A letter from a teacher. He echoes my sentiments exactly. Stay and fight. Resist. Don’t let the teacher-bashers win. Not only are teachers “in the trenches,” but now teachers are engaging in trench warfare, holding on to their professional ethics and fighting for their students against powerful forces. Be there when the whole phony “ed reform” ideology collapses, as it will.
Here is good advice:
As a teacher of almost 20 years I am kind of getting tired of all of these “resignation letters”. Don’t these teachers realize that quitting is EXACTLY what the ed-deform crowd wants them to do? The ed-deformers want a constant churn of young, cheap labor. They want easily manipulated new teachers who will never become vested in a pension. They want teachers who will keep their mouths closed and do what they are told. They don’t want anbody to stir the boat. Most of all, they want QUITTERS. I say stick it out and fight the good fight! Be a thorn in the side of the ed-deform crowd. Never quit. Make the ed-deformers quit.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I hear you and want so much to believe I can continue on and we will fight this. Sometimes it is so hard each and every day when you look at the kids and know the truth to this money making game right now in public education. It gets very lonely when no one else speaks up. It’s blogs such as this that help me believe I am not alone. Thank you. From another “in the trenches.”
LikeLike
Trying to hold on too! Many teachers showing health concerns due to high levels of stress. Sometimes it comes to saving oneself.
LikeLike
Exactly. I cannot condemn these teachers, because I have also had the health concerns that come from the unbelievable stress. Teachers have to make decisions that will keep them sane. Every choice will be different.
Also, at least these teachers can speak out as they resign, and I applaud them for that. Many of us left behind cannot speak out or we will lose our jobs.
LikeLike
I hear you. I have been out for a month from my special ed class because of a meltdown over my Standards books. However, they actually prohibited anybody from even talking to me, thereby banishing me from the school, which created more stress, depression, and anxiety. Now, I am almost back on Friday afternoon, and the stress is growing. I don’t know what other job to do.
LikeLike
If it comes down to it, make them throw you out the front door; don’t slink out the back (easier said than done, I know).
LikeLike
If good teachers quit over this, corporate reformers win and students lose.
LikeLike
I don’t think we can judge anyone’s personal choice. I too wish that all teachers could and would stay and fight and I salute those who do.
But on the other hand, I’m not in anyone else’s shoes. I know what it’s like for myself to live with chronic stress. There are times I can barely keep going, and I’m not even a teacher. I certainly don’t feel I have any authority to tell other people that they have to suffer constant physical, emotional and financial strain and be abused every day.
And in some cases I think teachers may be more effective in fighting “reform” if they are able to retire because then they can speak more freely and they have more time to learn about what’s going on and organize to fight back.
LikeLike
I agree that we must be careful about the use of terms like “Quitters” since we do not know the circumstances of a good teacher’s forced removal disguised as a resignation. We are here to support each other as best we can and keep fighting on every front available.
LikeLike
I agree with much of what you say. However, I resigned in a very public way because I could no longer cooperate with the testing regime that I believe is immoral, corrupt, and evil. I continue my work as part of the resistance by writing and speaking out against the regime and its policies. I respect your decision to remain in the classroom. Please respect my decision to leave the profession I dearly love. It was not and has not been easy for me to do what I did.
LikeLike
I am a little offended at the notion that because I am a young and new teacher I have no voice in this fight. I have a voice and I plan on using it to fight these ridiculous reforms because I am not afraid to fight for my student’s rights and I am most certainly not a sheep whom will keep my head down and let the proverbial “them” step all over the noble profession of teaching!!! Young and new teachers fight too!!!
LikeLike
And thank you for doing so!
LikeLike
Thank you for joining in and spreading the word . I am concerned because my young colleagues do not seem to understand they need to join this battle and speak out for public education.
LikeLike
Amen! When we—the veteran teachers—leave the ranks, the remaining young teachers have no one to model for them how to fight, how to appraise incoming curriculum, how to understand a child beyond the assessments, how to negotiate . . . endless how to’s.
Anthropology teaches us the importance of elders; we need our teaching elders to support young teachers who don’t know that the pendulum swings wildly, particularly in education. As one of my elders taught me, the young teachers with young families, need elders to speak up and out. I’ve been in education since my twenties and am now 63. I pass on blog posts from Diane regularly to my fellow teachers, attend board meetings and speak out at various gatherings. Many younger–and older—teachers thank me for it. Well, I was taught to do it, brought up by my teacher “mothers & fathers” to watch out for the teaching family. As the famous union song goes (written by a mother with her babies under the bed and the union busters shooting through the thin cabin walls) “Which Side Are You On?”. Those of us who grew up in the 60’s know some of those fighting strategies; our younger folks, our children, grew up in easier times and don’t know those same social organizing strategies. On the other hand, those that do, know how to marshall social media in a way that we don’t. So working together, we can turn the tide. Pete Seeger, a man for the ages, said that the civil rights movement changed when a young African American girl, age 13, a policeman’s flashlight shining in her face, opened her mouth during a siege at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee in the early 60’s, and spontaneously sang, “We are not afraid, we are not afraid . . .” to that old strike song “We Shall Overcome.” In the darkness, the whole hall of people sang the verse. The police, in full riot gear, left. Pete said that was the verse that brought people out of their houses to march and eventually took it around the world to everywhere people were fighting for justice. We are NOT afraid. One courageous girl. One heart. One verse. One song to change the world. Folks, we can do this. Don’t leave the profession. Stand and fight for our children, for our democracy. Our teaching isn’t only for our students, it’s for our younger teachers, for democracy, for our nation, for the one and only world we all inhabit.
LikeLike
For those not familiar with Pete Seeger:
LikeLike
Perfect!
LikeLike
Here is Pete singing the song Melissa refers to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhnPVP23rzo
LikeLike
While I agree with your sentiments 100%, my job was not worth my health or my life. After battling depression, hypertension, and a trip to the ER, I decided, that as much as I loved my job and my students, I loved my family more. I remain committed to fighting against the ruination of public education by letter writing, speaking and working with those still actively engaged in the schools, but my blood pressure is under control and I no longer need anti-depressants. I feel guilty very often about leaving the battle behind, but it was my health or teaching, and I chose, perhaps selfishly, my health. Even my co-workers, to whom I speak often, agree with my decision. If I stayed, I know I would have left the building, either in handcuffs, a straight jacket, or a stretcher. My temperament is not the type to suffer fools or hypocrites lightly, and while I still get angry and frustrated, it is not I my face on a daily basis.
LikeLike
You made the right decision. A dead teacher cannot fight.
LikeLike
Corinne,
I’m not advocating judgement of any kind. You did what was needed to preserve YOUR life. The rule of oxygen masks on airplanes applies here. The life you saved was yours, a valuable one. Perhaps, once you’ve fully recovered your health, you’ll find another way to fight the decline of education. We need a systemic approach, inside and outside the system. All ways of opposition are important. Thanks for all you did for your students—and remember all the students you’ve let loose on the world who carry your teachings.
All the best to you,
Melissa
LikeLike
Is it better to be fired and lose the chance to teach anywhere else? Often I’ve seen how administrators coerce resignations by threatening to put damaging and false data in the teacher’s file. Then, you may ask, why don’t teachers sue? Another thing to realize is that lawyers don’t want to take a case they can’t win or that will cost them money. This I have also seen. So, please, don’t pass judgment. Quitting is never the easy choice. It is often for the mental stability and health of the teacher, even their physical safety.
LikeLike
“Is it better to be fired and lose the chance to teach anywhere else?”
As one who “moved on” rather than giving the bastards (and I’m being way nice in using that term) the pleasure of hounding me either into submission-wouldn’t have happened, or into being fired-would have happened, I can say that the moving on was the better choice both for my career (even though I took about a 20% pay cut) and health.
LikeLike
Although you make some good points, what about those who quit because their salaries have been frozen for 6+ years? Should they continue to live in near impoverished situations just to make a point?
LikeLike
Should Martin Luther King have quit because he ran into hard times? Should Christ have quit at Gethsemane? Many would have done so, and the Civil Rights Movement would have died. Christianity would never have taken root. We all have our breaking points; only we can make this kind of decision for ourselves. If we quit, then who cares about the point? And, if we cannot make the point because too many of us are weak, we deserve what we get. TFA anyone?
LikeLike
Being the Son of God, Christ had a wee bit more fortitude (and back-up) than most of us do.
LikeLike
“Should Martin Luther King have quit because he ran into hard times? Should Christ have quit at Gethsemane? Many would have done so, and the Civil Rights Movement would have died. Christianity would never have taken root.”
Although who knows, there might not have been any need for the Civil Rights Movement if Christianity had never taken root.
LikeLike
Dienne,
Provided he had that insight! I believe, though, that my point is clear. The corporate education reformers want us to give up and quit so that they can hire TFA “Shake n’ Bake” trainees who leave after two years. Teacher retirement programs will ultimately die. And, the corporate will make billions of dollars off of public education.
We have to think of tomorrow!
LikeLike
FLERP,
Counterfactual history can be interesting.
Plus you beat me to the punch!
LikeLike
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
W.B. Yeats 1865-1939
LikeLike
I couldn’t agree more! Don’ let corporate Amerika win!
LikeLike
I am one who left due to harassment, overwhelming stress, feelling as though I couldn’t help my students, because I wasn’t allowed to get them the services they needed. I had lost a partner of 28 years and decided my family (in particular, my 22 year old son who is at the low end of the autism spectrum) needed me more. He was devastated by his father’s death. By the way, I could never remarry because of insurance–another wonderful subject in our country. I am grateful that I found this blog, as well. I was depressed, and broken. I felt like a failure. I now get what is happening, and I will do whatever I can to help our public schools become better. Arizona is a beautiful state but one of the worst for charters, government leaders, etc. So, I commend those who can keep fighting in the public schools, but some of us have valid reasons for fighting from our homes.
LikeLike
I’m so sorry for what happened to you. I’m glad that you put “felt like a failure” in the past-tense. I hope that you fully see now that it was never you. Identical things are happening to so many teachers (and, for what it’s worth, plenty of other professions and occupations too). I’m glad that you did what you needed to do for you.
LikeLike
This is just the information I need as I hopefully return to my classroom next week after being out for a month over the Standards books. I make a good thorn, but this time a more quiet one.
LikeLike
Yes–stay. If you can. But that may mean getting fired…… Because there comes many a moment when you just can’t obey orders.
LikeLike
“Because there comes many a moment when you just can’t obey orders.”
You got that right!!
LikeLike
Exactly!!!!!
LikeLike
I more or less committed professional suicide by not being permitted to substitute in my neighborhood school any more after not one, not two, but THREE positions for which I was supremely qualified in that school and another where I was substituting part-time, after three VERY successful long-term sub gigs. But since our new AP was an Arne Duncan Fellow, in retrospect I feel I dodged a bullet there, since no doubt we would have spent our time butting heads over ed policy. He’s a nice enough guy, don’t get me wrong, and very professional, but WOW, do we come from different ends of the Reform Spectrum, and let’s just say that Following Arbitrary Rules That Hurt Children is a deal-breaker for me. I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror each day, KWIM?
Since I lost that job, though, I have found a lot more time to fight from outside the system. Now that I’m “only a parent,” and not beholden to the school for income or job security, I can make a very different kind of noise now – and lots more of it. In the classroom, I too would have been carried out on a stretcher, or in a straitjacket or handcuffs, but as a parent who also happens to be a double-degree certified teacher who has taught in this system, I can use that experience as extra “ed cred.” (I also am still teaching music privately, and talking to parents there, and I also speak with parents in my other music classes, none of which are affiliated with public schools.)
LikeLike
“KWIM”???
Help me I’m AI!
LikeLike
Know what I mean?
LikeLike
Thanks, Dienne!
Don’t think I would have figured out that one.
LikeLike
Good for you that you look at this as an opportunity to “fight” for the rights of kids, teachers, and parents rather than what the FEDs hand down from down below, and I mean DOWN BELOW.
LikeLike
I am a 15 year teacher and I have been targete d for termination. The district gave me a seperation agreement (big joke)and I have decided to go to Tenure Proceedings.
LikeLike
This is something I wrote 18 months ago. Not much has changed since I wrote it. I understand why people quit. I am more into fighting for what is right for educators and students than choosing to leave the profession.
http://davidrtayloreducation.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/it-is-time-for-a-popeye-moment/
LikeLike
Greene has hit it on the nose. Democracy is stupid. So us stupids better join together in numbers where we don’t have the money that those “smart”people have.
LikeLike
TAGO!
LikeLike
“I can’t do this anymore” was my initial thought when I was informed yesterday of yet another meeting that my administrators are calling me into. When they say the agenda is plans for next year I read that as ‘involuntary transfer.’ I’ll find out this afternoon if I’m correct but, even if they send me to Siberia I’m not leaving on their terms. The classroom is the only place I want to be and the only place I can fight with true legitimacy. I’m very worried that I will have to switch classrooms, grade level or school. But, if nothing else, it will give my voice more strength. Deep breaths……onward.
LikeLike
Good luck, Amy!
May the change benefit you!
LikeLike
Thanks, Duane! My fears were confirmed: new grade level, new school. I cried for a night and now live to fight another day. I’ll laugh like they’ve thrown me into the briar patch and fume inside at the major life choice that was cruelly made for me.
LikeLike
It’s true that they want veteran teachers to leave. I’m very thankful for those who hang on. But I’m one of those who decided, after 20 years in the trenches, to save myself. I fought the good fight for as long as I could, but didn’t see it getting better, and decided I needed a job that wasn’t killing me. When my staff started seriously discussing tying students’ grades to their scores on the state tests, and no one would publicly support me in my objections (although several told me they agreed with me in private), I decided it was time to get out. But thank you to those who keep fighting!
LikeLike
Quitters? I’m not a quitter, I was given a non reelect despite the fact that I never received an unfavorable evaluation. I was terminated while I was successfully working on my credential. I was forced to resign because apparently it was my fault for not being placed in a permanent teaching position even though The Los Angeles Unified School District assured me that they would place me.I am the victim of the school board’s war on veteran teachers ! This is happening to teachers such as myself across the country and nobody is doing anything about it, my union is ineffective, the media is against veteran teachers the parents are apathetic and the students (the real victims here) feel abandoned. The teacher that wrote this blog entry has not experienced the draconian and Machiavellian policies brought about by the sleazy privatizes that hold sway in this school district. They love to crucify veteran teachers here in LAUSD because the powers that be don’t want to be told by us that ‘ the emperor has no clothes,.they continue to roll out their untested and ill- conceived programs devised by individuals with Phd’s who are paid insane amounts of money. School board officials continue to give no-bid contracts to vendors with dubious track records, give away schools to charters that are accountable to no one, and place veteran teachers in ‘teacher jails’ without due process. When it is all said and done, I am certain that these same officials will be discredited and some may be prosecuted, but we will all be faced with the legacy they leave behind, namely a generation of disadvantaged Americans that never received the education required to fully participate in our democracy. That is the tragedy that we all as members of our democracy face. This , I believe is all part of a plan to create a system of haves and have nots. I watch helpless on the side lines watching as the wheels come off of pubic education, wondering if the 12 years of my life that I spent in the classroom was worth it. Nobody thanks me for my effort I received little or no help during those 12 years yet I soldiered on and did my best and in the end some other teacher in some other district in some other state that knows nothing about my circumstances admonishes teachers like me not to quit? Let’s get real folks, I did everything in my power to stay in the classroom, but the powers that be are holding all the cards and I was trumped at every turn. I am an intelligent, hard working individual that wholly commits to any endeavor I engage in , I was a great teacher that would have stayed in my position until retirement, but instead I was unjustly terminated. These actions are being repeated right now, every day in school districts across the country to open space for TFA teachers. The teaching profession as we know it is being dismantled in plain sight but nobody is doing something about it. Years from now when all of the privatizers’ efforts have been discredited and were in the grips of a teacher shortage, I hope that the public and our legal system brings these people to account. In summary, let’s be clear about this , I didn’t quit, these people forced me out, and if this continues, who is going to be left to prepare the next generation of Americans for their place in the world? P.S. Thank you for your thanking me for my 12 year of dedication to the parents and students of LA!I feel really appreciated!
LikeLike
Hello, I am Kirk and I guess I am a “Quitter.”
I taught over 25 years. I was a voice of reason within my school & state from the beginning of NCLB. I am sure my admin thought I was more of constant thorn in the side. I mentored 14 student teachers and other newbie teachers that entered our school. I kept up with and reported on educational research and educational policy for my school district and my state organizations. I served in top leadership positions for these organizations and helped keep an eye on and try to defend against private takeovers and screwy standards and testing schemes. I served a fellowship in D.C. the year that the Governors Association and State School Superintendents huddled together to codify the game plan for the most recent thrusts of Ed “Reform.”
Through all this, I was a teacher. A pretty good one. I won awards (local, state, & national), I received accolades from parents and past students sought me out to thank me for what I had done for them while they were in school. I loved my students. I loved my discipline. I continued my education at my own cost. I provided co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities to students.
Then my state (Indiana) came under “reformers” Mitch Daniels and Tony Bennett and the VAM and other offensive (in both usages of the word) evaluation efforts and demands to use specific behavioralist pedagogy began in our state and district.
My input was ignored or openly eschewed both in private and staff meetings.
I was removed as Department Chair.
I was omitted from school improvement committees.
My 2 favorite courses were removed from me.
My teaching position was changed such that I was expected to teach outside of my areas of expertise.
My health (mental and physical) suffered.
My relationships (personal and professional) suffered.
My ability to offer my students what I knew they needed was limited.
The job (both vocation and avocation) I once had had simply been taken from me.
For the first time in over 25 years of teaching, I began to resent my “job.”
I resigned (when it was made known in the school district, they treated it as a “retirement.”) on my terms rather than wait for the proverbial axe to fall.
Since then, my health and relationships have dramatically improved!
I am still looking for professional employment that can use my skills, but I am now able to fight or lend support at a different level. I have the time and energy to do things like read (wow!…what a treat!) and write to support the grassroots efforts to end the madness and to stop using our kids as both guinea pigs and fodder for some vague “business interest.”
Yeah. I’m a quitter that is still swinging.
LikeLike
The worm is turning. Parents are awakening. In elections where education has become a major issue, the ‘deformers’ are losing in race after race. Where parents, teachers, and social media connect, there are victories. If cell phones, texts, and social media posts can topple a dictator in Egypt, they can turn the tide in America too.
But EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE parents and taxpayers. Tell the stories. Share them with your world. The truth will set you, your students, and your school system free.
LikeLike
This is a very timely article for me. I suffered a stroke in November and I attribute it in part to the large amount of stress in my life as a teacher. Every year I am expected to do more with less. I am spending more and more of my own time trying to catch up with things that can not be humanly be accomplished during the work day. I have to draw a line somewhere.
LikeLike
I agree!
In March of this year, the faculty at my school received news from our district superintendent, that our ‘failing’ Focus status school, will now be a ‘priority’ school, and also a recipient of the RTTT School Improvement Grant (SIG). Never mind the fact that almost 90% of our students come poverty; high-risk homes; speak little or no English; are highly transient and even homeless; and show high enough rates of absenteeism and mobility, that our percentages are higher than our own district, and the state.
“Yeah! I’ve seen the data…but we aren’t going to change the boundaries, so don’t expect that!” Almost verbatim from our superintendent. We were told this information on a Friday afternoon. By the following Monday at 9:00 am, we were to hand in the green sheet asking to be surpluses at a “…school and grade of our choice…”, or the white quasi-contract accepting the challenges and demands of the SIG.
Talk about a stressful weekend!
By Saturday afternoon I had made my decision to stay. Two reasons: 1 – if teachers have control to implement change and programs that will make our school have better scores, then by golly we DO know what we are doing! WE will shine as the experts! 2 – if teachers can’t discover the magic bullet, well then we will have proven that this idea of the deformers to change the entire staff and faculty, doesn’t work! Just like the evidence out there already proves this!
I’m not going to back down! I refuse to let anybody else come into my school and tell my colleagues and I that we are failing our students! I refuse to accept the ludacrious ideology that is being forced upon us! A faithful reader of this blog, I find it encouraging to read about the crumbling ideology of the CCSS and standardized testing, and the parents, teachers, students, and even politicians who are organizing themselves to speak out! I made the comment last June, that eventually all of this mayhem will start to fail right in front of those who created it! It may take time, but once it starts it will exponentially collapse everywhere!
Whatever happens, I will be a part of something bigger than myself. This is were we all can make a difference! I can’t wait to see the faces of Gates, the Walton family, the Koch Bros., Pearson, the NGA, and so many more, as they feel the emotions of defeat with their tails between their legs!
Then…we will have our own profession back in our expert hands!
LikeLike
UT,
“I refuse to accept the ludacrious ideology that is being forced upon us!”
If I may correct your statement: “I refuse to accept the ludacrious IDIOLOGY* that is being forced upon us!
*Idiology = idiot + their ideology
LikeLike
More public school teachers who have chosen to stay and are using multiple measures to help students, families and the broader community understand student growth 7 progress.
http://hometownsource.com/tag/joe-nathan/?category=columns-opinion
Here is the first 3 paragraphs of this column that will appear in a number of Mn newspapers
“What a great way to end a high school career!
Recently I had a chance to participate in portfolio presentations at St Paul’s Harding High School. For 20-25 minutes, each graduating senior presented information about what she or he had done in high school, covering grades, extra-curricular activities, community service, honors and awards, reference letters, personal reflections and post-high school plans.
Under state law, in the next few years, each Minnesota student will be encouraged to gather at least some of this information.
“It’s an opportunity for our students to see growth. Otherwise they would have no idea how far they’ve come.” That’s how Maureen Rueber, who coordinates the portfolio process, summarized what happens. Rueber has spent 43 years as a public school educator at Harding. The school has been using and refining its portfolio process for more than a decade.
LikeLike
Here is one teacher who is fighting back… Not everyone is prepared to fight the good fight when the ending is clearly determined by lawless administrators.
http://www.perdaily.com/2013/11/lausd-gives-me-a-chance-to-be-a-hero-for-student-teachers-and-families.html
LikeLike
What a sad and dangerous time for ALL of us when we begin to label and judge each other. We will LOSE the good fight simply because of not banding together, and splintering away from divisive viewpoints and attitudes. THAT would make the ed-deformers MORE THAN ECSTATIC!! Personal health and safety are extremely important issues. And, over and over, the very teachers that have been labelled “quitters” here or “quitting and leaving the good fight” have done just the opposite! They’ve gone on to speak loud and with more force than ever before! I love and admire you, Diane, but this post extremely saddened me. We cannot be a group divided, and this article did just that.
LikeLike
I could not agree more. As educators, we need to stop the bickering and dissension that is happening among us, and work collaboratively for the betterment of our students. While the common core, high stakes testing, and the new teacher evaluation plan have most of us rattled, we have to stay focused and remember why we are in this profession in the first place- the kids! If you thought it was for money and prestige, you are sadly mistaken!
LikeLike
This is somewhat off topic, but the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce just named Man of the Year, and he runs charters in Florida and Arizona for Helios. I’m very disappointed that our Hispanic Community is selling out to Charters instead of working to improve public schools. I also saw where another organization Rahza (I think the spelling is correct or close) is also supporting charters. Who is this guy and what do you alll think? See: http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2014/05/01/arizona-hispanic-chamber-of-commerce-names-man.html
LikeLike
La Raza.
It means “roots”
LikeLike
The organization to which you are referring is the National Council of La Raza.
LikeLike
There’s an example in Gilbert, Arizona of a teacher who refused the Superintendent’s ultimatum, “Resign or face charges. BTW, you better withdraw your EEOC charge, too.” The administration delayed scheduling a public hearing to give the teacher an opportunity to defend against the twenty charges brought against her when she refused the offer. Finally recognizing that the district did not have a case against her, the board unanimously withdrew all charges and signed a settlement agreement stating the district did this to avoid the public hearing the teacher had demanded. Lesson for all public school teachers under fire: DON’T RESIGN! The story ended with the teacher being reinstated, the superintendent retiring, and a clean sweep of the assistant superintendents who rode around in this clown car of an administration. Here’s a link to a video of one of the assistant superintendents who decided that he has no respect for the National Board Certified Teacher program – because NBCTs are teacher-leaders, apparently, and bozo-admins don’t like that. Sheeeesh. http://westieconnect.com/archives/6883
LikeLike