From a teacher who gave up:
After 13+ years as a successful special education teacher in Los Angeles and then Virginia, I resigned last year. I just felt like I could no longer teach one more year in the current atmosphere that the teaching profession has become. I decided to take at least a year off, but it may be permanent. I know I have helped so many students and families over the years, and the students remained the only pleasant part of being a teacher at all. The excessive paperwork and lack of funding and support from society, the administration, and the government got worse and worse with every year, and the major down-slide began with No Child Left Behind and the increasing emphasis on test scores. The pressure for my students to pass standardized tests became unbearable even though many did pass and advance in terms of progress, but who cares about progress if it isn’t a passing score, and who cares about whether my students have disabilities, and most importantly, who cares if one test taken on one day cannot possibly assess the many successes and advances my students make yearly? Maybe I will go back to the classroom one day, but for now, I sorely need a break from the circus education has become.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is what the yahoos want – DRIVE GOOD TEACHERS OUT OF THE CLASSROOM AND REPLACE THESE FINE TEACHERS WITH PUPPETS WHO FOLLOW THE SCRIPT! Very sad…indeed!
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I also let teaching at the end of 2012. Fortunately I was eligible to retire. I could have worked on, but the situation just kept getting worse and worse. I totally agree with this teacher except I know I will not return, not even to substitute, unless I see the wolf at my door.
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I’m with ya lady… but having deep faith, I’m looking to go to Catholic schools… although not exempt from standardized testing, the main focus is based on the faith… taking a major pay cut, so will have to supplement my income with tutoring… but I can’t stand the mentality of data, scores, accountability, “carrots and sticks.” These are all valuable tools that have a place, but are being used as weapons, and I will NOT abide by it anymore! The current state of education is soul-crushing.
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My wife was telling me she had to help administer a state test to an OCS class (Occupational Course of Study) earlier this week, and that the looks on these kids faces broke her heart. These are students who have severe emotional and other types of disabilities(downs syndrome, autism, etc…) and are taking arbitrary tests to measure their “learning” in which their teacher will be judged on their performance. Unbelievable. And I thought one of the new tests being pushed down from the state for testing kids who helped out in the library (“Library Science”) was ridiculous.
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I’m not a teacher but I sometimes wonder if the obsession this country seems to have with the “quality” of teachers is accepted because teaching is still an overwhelmingly female occupation.
I get that most teachers are public employees, but so are police officers, and I never hear about the “quality” of police officers (and I actually work with them quite a bit) nor would police officers ever accept anyone outside law enforcement measuring their work. Everyone and their brother feels qualified, no, JUSTIFIED, when they weigh in on teachers.
Just seems a little odd to me.
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It’s because everyone attended school, so they feel qualified to offer solutions on how to fix them. When I meet these people, I remind them that just because I know how to drive a car does not make me a mechanic. Unfortunately for American education, not one reformer that I know of has a degree in education. Someone prove me wrong.
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It must be infuriating. I also don’t understand the constant accusations of self-interest. What does that even mean? I’m a lawyer and I can’t imagine the response if there was a lobbying organization named “clients first”, and there are PLENTY of publicly-paid lawyers.
Seems like something of a Catch 22. If you disagree you’re self-interested? Nice way to shut down any dissent.
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MECHANIC: Well, we checked your alignment. That’s free, but we noticed that your shock absorbers and struts are shot, and you need new tie rods and ball joints. And there’s no way you can drive this thing out of here with your existing steering rack. All told, this’ll be about $8,000.
JOE SIX-PACK: But the car was driving just fine —
MECHANIC: Excuse me, are you a mechanic?
JOE SIX-PACK: No.
MECHANIC: All right, then.
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I think Chiara is right about the female profession angle. Social work is the same way – everyone is a Monday morning armchair social worker, even those who have had no contact or familiarity with the social service system. But heck, if a woman can do it, it must be pretty easy. Even in medicine you see that the more female dominated specialities like pediatrics are subject to public opinion and pressure than the more male dominated specialities like neurosurgery and oncology.
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Caring special education teachers are unable to truly teach due to the mandates that are placed. Last year my daughter was in a program for autism she was regressing and picking up more autistic behaviors. We went back to district, and she was placed in a special k class. The school created “data” for their own agenda. This year she is at her neighborhood school and struggling. Last year was a total waste because they were too busy collecting data that was inaccurate.
I was able to call them out on certain therapy assessments, but obviously not on classroom data and testing. Good teachers, like the ones my daughter has this year are paying for those who are getting the “data” even if it costs the student harm.
Very sad time in education!
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Yes! I retired on June 5, 2012. I had to leave. The stress was literally killing me. I am amazed at how stress harms your heart, your blood sugar, your life, your ability to walk, your joints … on and on. No, I wasn’t in a failing school. No, I wasn’t a failing teacher. We had great scores, but I can assure you, in reality, the students I taught prior to the madness of NCLB knew more and were better learners than those that I taught with this increasing pressure. Our district HAD TO be “on top” … had to. No matter what the students’ needs were, no matter what their backgrounds were, they had to be “on top”. For the teachers, personal lives just stopped. I had extenuating circumstances that added to my stress because of what the economic downturn did to my family, but my main stress was in dealing with the constant changes, demands on my times, and inability to keep up with things that I really wanted to do for and with my students, but the other requirements exhausted me. In any case, my health is on the upward trend now. I miss the kids so much. But, I do NOT miss my job. At all.
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Yes, I will join you in one year for the exact same reasons! I will work SOMEWHERE to supplement my retirement, but not in the teaching profession. My students come to me each year knowing less and less and it’s frustrating.
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It is frightening, in this great country, to see educators leaving the profession in such large numbers. I worry where this country is headed without the caring guidance of experienced teachers. My heart breaks thinking of the many children, who may find their lives spiraling in negative directions without the support of a caring teacher. We need wise and experienced teachers to listen to children’s frightened voices and advocate for them. Our best are leaving, and as much as this saddens me, I can’t fault them one bit.
The legacy of our President, is going to be a sad one, should he continue on his chosen course. Never would I have thought President Obama would allow the lives of teachers, children and public education to become what it is today.
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One of the local television stations is honoring teachers who use innovative methods of instruction and/or who have given back to the community in some special way. As much as I am pleased to see teachers honored for their hard work, a part of me wants to say leave them alone and let them do their job. Someone will twist what they are doing into a demand that all teachers do the same thing! Most likely, they have no private life and are slowly killing themselves.
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I agree. Those teacher “awards” always seem to go to teachers who appear to have given up their entire lives to students. I saw a newspaper article a few years ago lauding a teacher who really went the extra mile. When the article continued, it admitted that this man had lost his wife and family because he never had time for them. How sad that we’re supposed to be like monks– taking a vow of poverty and practically celebacy– if we’re supposed to be “good” at our jobs.
Teachers: we’re either the worst villains or the best saints. I’m not sure which is worse. I’m just a human being.
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I find too, younger teachers have the energy and drive to go that extra mile… but heaven forbid you start to get a little older, need to take time to take better care of yourself, and wow, even make some time for your OWN family… well, then you don’t give enough of yourself or sacrifice enough of yourself.
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There is so much push for students with more serious disabilities in academic and behaviors areas to be placed in general education classes. At the same time class sizes are getting ever larger, as are caseloads. (Mine has doubled and I lost an instructional assistant.) My district used to keep class sizes a down somewhat , and special education caseloads somewhat reasonable. More general education teachers were comfortable with having a few IEP students in their classrooms, because of lower class sizes and the support of an IA, and the possibility of team teaching. They learned that all the students benefited from the extra support. Missing was the fear about test scores. Now with the larger class sizes in general, the IEP students are being spread across grade level classes, and it is a struggle to serve them effectively. What seems to have been forgotten in this push so many IEP kids into general classes is the I in IEP.
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