Articles like this are sad and even sickening. It is the story of a 29-year veteran in Brookline, Massachusetts, who teaches first grade. He is leaving.
It is outrageous to see beloved, dedicated teachers leave the classroom. Yet when you think of the steady barrage of hostile propaganda directed at them by the Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, D.C. think tanks, and others, you can understand why they find it impossible to stay. I hope there is a new wave of articles about teachers who said: No matter what, I will not leave! I love my kids! I love my work! I will not let the reformers drive me away!
David Weinstein is throwing in the towel. He is in his early 50s. He shouldn’t be leaving so soon. He explains how teaching has changed, how much pressure is on the children, how much time is wasted collecting data that doesn’t help him as a teacher or his students.
He sums up:
I guess the big-picture problem is that all this stuff we’re talking about here is coming from on top, from above, be it the federal government, the commonwealth of Massachusetts, the school administration. But the voices of teachers are lost. I mean, nobody talks to teachers. Or, if they do talk to teachers, they’re not listening to teachers.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“No matter what, I will not let the reformers drive me away!”
Thirty six years and counting . . .
And two out of three children in teacher ed programs.
Any others . . . ?
We have spent years here criticizing the assault on teachers and teaching, yet so many teachers here end up bashing their own profession. Is there any hope if teaching as a career is rejected by teachers?
“We have spent years here criticizing the assault on teachers and teaching, yet so many teachers here end up bashing their own profession”
The teachers are not alone . The oligarchy thrives because too many Americans would rather bash other Americans than than see the problems in the economy solved, blaming the poor or other workers.
Robber Barron Jay Gould once said “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half{”
How many retired teachers fall into that category?. How many teachers have actively sought to join in the fight or do they like most Americans sit back and wait for the inevitable. “when they came after me it was to late there was no one left to speak for me ” (M.N.)
I used to be able to close my and teach the way I knew was right. Now I have groups coming in my room unannonce checking my objectives that must be posted on the wall, asking my students what the objective is, asking them to explain the objective, making sure I am teaching that objective, and looking for evidence that my students are learning the objective. My room is a revolving door of people from the state, superintendent’s office, my principal and assistant principal, and cohorts of my peers from my building.
This is not how I want my child to spend 30 years of her adult life . You bet I have told her how I feel about the current teaching profession and that I do not want her to become a teacher. I would not wish this misery on anyone.
“This is not how I want my child to spend 30 years of her adult life.”
Neither do I. But I am 100% confident that these top down, oppressive actions will not last for very long – especially here in NY. All this BS is already being phased out and in a few short years will be just a bad memory. It is an unsustainable model that will be looked back on very critically. I know which side of history I want to be on.
No one should walk into a room unannounced – it’s ignorant.
That comment is a great insult to your colleagues you have left. Please remember that those who felt the need to resign or retire after so many years may have been dealing with a situation much more trying and emotionally challenging than what you have been experiencing. There are teachers out there who are truly being harassed in every sense of the word. They are leaving, not because they are cowards, but because they need to save their souls. I have had wonderful and effective colleagues working along side me who were badgered to the point of becoming ill. Some resigned and went to other districts and some resigned with no where to go (no money, no future, but they had to save their own mental health for the sake of their families). They are not weaker than me; they are not lesser than me; they were just harassed mercilessly (mostly because they had the courage to speak up for themselves and their students). My heart goes out to them, and in no way, shape, or form would I make a statement that would disparage them or make me seem better than them.
If someone were in an abusive relationship, would you ask him or her to stay? Many of the teachers and others here have said that what they are are doing in the classroom is “child abuse.” If they believe this then why are they doing it? If you accept mandates that are put upon you knowing they are wrong, are you not colluding in your own demise? The idea that teachers have to martyr themselves for the children really gets to me. Sometimes it may take a lot more courage to leave than it does to stay. When your job begins to take it’s toll on your health and wellbeing, you have to consider leaving. And that’s what some are doing.
A 30 year veteran teacher with an established reputation does not have to be a martyr – he (or she) just has to nod their head yes, then close their door and teach the way they would want their own children to be taught. No sacrifice required,
Good advice still in some places… but how far this suggestion is from what is happening in our nation’s most invaded and reformed schools. There is no more “do it your way.” It is punitive chaos pure and simple for so many teachers, new hires or old.
That may be true where you live, Rage, but it has not been the case here in Florida for a long time. The days of closed door teaching are long gone.
Every single day someone is doing a drive-by data collection/observation/walk through/classroom visit with a clipboard of Danielson gobbledegook, an iPad with a ridiculously impossible rubric, or a Surface with a multi-page checklist and often it is morning and afternoon.
The exponential growth of out-of-classroom ‘experts’ (often TFA or other young folks with less experience than my little finger) is hard to fathom to people who used to teach even 5 or 10 years ago and haven’t experienced this firsthand.
We are constantly checked for ‘fidelity’ to mandated lesson plan formats, program implementation, questioning techniques, what every single child is doing in that odd moment, how our classroom is set up, what we have displayed in the room, and a host of other things.
Yes, there is a Danielson rubric that judges you on whether your furniture is moved around by children to accommodate their needs and if it is not witnessed during a drive-by, you get marked down. At first our administrators were reluctant to implement the harsh system but now that their bosses are relentlessly dogging them to improve things, they are embracing the ruthlessness and using it to attack teachers and blame them.
People come from the state, the district, the administration, and some I have no idea where they come from.
They don’t sit down and discuss anything. They never smile or speak. You get a generalized report in an email later on, often flawed, criticizing you for something they didn’t have time or make the effort to see even though you know it is there or that you did it or do it frequently and then you lose all respect for their opinions and you resent the intrusions more and more.
But you suck it up and put up with it because otherwise you can be dismissed at will, here at least, and then possibly lose your home, causing your children to leave college and go to work, become dependent on an elderly parent, or become bankrupted by a medical issue, all things that have happened to me or my colleagues.
I was able to game the system for a long time but it is no longer possible. The level of scrutiny is akin to the Panopticon. Deviation from approved scripts, formats, approaches, questions, lessons, standards, etc. brings swift and merciless criticism and accompanying threats of downrating which, in FL, leads to permanent and irrevocable loss of your teaching license after 2 bad yearly ratings. Nothing will get you by anymore; Jeb Bush’s ‘blame the teacher for poverty and racism’ meme has overtaken everyone and everything and no one with power or authority will gainsay it or challenge it anymore.
It’s easy to tell other people how they should react to this madness, especially if you yourself are not under the same level of scrutiny.
I salute this teacher and I will join him soon. The point of no return is very, very close for me also.
Chris,
Without thinking to ask your permission, I posted your comments on my blog, “The Treasure Hunter” today, along with those of David Weinstein. I was so angered by the classroom oversight you and he described that I just had to let my readers know. Please forgive me.
Joanne Yatvin
Are you telling me that a 30 year veteran with an impeccable reputation would actually lose their teaching license because they didn’t check off enough Marzano boxes? Has this actually happened?
Instead of retiring why don’t you test the system? And at least go down teaching properly?
And no, this is not as easy to say as you think. cashing my paycheck and ignoring all of this would be easy.
So true, Chris. I was teaching math. I love math. I love tech. I looked forward every day working with high schoolers. I hate what the billionaires, politicians, and self described “experts” have done to devalue and demonize teachers in the classroom. I tolerated the useless Praxis, the misguided residency, the ever-changing state teacher evaluation systems designed by people far removed from my realities. The constant and often duplicated evaluations coupled with mindless testing disrupted my classroom and took precious time from innovation and teaching. The lack of control over my outcomes and the assumption I was an incompetent fool in the classroom and had to prove myself to faceless bureaucrats was meant to undermine my efforts, not improve them.
Joanne, I am honored. Please feel free to use any of my words I post here if they might do some small amount of good in this ugly world we currently live in.
Thank you!
I used to be an assistant manager in the business world. Part of what we’re seeing is classic “empire building”, but on a very grand national scale.
You have a manager in a large corporation who wants to climb the ladder. He has an assistant manager, a secretary, and one or two data entry clerks. One office.
The manager tells the asst manager to make up some forms that need to be distributed, filled out, and returned to the office by everyone in the company within a certain time frame.
The office now needs to be expanded because of the need for more data entry clerks and file cabinets to handle the added load.
Then more forms are generated. More clerks, asst managers, space is required.
Etc.
These people masquerading as “educators” are nothing more than upper and mid level managers asserting their supposed importance in order to legitimize their worth within a system that they don’t understand. The worst part of it, imo, is that the educational system has been changed/simplified in order to make it easier for these educrats to understand and manage.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to blame career veteran teachers or any teachers for that matter who feel by necessity that they must leave the profession for their health and sanity sake. It is certainly OPTIMISTIC (and an optimism that I hope prevails) that keep teachers in the fight. But, it comes at such a high cost as district after district naton-wide becomes more and more “reformy”. Teachers feel like they are at war these days. A teacher is a “bad teacher” until data “proves” otherwise and the data is ridiculous and a colossal waste of time! And THE LONGER one endures the “reform” nonsense, the harder it is to prevail. How tragic that wanting to instill a love of life-long learning in our nation’s youth should feel like war. I have a friend who just retired this year after MANY years of teaching early childhood; she couldn’t stay “another minute”. Had she had respect for her school leadership and what she was asked to do in her classroom, she would have stayed in her profession because she had had many years of joy and is in good health thus far. The leadership became more and more destructive instead. Sadly, teaching under such distress and for so many years does lead to health problems for many. Nobody is any good in this fight from the grave. My friend will FIGHT… she will ADVOCATE… go to PROTESTS … and will not take her retirement lightly. THIS I KNOW. So perhaps it is time to believe in the premise that every action has an equal reaction; may teacher retirees who leave due to long-term duress will hopefully FIGHT BACK for those still in the system. I am sure David Weinstein will probably fight too. So tragic to hear that Brookline, MA (such a formerly progressive education system) is going down the “reformer path”…
This is not about blaming teachers for making such decisions. It is about standing strong for our profession and standing against nonsensical, even damaging policies and practices. It is about being professionals who refuse to be mismanaged and micromanaged by know-it-all know-nothings. The type of stand I’m talking about cannot be for everyone, but it better be for some of us. “At will” workers aside (sorry), the majority of unionized teachers have due process protections that should help us to stand strong, together, against the type of ignorant, top down demands being placed on us.
There are A LOT of we teachers that are “at will.” Any “right to work” state means that all of those teachers at will. You have NO IDEA what it’s like to teach in a “right to work” state–you can’t say one thing to administration without the administrator suspending you, and/or sending your license to the state, with the threat of taking your license. The administrator will exaggerate claims or even make them up to get teachers fired. It’s happened to a lot of teachers in my area, and it’s happening to me right now. DO NOT blame teachers for not standing up in environments such as these. Duane may see us as GAGAers, but what choice do we have?
For a state that claims to be very “progressive”, Massachusetts sure has a lot of very regressive policies.
Among other things, they have been pushing high stakes testing for a long time now.
Maybe if enough teachers leave in protest, the public in MA will wake up, but after seeing continued support for people like Mitchell Chester , I have my doubts.
“Maybe if enough teachers leave in protest, the public in MA will wake up . . . ”
“Maybe if enough teachers TEACH in protest, the bureaucrats in MA will wake up . . . “
I believe that is what the Union is supposed to do. But don’t tell me about the leadership . Become the leadership .They used to call it a strike . So I’m going to say think Chicago CTU,bottom up . But not in Chicago . How about in the Center of the opt out movement here on Long Island where most districts are middle(working class) class to affluent . Picture the optics of being joined on the picket line by the parents of the 100,000 kids who opted out .
So at this stage how many teachers would you get to join in and brave the penalties of the Taylor law in NY which fines two days pay for each day out. Especially with no monetary gain. How many would brave retribution from some districts. Until workers start taking the risk of putting it on the line again there is little hope on any issue.
Spend a week in the Brookline schools back in the day.. a wonderful environment with thoughtful teachers.
Massachusetts is on the predatory agenda of the Gates Foundation. Gates is pouring money there in order to control policies in the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and over 70 teacher preparation programs.
I am standing strong now. However, it is taking a toll on my health and well being. Already on 3 different types of medication and an emergency surgery for polyps (because of stress) on my job. Teaching math to high schoolers I love. The administrator evaluating me (same one for the last 4 years) is impossible and only follows the letter of the rubric despite my pleas to have a different one. My evaluations are not good and I have been teaching for 17 years and have good results. I feel they are working to drive me out because I cost more than a new younger teacher. I am not valued and my experience is not being listened to. I love the profession and I love teaching the students, but I no longer love the job and tell any students who want to be a teacher to pick a different profession. I hope this changes soon before my health wears out or I am forced out.
Why don’t you ask said administrator to help you out by teaching a sample math lesson so you can see exactly what he (she) expects?
Any administrator that familiar with Marzano (or Danielson) should have no trouble ringing every bell.
Some administrators don’t seem to understand that good teaching isn’t about one good lesson; it’s about relationships, and patience with young learners; its about program structure and a constant effort to improve; its about learning from bad lessons and good lessons; and the last thing good teaching is about is checking rubric boxes that are mostly irrelevant to a productive 40 minute lesson.
I asked that and they refused (principal, asst. principal, and state inquisition all) but I did get written up in my evaluation for not having enough team spirit or whatever it is called now. Still got a highly effective this time but by a razor thin margin. They could pay for 2 younger teachers who don’t rock the boat with my allocation so they want me gone ASAP.
I am in their sites with a target on my back. I’m too expensive, too educated, and too inclined to challenge directives. The question for me is do I leave or wait to be forced out on some trumped up charge that damages me for the rest of my working life?
Chris
Are you sure you teach in Florida? Sounds more like the USSR.
A highly effective rating sounds like you’re a long way off from being dismissed on trumped up charges.
Never forget that “Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose.”
It doesn’t matter if your evaluations are sterling. Mine have been, but I stood up to the administrator for sexist behavior and bullying of fellow teachers, and so the administration has trumped up charges against me. The district just backs him up. The state may take my license. But I have gotten excellent evaluations the entire time.
ToW, I am so sorry to hear that! I’ve survived it once, with lots of long-term emotional damage, but I can’t imagine surviving it again.
I will pray for you and I wish you well!
Here’s a teacher who doesn’t face as much regulation: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/06/30/476193095/from-youtube-pioneer-sal-khan-a-school-with-real-classrooms
The Kahn Lab School:
The kindergarten through eighth-grade school currently serves some 65 students. There are no grades or grade levels; there’s no traditional homework. Students are organized by independence level, with all ages mixed together much of the day.
The students shape their own schedules, craft attainable daily and term goals, and help direct how the place is run.
In one area, students talk politics while drawing flags and maps on poster board. Elsewhere, students are rehearsing a play version of Shrek.
I wander into an adjacent room and find 8-year-old Ben writing quietly in his journal, sitting comfortably in a beanbag chair.
How will we know that these kids will be college and career ready?
How is Mr. Kahn being held accountable for his teaching?
Unless we can restore some level of dignity and autonomy to professional teachers, we will continue to lose great teachers, and we will be unable to replace them. The type of micromanaging Chris describes above is designed to drive people out of the classroom. It is further insulting that school districts can bring in unqualified observers with checklists to ensure conformity. This is too Orwellian and inhumane, but this can be the reality in a “right to be fired” state.
It’s time to take back our budgets. Most districts in the country receive less than 10% of funds from Feds. If states would simply back out of essay and release districts from federal requirements we can probably wring 10% of budget out of the systems and be free of federal requirements. Only fear holds us back.
Maybe in your state. Here in Florida they don’t think the USDOE is near reformy enough so they act in even more draconian ways. Wouldn’t help us much and the state and feds already cut our budgets 20% or more and gave it to charters this year.
A brief message for administrators who feel the top-down approach is necessary.
Built into the DNA of every experienced teacher is this simple truth: If it works, keep tweaking it until it works even better. If it doesn’t work, stop doing it!
You will never, ever have to force feed teachers truly interesting, engaging, and effective ideas that really work in the classroom. Never. Only one caveat: not even good ideas can get implemented successfully without the proper amount of preparation time.
Pushback from teachers comes for two reasons: ineffective ideas (that waste time) or lack of time for good ideas.
Never confuse time limitations with laziness or entrenchment. Remember, it’s not in our DNA to ever reject ideas that work!
Well stated. Teachers can embrace change when the change makes sense. Our current system of unilateral top down decisions that are not evidence based is designed to frustrate and demoralize teachers forcing some to choose between their career and their sanity.
I’m going to venture a guess and say… how they demonstrate their progress throughout the year(s)….
I was moved from one grade to another because of low test scores. That was three years ago. Have scores gone up? No. So maybe I wasn’t the problem.
Happy where I am though, a lot less stress. But how will they judge my teaching ability without a big test? We’ll see. Our Lt. Gov. here in Texas is a real wingnut for charters and accountability. I’m sure he’ll find a way.
The pointedly stupid micromanagement and truly fanatical obsession with data and evidence, regardless of validity or quality, has got to stop. This has to get turned around. Admin and higher mgmt is getting filled to the gills with shills. This is RAMPANT!
Rampant – but doomed!
The days of the micro-managed, data driven, tech obsessed schools “commanded” by Kool Aid drinking principals are not long for our world for two reasons:
1) Intensity v. Duration – you can’t have both. Any kind of crazy takes a lot of energy – and the energy is not limitless. Pay attention as data walls, posted objectives, unpacking standards, evaluation rubrics, VAM, SLOs, and all the other nonsense gradually falls by the wayside.
2) Zero to little ROI. Why expend all their administrative energies, micro-managing teachers when its all for naught? They are already beginning to see that all this extra effort in pushing the latest data driven fad is not producing anything near what was promised. Any teacher who has taught for 20+ years can recite the laundry list of past reform movements that fell by the wayside only to be replaced by the next doomed idea. They seem to forget that any school is only as strong as its weakest link – and the weakest link is never standards, curriculum, methodology, or teachers.
Too often the weakest link is the diminished public school budget as a result of “reform.”
Good for him! The more that do this the better. The system needs to take a few dozen more hits to the face before policy makers wake up and realize they are the problem.
His colleagues and parents may miss him, but the Brookline BOE will gladly replace his $95K salary plus family health care package with a $50K for a 20 something with single health care.
When experienced teachers bailout, policy makers rejoice!
short term maybe, when the system implodes they wont be celebrating
The reformers WANT us to quit and, in many cases, are trying to force the issue (with great success). That’s part of the deal. The system has been changed to the point where “experience” is a detriment.
To quote a good friend and colleague:
“I used to look forward to the day when I would become the venerable senior teacher who would be looked up to and consulted when problems arose. Now it’s the exact opposite. I’m old and in the way. My experience is completely useless in the eyes of my administrators.”