A Bit of Dirty Laundry

We have 13 days left in this school year, and it will be my last 13 days in Public Education. Our youngest is graduating, and we will be moving to where my husband and the boys' dad lives during the week. I could look for, and probably get, a job in a school there, but I can't even fathom trying. Before working in education, I knew in my heart I was meant to work with kids. I changed my major after working at camp, because I knew I didn't want to be a teacher any more. I wanted to work in a recreational setting.

That I do well.
Or at least I did.
I don't believe in myself enough any more to know if I could be worthwhile in an informal setting any more.
And that is a testament to our district's education system. From what I hear, it is like that other places as well, so I can't trust it would be any different somewhere else.

Others, when they have left, have left quietly, because repercussions are  assured. And when you still have kids in the district, you can't take that chance. Our youngest is done and so am I, so I am leaving, but I can't in good conscious leave quietly.

Honestly, I could give you a 13 year blow by blow, but it comes down to respect and lack of courage and commitment.

As a profession we lament all the ills that face our kids and affect our teaching: poverty, lack of parent involvement, too much parent involvement, government interference, society today...the list goes on. But you know what? Kids adapt to their environment and what is expected of them. This is where we fail.

Our Assistant Superintendent, who is also our curriculum director, is the driving force behind the chaos and exodus. If you look at her LinkedIn account, you will see that she worked the first 5 years after college as a teacher in 3 different grade levels. This was in the early 1990s. After that she worked for various data collection aspects of education. She came to us about 7 years ago and was the driving force behind our 1:1 technology, which we jumped into whole school without any training or preparation.

Turns out her doctoral thesis was about technology in schools.

Under her we have changed curriculum every year for the last 5 years. Under her, we have eliminated industrial arts.
Under her, we have been told to give homework every night.
Under her, we have been told not to give homework.
Under her, we have moved to an extended calendar.
Under her, we adopted scope and sequence of a reading program, but not the actual materials to carry it out.
Under her, we have adopted, Daily 5, eliminated reading groups, and eliminated text books.
Under her, we have gone to having "Maker Space."
Under her, we now have "Standards Based Grading" with which we have eliminated "due dates."

Under her we have switched from Character Counts, to University Time, to PBIS.

We have been in a state of constant flux for the last 7 years. Nothing is eliminated, just emphasized less and less until it fades away.

Questions are met with hostility and derision.

And there is no one to be the buffer between administration and teachers.

Our last principal was a disaster. She was a black and white person. If she was told to do X, there were no shades of gray. X meant X...
as she interpreted it and we better darn well execute with fidelity.

Parents have been conditioned to go up the chain to a, "yes." And they eventually get their way. The louder the complaint, the quicker the capitulation. And yes, the superintendent has reversed a decision by the principal without finding out details or supporting the principals decision.

And this is the biggest problem in education. We can teach in temporary trailers.  We can teach without resources. Heck, we can teach with a stick and a patch of dirt. What we can't do is teach without support.

The rules and climate of a building have to be set by the principal and enforced by the principal. I would love to see what a school could do with a principal who said to both administration and parents, "These are my staff, and I won't allow you to treat them this way."  This takes a courage they don't teach in Principal school, I'm guessing by what I've seen?

Support is the thing we need most, but are least likely to get.

I will be laying this out in my end of the year review. I'm leaving, but the kids I care about, and the staff who aren't leaving at the end of this year will still be there.  If I can leave one last impression... if I have a shot at making a difference for those left behind, it is my obligation to do so. I can't go quietly. My conscience won't let me.