Teacher: How the DC Public Schools Ruined My Career

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1. "2old2tch" says:

   October 23, 2012 at 11:28 pm

   Demonize, demean, demoralize, destroy.

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2. Carrie says:

   October 23, 2012 at 11:57 pm

   “Some things are set up to fail and unfortunately teachers are too. I was set up.”

   I’m sure you’re suspicions are right.

   I have felt for some time that the emphasis on dodgy VAM evaluations, on over testing even pre-k kids, on implementing testing before having curricular materials for Common Core — all these initiatives are specifically and deliberately designed to cause kids tests scores to drop and for masses of teachers to be fired.

   The plan is to replace teachers — those weak and ineffective people — with computer software so the kids can drill themselves in reading and math.

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3. Jim says:

   October 24, 2012 at 3:09 am

   I agree.

   I’m retired 6 years, but I saw it going in this direction when I was working.

   I try to chat with those still teaching and they have become very tight lipped. I’ve visited the school to have lunch and it is like going to a wake. Out of 200 teachers and administrators, I would recognize about 5. The turn over has been that great in the last 6 years.

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4. Dienne says:

   October 24, 2012 at 6:47 am

   “The way I see it, the school system overall is doomed to fail….is that what the people up top want?”

   The people at the top? Absolutely that’s what they want. They want a for-profit education system (or at least a non-profit, private system with plenty of opportunities to profit).

   The question is, what do the people at the bottom (by which I mean the other 99% of us) want and are we smart and determined enough to get it? Or will enough of us be fooled by the hype until it’s too late?

   H.L. Mencken said it best: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”

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5. Lehrer says:

   October 24, 2012 at 6:56 am

   Teaching strains and sometimes destroys marriages as well. From my observations “mixed marriages” (one teacher, one not) have a rate of marital tension. Our own spouses don’t get why we have to spend Sunday night in our classrooms or why we have no time for anything once the school year begins.

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   • Ang says:

     October 24, 2012 at 8:42 am

     All too true! Several friends are having all manner of problems due to family tensions caused by overly long hours, stress, time away from family, etc.
     I am very grateful my partner is the child of a teacher!

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     • Lehrer says:

       October 24, 2012 at 8:43 pm

       Oops: missing a word:

       From my observations “mixed marriages” (one teacher, one not) have a HIGH rate of marital tension.

6. Mark Collins says:

   October 24, 2012 at 8:48 am

   I can attest and sadly the system (DCPS) has only gotten worse. I met a kid from 825 North Capitol during a school site visit a few years ago. We spoke briefly. Based on the conversation, I surmised that he problably was a public policy grad and an intern, which he was. After a few more minutes, I cut the conversation short so that with the remaining time I could grab lunch. He thanked me for my time and service to DCPS. He was in diapers when I started teaching.

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7. Rosemary says:

   October 24, 2012 at 11:41 am

   Reform comes in cycles.Keep doing what you do best and ditch the medications for a good book. When I started teaching 45 years ago at age 23, no one came in my classroom to monitor me and I had to find the books then determine what the lesson would be so after so many years in the game I knew what worked. Even in my final year of teaching, my students had the highest writing scores in the district and I had a reputation at the local junior college for producing college- ready writers. I saw a former student who just retired,oh my, and she said I was her inspiration to become a teacher.
   Teaching is the most honorable of all professions because you are selling skills that last a lifetime. Now you are selling intrinsic knowledge. If you quit you would be selling extrinsic ,disposable products.

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8. Patty says:

   June 13, 2013 at 3:21 pm

   As a 23 year teacher who just received her first unfavorable evaluation EVER, I am still shocked at the loss of my job as a teacher. Of course, teachers take their evaluations to the next teaching position they apply for, so it looks like my career is over. I really wish I would have done something else with my life. I am now nearly 50, and it looks like I need to start a new career. I was good at teaching. I am sure of that. I have a Master’s degree, and I honestly cared about my students! Yes, I contacted families. I ran papers home for signatures when parents were unable to come to the school, I worked hard. BUT in the end, who knows what happened? I was at a new school system after a move to another state. FIrst, I was told my peers didn’t like me. All my peers I spoke with liked me fine…. Then it just went down hill. Unplanned evaluations marked as planned, etc…. Of course, I was at the top of the pay scale, and when that happens, your actions are more closely examined. I did not even work at this school for an entire school year! The new teacher evaluations are meant to get rid of the older teachers; you can be sure of that.

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9. teacherkane says:

   June 13, 2013 at 3:50 pm

   So, I got my FIRST bad evaluation EVER this year. And I can only assume it is my last year teaching. You see in teaching the last evaluation goes with you to your next job. Although I did not even teach the entire school year, this will be the year that ruins my career after 23 years…. The new evaluations are meant to get rid of educators. The only way a school can get a rid of a teacher they do not like for ANY REASON is to say the teacher is incompetent, insubordinate, or immoral. At least I wasn’t hit with immoral! The other two were trumped up charges. I even had an evaluation marked as “planned” that was never a planned evaluation. I am still in shock by the entire incident. I am sure I will not be the last.

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10. Garlynne says:

    September 8, 2016 at 8:03 am

    I will never understand the euphemism, “Teaching is a rewarding job”. That tagline completely escapes me. It’s never rewarding. I was in sales before and i found that chickenshit profession to be more rewarding than teaching ever was. At least when you work for a corporation they pay you in terms of a ramp-up just to give you a boost financially so you can build your book of business. With teaching it’s the complete reverse. You have to pay to work in the beginning. You can go nearly 2 months working your butt off until you get your first measly paycheck. even still, you’re paying to work, because you have to pay your own expenses for testing, certification and training. It’s criminal. I really wish the American school system would buckle and collapse for good.

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