Anger towards myself as a teacher for making it happen.
I believe if the teachers come together & have some conversation, change will happen. The faster we do that, & the more teachers we reach out to include, the faster the change will come.
Someone just needs to gather up all the teachers now. I would; I feel like I’ve been only thinking about doing so all month. I just don’t know how. So I decided to reach out here, thinking you could help.
I may live in fantasyland to some degree, & I’ve realized this past month how shamefully little I knew of the policy & procedure & logistics of “this” side of Ed Reform – the external side. & I don’t know realistically what the teachers could even do or how it’d work, but I feel like a conversation needs to happen. & I also think the best way to start the conversation would be to ask every teacher to answer the following question:
“Why do you continue to comply with malevolent mandates & stupid sanctions that you KNOW only serve to HARM your students, your schools, your VOCATIONS?”
& for those who, like me on 4/1, respond with, “I don’t know”, the follow-up question is, then,
“Why do you continue to do it, then?”
It was asking that of myself that made me realize, I can’t.
& the only way I knew how to stop was to walk away.
But what happens when each teacher refuses to comply anymore IN SOLIDARITY with one another?
The answer, it seems, is obvious.
So why haven’t we done that yet?
How bad does it really have to get before we do???
At the beginning of March, I came across this quote from Rethinking Schools,
“At the most basic level, national corporate school reform
agenda REQUIRES teacher’s compliance. Regardless of
individual motives, when a group of teachers COLLECTIVELY
& publicly says NO, that represents a fundamental challenge
to those pursuing that elite agenda.”
The logic behind that assertion is indisputable. That statement is obvious.
So what are we waiting for??”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
PLEASE TAKE THIS POLL FOR MY BOOK “TEACHING IN 2013”. THANK YOU.
DO YOU AGREE WITH STANDARDIZED TESTING FOR CHILDREN?
_______I’M A PARENT AND I DISAGREE
_______I’M A TEACHER AND I AGREE
_______I’M A TEACHER AND I DISAGREE
_______I AGREE
______I DISAGREE
Please send your answers to garychatty@aol.com, privately.
I’m a little baffled how a one-question poll, posted at clearly anti-high-stakes-testing site like Diane’s, can be worth anything to a book? Surely you don’t think this “poll” adds to your credibility, do you? And while I’m always happy to have more support against testing and for public education (assuming that is your position), I’m very leary of in-credible and easily destroyed books published “supporting” that position.
I resigned on 12/30/2013 for the same reasons. I haven’t known what else to do. I want to help the colleagues I left behind, but I guess I need to do some research on how to do that in our state.
Hey Pamela
That would be 12/30/2012 and Good 4 u!!
I would add that if TEACHERS could unite with PARENTS, the tide could turn. Who could ever imagine that parents and teachers could stay silent, wallowing in fear and uncertainty, and let this happen to our children?
Do we follow the minions into the fire, or do we step out of line and try to warn the others?
Stay strong and keep moving forward. You made the right decision – there truly is no alternative.
We (teachers) are afraid for our jobs and our little livelihoods–we still have bills to pay in a shaky economy. While i completely understand corporate reform requires teacher compliance, I have told parents that they have more power to change this culture than we teachers do, even though we probably have more knowledge of the ins and outs of the process. I have suggested to parents in the past that if parents (who ultimately have little to lose by taking charge) take the lead, teachers will GLADLY participate, as parent participation = substantial support worth the risk for the teacher.
Understood. Telling parents is the best thing you can do now.
Chris, sometimes corporate reform does NOT require teacher compliance. Look no further than Charlotte Mecklenburg schools, where the former superintedent convinced a freshman senator to put a bill in the senate to circumvent teacher compliance for the contraversial pay-for-performance plan in North Carolina. That’s right…prior to this bill, teachers would of had to vote for its approval, and since the Superintendent and all the other Ivory Tower cronies knew teachers wouldn’t vote for it (because the plan is pure bull$hit), they simply passed a law that said teacher approval is not necessary.
You are the LION from the “Wizard of Oz”:):) True COURAGE in the face of fears.
Ask the union leaders. They could mobilize the effort but refuse to and even do the bidding for the disastrous Obama/Duncan educational policies that promote testing and teacher evaluations via RttT.
Unfortunately we teachers also need to pay our bills. This is a huge motivator to stay the course.The truth is that parents have more say in policies than teachers do. Parents who do not have a salary at stake to risk, get involved.
You do not get paid for teaching..JUST TESTING..
>I am the single mother to a 6, 7, & 8 year old boy, & I left my only source of income behind
If she needs a support fund to help her in her activism (and raising those 3 boys), I’d be happy to donate (the very little bit that I can). I could give $20 a month. And if 100 of your readers could do that, she could maybe survive on it.
Yes, we do need to eat and pay our bills. That’s why God created unions: as an institutional force that could stand up for teachers so they would not be personally vulnerable to reprisals.
Unfortunately, the misleaders of the AFT and NEA have chosen to collaborate with those who would destroy public education and strip teachers any professional autonomy and due process rights.
Taking back our unions would go a long way toward changing the climate in the schools. Until then, teachers need the real sleeping giant, the parents, to awaken and fight for their children and their communty public schools.
Correct on the union issue, Michael. That’s why the CTU has Karen Lewis & is what it is today. I am heartbroken for NYC, however.
Parents probably do have a little more superficial power than teachers. But these decisions and all the hysteria around public schools’ poor performance are lies. The real reason to tear up public schools is for the money. The humanitarian who wrote this article is frustrated by all the hoops to jump through with legislation and getting the message out to enough people who are strong enough to do something. We are all up against a small number of monied-giants who are already in “the club” and can undo us far more easily than we can press in against them.
Look at what has happened to school lunch programs. Giant, private, for profit crappy food companies that get money no matter how poorly they perform, no matter how bad the food. We are forced to pay them because they have contracts heaped with tax dollars, zero competition and very little accountability because they are PRIVATE.
We are in the process of undoing all social contracts in the US, but we won’t pay less taxes; too many piles of tax money at stake for private contractors. Think of the military. Little money left for soldiers, but the contractors are making out like bandits. And all the waste and inefficiencies within the military budget is virtually invisible and untouchable.
It’s always the same process for any group that is being targeted; insults (claiming “the public” is dissatisfied), performance reviews, pay/benefit reductions, lay-offs and facility closures. Further privatization and private monopolization equals more money going to the top and less for the dedicated, educated and loyal people doing the actual work.
Maybe teachers and parents could join together with other disenfranchised groups who keep getting pushed aside, like nurses and maybe other vital service providers like air traffic controllers, etc… I don’t know how to turn this around, but I am sure about what the greedies are up to; more, more, more (money).
Teachers and the public are to blame for this mess now. Teachers have let their profession go down the drink from the days the unions were formed. A friend of mine, Richard Arthur, also one of the best real educators ever by his performance, is one of the founders of UTLA. What UTLA was formed for has been morphed into the exact opposite of its founding purposes. There is nothing on their website about the founders or founding of UTLA. There is nothing in the building about the founding or founders. Today they help LAUSD falsely charge teachers and help to make sure they do not have their “Due Process” rights. CTU in Chicago has remembered as is obvious now. The public has voted for and put in office those who are destroying our system, not just education. They cannot avoid responsibility either.
The teacher writing this is doing the proper thing. Instead of just leaving and who cares she is doing the only thing which works and that is the political process. Yes, it is twisted. We are in that mess daily. If you want to get things done you must participate as this is the game and its rules whether you like it or not. It is purposely this way, in my opinion, to drive off most people. That works. In order to play you must know the process and have your facts in line and be able to do an executive summary on complex issues. This means no more than 2-3 minutes. It is my experience that you can only do that properly if you really know your subject. You never get more than that much time in presenting. It forces you to really know and think out the subject. It will hone your skills.
Please get more of your friends to assist you in the political process to bring back sanity and to start to stop the buying and selling of our politicians. It can be done. It is all incremental. First we have to stop it from getting worse and then we can start to fix it.
Have there been any ballot measures anywhere limiting the frequency of high stakes testing and its uses and outright banning for-profits from running “public” schools?
What baffles me about charter schools is WHY THEY NEED THE FOR-PROFIT MIDDLE MAN. If someone has an idea for a better way to run a school, great. Let them do it as an employee of the school district with district employees and no for-profit entities involved.
I believe Texas and North Carolina (but not sure) is limiting or ending high stakes testing. Don’t be baffled about having a for-profit middle man. It’s just that. Convince the public that the profit incentive is needed to create success, and that’s what’s lacking in public education hence failure. It’s simply about personal enrichment on the tax payers dime. The public appears to be catching on so it will eventually collapse but not before a lot of damage is done.
> Let them do it as an employee of the school district with district employees and no for-profit entities involved.
I agree that there should not be any for-profit entities in the middle. But you can’t always make change as an employee of the school district. Sometimes there are rules that get in the way. And you can’t always do it with “district employees” – you might need to hire teachers who understand your vision. A *few* of the charter schools actually do increase the diversity of education models without involving profit-making.
There are several bills before the Texas Legislature reducing the actual number of tests. For example, legislation is on track to reduce the number of “end of course exams” (EOCs) in the accountability system from 15 to 5. These bills also would end the provision to count EOCs toward a student’s GPA, a provision that drew the ire of mothers concerned about their kids’ college prospects. Unfortunately, there is not as much momentum at grades 3-8, which are somewhat confined by federal requirements. However, one bill passed the state House yesterday that would eliminate some tests, reduce the time needed to complete them, and limit districts to two benchmarks per year (http://bit.ly/ZU5JYM).
But that doesn’t really address the key problem of the misuse of tests to punish schools instead of making them diagnostic to pinpoint where resources are needed. (A dream-world notion, I know). Simply changing the tests or reducing the number will only provide a tiny bit of relief.
As a parent, I’ve opted out my kids, written the district, had my kids testify at our Legislature, and worked for years on campaigns against the misuse of testing. (In my case, there will be little consequence for one kid involved, so I’m not exactly being brave. Although consequences for the other remain a bit more dubious.)
On the matter of teachers taking a stand…As someone who works for a teachers union and who has witnessed what teachers have to endure, I fully understand the concern about losing your job. That said, I know of plenty of examples where teachers have spoken out in school board meetings and in op-ed columns against what is going on. In many respects that kind of stand helps buffer them from any possible retaliation. Unfortunately most teachers are content to complain in private and then end up acting as cheerleaders for the tests at school. It’s not an easy path to resist the harm of our current accountability systems, but there are ways teachers could start that course and preserve their careers. Collective action is one of them.
Thank you for sharing my message with your readers…I feel like that alone is a step in the right direction! I appreciate all the positive responses – unfortunately there are people in my life who are totally unsupportive & judgmental about my decision (none of whom work in the schools of course) – & that makes the comments here all the more validating. Not that im not sure enough of my choice to be swayed by anyone’s negativity…i’ve spent 2 years contemplating my future as an educator & searching for reasons to stay in the classroom, only to find reasons NOT to…but regardless naysayers can take the wind out of a persons sails no matter how strong it was blowing.
I’m def in agreeement with the need for parental involvement & support with this fight, like lots of the comments speak about, but I dont agree that parents have more power than teachers at all. Teachers are experts in education – no matter what anyone tries to say – & we are the ones who know exactly what needs to change, why it needs to be changed, & how to change it. Parents dont have the education or classroom experience behind them that would ever allow them to argue any point with anywhere near the credibility of someone who has dedicated her life to teaching.
not only that but the number of parents who have the wherewithal or desire to fight this fight cant possibly compare to the number of teachers who do…especially considering those who come from neighborhoods like the one my school was located in. I taught in the “Circle of Promise”, a 5 square mile area located in the heart of Boston, which includes 60,000+ households. 76% of those students living in the Circle of Promise come from low-income, socioeconomically disadvantaged homes. These are the children most left behind; & I think we all know the widely accepted belief that the problem lies in their schools and with the teachers who choose to work in such deplorable conditions is a crock. When the vast majority of parents either come from 7 generations of not valuing education, or who haven’t read to their children, or who are illegal immigrants terrified by calling attention to themselves, or who are working 3 jobs, or who are sticking needles in their arms or selling something to stick in their arms, or who have never attended an Open House at their childs school, or who are beating the crap out of their kids every day or who are making money by selling their bodies as their children sleep in the next room, you’re not going to find a lot of parental support there. Even if it is where its needed the most.
Congratulations, Jill! One group that CAN do quite a lot is retired teachers. As I have mentioned before, such a hardworking group–W.E.E. (Watchdogs for Ethics in Education)–was instrumental in ridding Rockford of its destructive Broad superintendent.
Retired teachers–get it together, do the research, attend the meetings, file the FOIAs and testify, speak out wherever you are, because, like Jill, yes, WE can! And we WILL!
Here are a lot of parents and educators against common core. Come and join in the fight https://www.facebook.com/groups/PEACCS/
Parents must continue to be educated, informed and included. Without this element, we’re just seen as “greedy teachers complaining about accountability”. Teachers with the knowledge can take the responisbility to inform the parent, who is the tax payer and voter.
the infatuation with Obama around the teachers break room during the 2008 primaries was, to me, ill founded; when I mentioned that Hillary was on record as more concretely against NCLB, I was greeted with silence. We kinda have ourselves to blame, in part, for the way things are going. I think a truth and reconciliation moment is in order, and then a radical regrouping; maybe along th lines of what’s happening in Chicago
I’m also leaving a situation that to ME is untenable… working with some very GOOD people… who I feel are seriously misguided due to the school reform movement that has insidiously seeped down into our system of schools. Administrators say that it’s the way things are going to be… so just accept it. And then the subtle insults begin… like so much brainwashing… pop psychology used to “convince” the teachers that the problem is THEM. Truly, as individuals, we can ONLY control what’s in our classroom… but we shouldn’t be blamed for what we CAN’T control outside of the classroom. No excuses translates into no compassion. There IS a difference between compassion and enabling… unfortunately, those distinctions are NOT being made.
While this anonymous teacher’s opinions may not represent her colleagues — I meet more teachers who are outspoken in their support Common Core than in opposition to it — I hope that more teachers will look past the latest curriculum on the table and the next high-stakes test and ask the same thought provoking questions that led this teacher to resign and push back against the Common Core.
Here’s an example of how passionately many teachers defend Common Core: http://www.heraldextra.com/afcitizen/the-school-ceo-why-michelle-malkin-is-wrong-about-the/article_da5ed176-b1a7-11e2-bb1b-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true?comment_form=true#_=_
While this Boston teacher is convinced that teachers universally despise these education reforms (NCLB, RTTT, CCSS) have taken their vocation, she admits that teachers “collectively support it.” Parents like myself who have fought passionately for local parent/teacher driven solutions in education wonder why teachers seem to walk in lock step against our efforts. Why they won’t break ranks and fight for reforms that would restore the art of teaching to the classroom and focus on our children’s development as life long learners instead of supporting “one-size-fits-all” test centric “accountability” education, I am truly stumped! I believe that Students, Teachers and Parents have silently endured these political agendas for to long as our influence in education is seriously diminished by educrats and the power classes!
Can’t speak for everyone, but the way it worked for me was this way… initially, there was this vague sense of confusion when the NCLB legislation went through. “How can we defy the Bell Curve?” I asked myself. I chuckled thinking, “Ha, just wait ’til ‘they’ figure out that it can’t be done!” I was teaching special education at the time. Over the next couple of years… as the pressure mounted, I moved to a state that I felt would better suit me for the rest of my career. The first slap in the face was that I couldn’t get a job in a public school… my degree and years of experience made me “too expensive.” A charter school was willing to hire me though… they liked having someone w/ a sp.ed. background. Especially since the school is working in an area with kids from low SES backgrounds… they wanted and were willing to pay someone with my education and experience. At the time, I didn’t know or understand the difference between a charter school and public school. All I knew was that I had a job! Fast forward… more and more “accountability” was heaped on… and the rhetoric that the teachers heard placed more and more “accountability” onto them. If the scores aren’t high enough, then we’re not working hard enough. THAT was the proverbial Kool-Aid… because most teachers are overly responsible, they bought into the idea that “if we only work harder…”. Then they (whoever “they” are) tried to close our school by revoking the charter due to low test scores. Unlike many charter schools, we take ALL of the kids! Many of our children are challenging. Many of our children struggle with learning. The school’s charter has been picked up, so it will not close this year. In the meantime, I’ve educated myself on the difference between charter, public, and private schools. I discovered that this “angst” that had been growing over the years in me was being experienced by other teachers all over the country. And what has happened… is that teachers are REALIZING that it’s NOT their fault! Hence, all the grassroots organizations that Diane is trying to link through NPE. Teachers have “allowed” it, because most of us “drank the Kool-Aid” of believing that it really was our fault… and now many of us are saying, “NO! It’s NOT our fault!” Like the character “Boxer” from Animal Farm… we kept working harder, working harder… but instead of us all collapsing and being sent to the “glue factory,” we’re getting off the farm. I’m leaving my school. I “know” too much now about the school reform movement… and I can’t support it. I don’t know where I will go. But I do know, that as soon as I figured out that it was NOT all my fault is when I started saying, “There’s something wrong with the system, and it needs to be changed.” THIS is probably what your seeing with many teachers. They believe that they only need to work harder… work harder… work harder… . But when they realize it’s not them, it’s the system… that’s when the change starts to happen. I “allowed” these policies, because I’m “hyper-responsible”… I’m the kind of teacher that kids need in school… I do what needs to be done…. but, the downside is… I was taking responsibility for things that were not my fault… and I didn’t realize it until I heard Diane Ravitch speak about it on the youtube upload “Diane Ravitch defends teachers” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAivikFLJvU
I’m grateful to Diane for this. In some ethereal way, she saved my life by helping me voice my experience and realize that the current state of education is NOT MY FAULT. I will NOT kill myself through the stress of working in an untenable situation.
I’ve said it before, and I say it again, “THANK YOU DIANE!”
oops… “you’re” … haven’t edited properly
Good for you, Hannah. Now stop voting Democrat. Or Republican. Vote tea party.
Um… I make my own Kool-Aid now… and if I drink anyone else’s, I watch them make it first.
I am a NYC public school teacher. I am also on the verge of quitting. Everyday I ask myself why I’m teaching in a corrupt system that wants to treat children like a number. It feels like I’m selling out. What on earth am I doing? I want students to foster a passion for reading so thet they can become independent life-long learners. Now, I’m teaching them to become good little test-takers. Politicians give schools less money and blame teachers for their failures! How are they getting away with this??? One reason is that there is a war on teachers. It comes all the way from the top, the President of the United States, and trickles down to the very bottom. The media is not helping because it doesn’t understand what is going on. It doesnt understand what teachers go through on a daily basis—-without any support or respect. The business community is infiltrating education because they see how profitable it can be. They drive the war against public schools so they can support charter schools who keep teachers under despotic conditions. Where will this all end? It absolutely breaks my heart. I think I will leave soon, even though I think that teaching is my true calling in life… Does anyone know what political organization I can join to fight what is going on? What can I do? I just can’t stand by anymore. HELP.
[…] *suscribe to dianeravitch.net. Every day she’ll email you her new posts on her blog. It’s arguably the best website to keep up to date on all the goings-on, as they occur. What i like best is how she summarizes the key points in different articles/media outlets, providing links to the original if you want to read it in it’s entirety. She typically posts about 5-10 times a day, providing information like that, or insight or opinion, or often sharing stories from other teachers across the nation. I was lucky enough to have been featured in of of her posts myself, as she published a comment i’d made regarding another post on her blog. you can read it here […]