Olivia Chapman taught for five years in the public schools of the District of Columbia. Then she decided that her philosophy of education was diametrically opposed to the District’s demands. She resigned her position. Her letter of resignation was first posted on Rachel Levy’s blog, All Things Education.
When she resigned, she was asked what DCPS could have done to retain her. Her letter of resignation began like this:
“I truly don’t think that there is anything that you could have done to retain me in the district. Our educational philosophies do not align, specifically what those philosophies look like in action, not necessarily how they are written and presented. Although it would seem that your will and proclaimed dedication to educating all students and improving struggling schools are aligned to my own beliefs; stating your beliefs and acting on them can be extremely different.
“In my opinion and based on five years of experience in a struggling school (which I believe you now call a “40-40” school), the actions that you have imposed that are supposed to be helping to educate all students and improve the education of underprivileged students are backfiring. I know some of your test scores are going up, but that means so little when morale decreases and discontent from the community, teachers and students increase. Additionally, student behavior continues to worsen as their teachers are “impacted out”, the students are over-tested and the constant change in leadership causes students to lose faith in anyone sticking around long enough to invest in their successes. Your standards are higher while our resources are lower and the teachers are less effective because of constant turnover and poor training programs (Yes, I am referring to Teach for America and DC Teaching Fellows).
“IMPACT and high stakes standardized testing are deteriorating education. I have enjoyed working with each and every one of my students, as challenging as some of them may be, but I can no longer participate in a system that is tearing them down, wasting their time and breaking their spirits. I can no longer participate in the rigid guidelines of IMPACT/Common Core/Standardized testing; it is not what my kids need or ever needed to be successful. Yes, they need quality teachers, learning standards and assessments-but the manner in which you have delivered these three essential components of education are not effective. I have been witness to this for five years. You can throw data and numbers at me all you want, but it is not working for my students nor my school, and I know I am not alone in stating this, especially in Ward 8. You have poured enormous amounts of money into IMPACT and testing and not nearly enough into professional development, technology or character education programs for students. We have lacked the supplies and trainings to properly implement Common Core for the last three years. Honestly, you can call the standards whatever you want, revise them, increase their “rigor”, do whatever you please; but until communities, families, parents and students are held accountable for their participation in education, none of this matters…”
Read on.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Fantastic, and soul crushingly true at the same time. So how can Michelle Rhee be skyrocketed to fame with much less effort and insight?
Dan, she rocketed to fame and fortune not because of success in DC but because she is a voice for the Waltons, Koch brothers, and others who hate unions and want teachers to work for minimum wage. Or eliminate the minimum wage.
I definitely feel this teacher and she is right.The programs that supposed to help the students are actually hampering them. The old adherence to reading, writing and math still applies. If students can’t do the basics, is giving them computer toys going to do anything? The teacher, the most important equation in the process is being listened to less and less. What we have is business, managers and everyone furtherest from the classroom, deciding for the classroom. If this continues, we will lose several generations of students who know little or nothing. In my opinion, social promotion has to go, not teacher’s rights and protections but social promotion. Accountability for students finally. Everyone wants to make teachers more accountable, what about students?
“In my opinion, social promotion has to go, not teacher’s rights and protections but social promotion. Accountability for students finally.”
And what are you going to hold the students “accountable for”???
Maybe that “social promotion” which you abhor, wouldn’t happen so much if the proper resources were being utilized wisely and timely at the elementary level so that “no child is left behind”. But do we do that? Noooooooo! More testing and testing and rigor (mortis) and grit and blah, blah, blah. . . .
How does one hold a 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 year old (or any elementary age) accountable for their genetics and family environment over which they’ve never had any control whatsoever?
Student accountability? Horse manure! Political and administrative accountability, yes, for not having allocated all the proper resources that are needed to prevent that oh so evil “social promotion”.
This has become a dilemma for many teachers. Should they stay and be part of a system that they believe is doing harm to students, or should they leave a profession that they have devoted themselves to for years, and abandon their students. Most try their best to continue to teach and nurture students while still conforming to what they are being told they must do. Many teachers, and administrators too, try to walk the fine between jeopardizing their (hard earned) careers, and following rules and guidelines that they know are wrong.
What’s the definition of a GAGAer?
I almost want to say shame on us for allowing this to happen, but how could we have stopped it? The policy makers/changers are not even in our realm. They are out there somewhere like giant clock makers manipulating the system and we’re down here obliviously trying to do our jobs and survive.
We are in for a world of hurt because this young lady is but the tip of the iceberg. God bless the children.
The intimidation of teachers is implicit and explicit in the surveillance systems of accountability and in the command and control structure of reform.
Teachers in Maryland are expected to “embrace” a new plan for the statewide use of SLOs–student learning objectives. I wonder how this “embrace it” concept will be tested. Likely the first teacher who questions the plan will be told it effect,”Love it or leave and find another job.”
The efficacy of the convoluted process of practice of writing SLOs has NO peer reviewed research to support the reliability or validity of its general use for teacher evaluation or as the best means to improve instruction. SLOs are a version of Peter Drucker’s management-by-objectives (1954) welded to the equally ancient “behavioral objectives” movement of the 1960s and 1970s (Mager and others).
Corporations are abandoning MBO because the system invites cheating, creates a competitive culture for work, and cuts off critical thinking, and stifles productive innovative. In education, the rebranded MBO process also assumes that teachers and principals are not savvy and knowledgeable enough to make wise decisions on behalf of students. Top-down mandates are required.
SLOs function as a version of VAM for teacher evaluation, especially when paired with pay for performance (as in Maryland). The stipulations for writing behavioral objectives, now carried over into SLOs, were planned for programmed instruction and training (especially military and corporate training) which is not the same as education. You can see who endorsed this “one-theory-of-best-practice” fits all at:
Student Learning Objectives Memorandum of Understanding. Retrieved from
Click to access MOU_on_TPE_062714.pdf
Sloganeering
Drives reform
Always steering
Toward the storm
Race to the Flop
And Common Bore
Means the top
Will teach no more
TAGO!
Fast food workers (most of whom have no college let alone graduate degrees) have had it with low pay and lousy working conditions. They continue to walk out and picket making national and international news and have been instrumental in putting raising the minimum wage on the front burner for everyone to see. We teachers on the other hand resign, write letters and post on blogs like this.
WE have the power in schools, not the administrators, superintendents, politicians etc. Direct action is what’s needed ! Start with teaching to your contracts (work only the hours you’re paid for, stage “sick outs: etc.) We’re the ones who can cripple the entire educational system, with no teachers in schools, there is NO SCHOOL !!!
The ed reformers haven’t held back attacking us. We can’t hold back from hitting them either.
“Start with teaching to your contracts (work only the hours you’re paid for,”
How many hours are you paid for?
My contract with the district in SC requires me to work from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm for 190 days. I usually arrive at school 30 minutes early and stay an additional 30 minutes after school to clean and organize my classroom, make copies, finalize lessons, etc. Several nights a week and most weekends I grade papers and formalize my lesson plans. Even in the middle of summer “vacation” (for which I am not paid), I am working on my class webpage, making long range lesson plans, and attending 9 days of workshops to complete continuing education credits required by the state. It would be nearly impossible to complete all expected teaching tasks (and do them well) within the 8 hour workday. I am not complaining — simply answering the question of hours teachers are contracted to work.
Thanks. I’m still curious whether Communist Teacher has been refusing to work outside his contracted hours, but I’m starting to suspect the answer is no.