A teacher explains why she gave up a career she loved
Teacher Jordan Kohanim left her school and her room with a white board that was a focal point for her students.
Jordan Kohanim is a former Fulton County high school teacher and one of my favorite posters on the blog because of her eloquence, her candor and her willingness to put her name behind her comments.
She quit teaching. Here, she tells us why:
By Jordan Kohanim
I have decided to quit teaching. Maybe not forever, but definitely for a year or two. This is not a decision I came to lightly, and I did not feel triumphant in it at all. To be frank, I had never felt more defeated in my life.
It’s true that I am statistic. More than 50 percent of teachers leave teaching in the first seven years. Most of those are in the first five years. This was year seven for me.
I told a colleague that I planned on leaving the profession and he told me something that really hurt at first. He said, “Your leaving won’t change anything.” Emphasis on the anything. It felt like an arrow through my heart.
In the long run, he’s right, though. That is part of the reason I am quitting. I know —ego drives us all — but I really thought I made a difference. And I did — for about a dozen or so kids, but there is no way I can make difference enough for long enough, all while keeping my sanity.
I have lost my faith in public education. That means it is time to walk away.
It started last year when I was chair of the student support team, which addresses the needs of struggling students. I watched the neediest of students get declined services, while the most deceptive of parents used their lawyers to manipulate the system into giving their children unfair advantage. I saw so many students and teachers hurt in this process, so many adults whose sole concern was not education or the well-being of children, so many lawyers and politicians who cared nothing about learning, that I broke.
I broke. No one can fix education when everyone just wants to sue. No one can fix a system where every success is countered with a failure. Where blame-shifting is status-quo. Where the responsibility for success and failure relies on everyone but the child. I became disgusted. I stopped doing the student support team and went back to just teaching full time.
I thought this last school year I would regain my love for teaching. Maybe it was too late.
My classes were too big. If I work six-hour days with no breaks, it takes 28 days to grade essays for my 159 students. That is for one semester. I am an English teacher. My kids must write. I must grade it. I actually enjoy grading, but 159 is too much, 28 days is too much.
Merit pay is coming, whether I like it or not. It is already in effect in other places. My dad says they have been threatening it for years and it hasn’t happened. Well, now it is tied to federal dollars for Georgia. So, like it or not — our kids are data points. They are numbers on someone’s spreadsheet.
Their purpose in school is not learning — it is education. And there is a difference between learning and education. I didn’t realize it before. I guess that makes me very naive.
When I coached debate my kids learned. They learned about rhetoric, philosophy, policy, government, language and discipline. I spent so many hours making sure they truly understood just how powerful those concepts are. Even that, though, was so much time. I did it alone. I neglected my family, myself.
That’s what this boils down to. My family comes first. I have given so much to other peoples’ families. I have fought so hard to always do the right thing — and to be honest, I’m tired. I can’t do this job half-way. I just can’t. It’s too important. It means too much.
My husband stood up to his boss and moved to a better company. I guess I am doing the same thing. Funny, I don’t feel as victorious. I just feel sad and a little angry, but not satisfied.
This isn’t a decision I am proud of. I will ultimately be happier for leaving teaching. I will make more money, I will have more time and I will no longer neglect myself for the sake of others’ children. I would like to go back some day when the system finally figures out how lucky it is that people are willing to teach.
Maybe I could have found a different school. Maybe I should have gone to private school. Maybe I should just move on and not look back. That will be difficult, though.
On the bright side, I have a new job. It’s actually a lot like teaching — I just educate my clients on their health and Medicare supplement insurance options. I still get to serve a group of people. They are just a different group of people. That being said, I cannot ignore that I am leaving a profession I love dearly. Everyone in my family has been part of public education. I viewed it as a calling. I guess now the call has changed its tune.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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320 comments Add your comment
j
June 22nd, 2012
3:19 pm
what faith does anyone EVER have in any public based system?
government does two things well: make war, spend money.
bj
June 22nd, 2012
3:23 pm
If only we had vouchers, she wouldn’t have to “take it or leave it.” She could go found her own school and do it right.
Mountain Man
June 22nd, 2012
3:57 pm
“YUP, blame it on the lawyers and parents. And no fault at all of the educators who didn’t do what they put down in writing on the childs IEP.”
It is to BLAME on the lawyers and parents. Why does THEIR precious child get to have an IEP? Oh, that is right, they have a “klearning disability” or they are “special”. So the school has to reorder itself around the needs of that one student, and te rest of the school children have to suffer. If your child need an IEP, you need to take responsibility, pull him/her from the public school setting , put him/her in a private school or home school him/her. SPED students is one of the things that is killing the education system. Spend $2000 per year on the average “normal” child, and spend $30,000 per year on the “special” child. When they said that the public school system had to give everyone an “equal” education (even if impossible, it damaged the public schools to an untold degreee. Private schools don’t have to do this, why do you think they are “better”. (they also don’t have to deal with discipline problems)
Brian Aiken
June 22nd, 2012
3:58 pm
Re “Job at teacher’s union” There are no Georgia teacher’s unions. Ga law prohibits teachers from joining or forming unions.Likewise Georgia prohibits teachers from striking or engaging in collective bargaining.Thus, nothing that even resembles a teacher’s union exists in Georgia.
In return for “Lucrative dues” ranging form fifty cents a day for one,to almost two dollars a day for the other, the two weak voluntary professional organizations provide liability insurance that every teacher needs and the state doe not provide. Like hundreds of other organizations, businesses and industry, they DO speak to legislators on behalf of teachers but as anyone can see, they have very little sway in that area.
Mountain Man
June 22nd, 2012
3:58 pm
So a teacher has 40 students in her classroom and 5 with IEPs and she must remember which ones are the “special” students.
Beverly Fraud
June 22nd, 2012
4:10 pm
Arne Duncan, are you listening?
Of course not.
It’s sad that it’s come to the point that perhaps the SINGLE best thing good teachers can do for their students is to FLEE the public schools, so that the education monolith is FORCED to change.
Good Mother
June 22nd, 2012
4:13 pm
To ROn F you wrote “Schools need a dedicated faculty willing to stay long term.”
I disagree.
I would much rather my child be taught by a brand new teacher than a burned out Betty. People in every profession get burned out and move on — teaching is no different. Many, not all, teachers just come to expect to feed on the public trough for 30 years and then roll in the retirement.
So when a teacher is burned out — leave. It’s the best thing for everyone, especially the students.
DEE
June 22nd, 2012
4:27 pm
Good luck and bye-bye. Hope your new job has no real demands. All jobs are stressful and employees are overworked. Check it out. Life isn’t perfect. You have a long road ahead of you……………..
There are openings at many private schools. Go girl!
georgiateacher
June 22nd, 2012
4:37 pm
Watch the video found here in the AJC re: the bus monitor being harassed. Teachers are dealing with this in their classrooms more and more everyday. I have experienced this first hand and I work in a Pre-K-5 school. I am so glad that only have one more year to retire at 60% of my regular salary, am not eligible for social security or Medicare because my district opted out from these without input from the teachers. For MORTIMER and others that believe we are just feeling sorry for ourselves, our degrees in education (I have a six year, ed. specialist degree) don’t allow us many career options other that teaching. And all the systems follow the same “doctrine” as dictated by the state BOE. So when we “get out of the kitchen” when it’s too hot, our options are to more to a new kitchen. Those who have business degrees, etc. can change careers in a variety of ways. Salaries at private institutions are far less than the public schools pay and the turn over for these coveted spots are extremely low. And many administrators feel the same way.
Beverly Fraud
June 22nd, 2012
4:44 pm
“All jobs are stressful and employees are overworked.”
And DEE? Following your logic, we should make no attempt to improve school lunches, because after all “children are starving in Africa so US children should get used it” right DEE?
Once again we get someone who doesn’t understand that without good teaching conditions, good LEARNING conditions do not exist.
Beverly Fraud
June 22nd, 2012
4:49 pm
Once again we see that those who criticizing teachers voicing legitimate concerns are ENTIRELY missing the point:
That point being, you can’t have good LEARNING conditions unless you have good TEACHING conditions.
Tired too
June 22nd, 2012
4:52 pm
Ditto for the teacher comments…As a second career, I’m going into year 15 as a special ed teacher. I can certainly agree with all the comments about law suits and how they are getting in the way of teacher’s being able to do their jobs, sitting in hours and hours of meetings – out of the classroom – where we are torn apart and villified and portrayed as not doing our jobs. I see attorneys and advocates demanding and accusing while drooling at the dollars they envision as they seek out and encourage parents to find a reason to call – just look at Carol Sadler’s and Chris Vance’s websites – we are the enemy!!! Carol Sadler has not spent a day in a classroom as a teacher yet she claims to be an expert in what goes on in one…NO ONE knows unless they have walked in the shoes of a teacher – I can’t profess to know what a Dr. does because I’ve seen one!!! I love teaching and believe I am making a difference for my students, but I’m also praying that as the new year starts with a record number of students in due process that I can actually do what I’m being paid to do, be in the classroom, where I can educate, enlighten, teach, laugh with, and be a part of, for a short time, the lives of my students. I’m not giving up – yet!
georgiateacher
June 22nd, 2012
4:52 pm
To MOUNTAIN MAN.( Appropriate moniker for you, though caveman would be more precise and less offensive to all those who live in the mountainous regions of GA!) Give thanks to the Lord Almighty for blessing you with healthy children who did’t need any special services at school. I’d rather be taxed twice as much to teach a class full of special needs children than 1 sassy little s**t who disrupts the class constantly and has parents who come to the school to b**ch at the teachers and administration for picking on their lil’ sweetie who is never at fault. My daughter was a preemie and has experienced learning problems. As a teacher, I worked with her a great deal, yet she still needed assistance in the classroom, Glad we don’t send “retards” to the institutions like we once did.
Raisin Toast Fanatic
June 22nd, 2012
4:55 pm
“Good luck and bye-bye. Hope your new job has no real demands. All jobs are stressful and employees are overworked. Check it out. Life isn’t perfect.
Nope. My last job wasn’t really stressful, and a lot of the time I didn’t have enough work.
So there goes your argument.
QuitWhining
June 22nd, 2012
4:55 pm
She is complaining about working 6 hour days for 28 days? That has GOT to be a typo. Doesn’t she realize in the private sector these past 4 years we are doing more with less, taking pay cuts, working 12 hour days and APPRECIATE our jobs? Merit pay is the real world, not a short day, longer summer vacation than most of us have, and guaranteed raises no matter. This woman will end up “burning out” at job after job. No wonder our education system is in such bad shape!
Mom
June 22nd, 2012
5:07 pm
@Quit Whining: I think she means that if she did NOTHING but read essays for six hours every day it would take her 28 days to read all the essays for 159 students. So this is in ADDITION to her 8 hour work day giving instruction. So it takes her one hour to grade one essay, and she can grade six essays a day, for 28 days.
Bob
June 22nd, 2012
5:08 pm
@QuitWhining No, she means 6 hours on top of the 8 she puts in for 28 days straight. If you are lucky, the fastest you could grade a paper would be 5 minutes (not essays). That is the minimum time. For written work where you leave feed back, the time increases. I had a 110 kids last year at Jordan’s school. So if you do the math at 5 minutes minimum it is 550 minutes per assignment. If you assign written work 3 times a week then that is 1650 minutes per week or 27.5 hours on top of your normal teaching load. If you are grading essays and they take 20 minutes per essay, then it is around 37 hours a week on top of your teaching hours for 1 assignment. You do get 5 hours a week planning but normally you have less than that to do things like grade. So, you can see that the work can pile up. You can always tell an English teacher since they carry a stack of papers everywhere and are constantly grading. I know Jordan and this is what she and her peers do daily throughout the year. I teach biology and I know it is easy to get behind when trying to do a quality job of giving feed back and assessment. You could do less, but then you would have to lower your expectations and expect different results. Low expectations and different results are not what you want.
irisheyes
June 22nd, 2012
5:16 pm
I am so sick and tired of the statement “feeding at the public trough”. Really?? What that implies is that I do absolutely nothing and simply expect my paycheck to arrive. Now, I know some of you are going to share all of your lovely anecdotes about how ALL of the teachers your children have were basically worthless, and you had to teach them entirely on your own free time, so spare me the anger. I will ask one question. Are the police, firefighters, public library employees, prison guards, and the guys who fill the potholes on your street so you don’t break your suspension also “feeding at the public trough”? Quit comparing all teachers to pigs because all it does is show your lack of respect. I have a feeling many of you have “that child” that teachers dread to see on their lists because they know YOU will be the biggest problem.
mountain man
June 22nd, 2012
5:19 pm
“I’d rather be taxed twice as much to teach a class full of special needs children than 1 sassy little s**t who disrupts the class constantly and has parents who come to the school to b**ch at the teachers and administration for picking on their lil’ sweetie who is never at fault.”
Unfortunately, it is not just asking YOU to tax yourself, you are asking EVERYONE to be taxed more – and they are being taxed more. If you read my earlier posts, you see that I am in perfect agreement with your last two sentences – the little sh*t should be taken out of your class and sent to an alternative school and the administrators should be backing their teachers up against the Nazi parents. I am sorry that your daughter was born premature, but you have to realize that money has to come from somewhere, if your daughter takes MORE resources, it has to come at the expense of the OTHER students.
In the late 60’s and early 70’s when I attended school we had no IEPs and we had no SPED programs “mainstreamed”, but we had discipline and attendance policy and we FAILED students and held them back if they did not perform on grade level. We didn’t graduate students who could not read and write and do simple arithmetic and back then a high school education was enough to get you a good job because the diploma meant something. Now you have to have a four-year diploma to state that you have the credentials that high school graduates once had.
southernopinion
June 22nd, 2012
5:22 pm
Public schools are not for everyone. I am a teacher and have to deal with kids who come to school to create chaos, nothing more. Parents are supportive on the phone, but rarely follow through. If a student fails to obey rules and doesn’t participate in the learning process please let us send him/her packing. Fine the parents – then let them find another school – one that will put up with their son’s/daughter’s behavior. If the parents and students can’t adhere to policies and procedures then there is no place for them in PUBLIC education. This will be my 20th year of teaching, and I’m called a bitch on a daily basis, mostly from hall duty, Half the students in my school failed the CRCT. No consequences for them; they are simply passed along.
mountain man
June 22nd, 2012
5:22 pm
“Glad we don’t send “retards” to the institutions like we once did.”
A little off the subject, but did you know that the majority of homeless people in Atlanta are people with mental illness. They used to be “intitutionalized” and now they are just thrown out on the street to die. Be careful what you wish for.
Dr. Monica Henson
June 22nd, 2012
5:23 pm
QuitWhining: I think Jordan means working for 6 hours a day for 28 days grading papers AFTER putting in a full day of teaching. She was an English teacher.
Incidentally, an administrator or department chair should have provided her some mentoring on how to manage the paperwork load. That much time for grading one set of essays for 159 students is far too much. She was probably falling victim to the idea that she must mark every single item on every single paper, which doesn’t help kids improve their writing as well as one might think. Focused correction/minimal marking is a better way to teach composition and produce desired outcomes. When an English teacher marks every single error every time, it trains the student to use the teacher as a proofreader rather than learning from mistakes and correcting them on his/her own in the drafting stages.
MB
June 22nd, 2012
5:27 pm
DEE: If you think all jobs are as stressful as that of a teacher who cares – sign up to sub, why don’t you, and see if it meets your expectations?! I have worked in health care, private sector, and schools and working in the current education environment is by far the most stressful. Certified staff are essentially indentured servants in that you sign a contract with a school system giving them authority to send you to any school within the system for grade levels in which you have certification. If you want to leave a specific school, you have to sign up to transfer by a certain date, which often doesn’t endear you to your principal. Principals can also block your transfer if they feel it’s “not in the best interest of the school” for you to transfer.- or they can just give you a lackluster evaluation to keep you there. Oh, and the salary is listed, but it, as well as your job, is subject to change due to financial constraints of the system. However, if you decide you want to move to a different system, they can report you to the state with potential serious consequences, up to and including loss of your certification license. THAT is the level of stress people speak of here, combined with HR and administrators telling you that if you don’t like your situation, there are plenty of people out there who’d love to have your job. Morale is in the pits right now; these folks are not exaggerating!
Retired Teacher
June 22nd, 2012
5:33 pm
I took early retirement because my health was suffering. I quit when final exams were created by a committee of teachers who had never set foot into my classroom. I quit when I was told that I could not give “that many failures” to kids that could not pass an open book, open note test because they had no notes and didn’t care enough to open their books. I quit when my doctor told me that my job that I had loved for 29 years was killing me. And, for those who question whether Jordan is a good teacher, she knows because she knows how many hours she spends at her job. I also taught English, and I figure I read, and responded to, a 300 page novel each week. And I was a good teacher. How do I know? Because of all the former students who follow me on Facebook. Because of former students who take the time years later to phone me and tell me how I affected their lives. Because I have former students who I know love me as I love them because we touched something in each other. For all those who are questioning all the teachers and former teachers who are drained, I say, “Get thee to a classroom. Stand in front of at least 30 students per period, for 6 periods. Be at school before 7:00 A.M. so you can stand for 30 minutes of hall duty. Stay at school until 4:30 attending meaningless staff development meetings or meeting with parents or tutoring students who are behind. Take an hour or so to spend with your family before you begin making lesson plans for the next day and grading the piles of papers. Go to bed exhausted at 11:00 P.M., only to drag yourself out of bed at 5:30 A.M. so you can do it all over again.” When I married, my husband told me that I was the hardest working person he had ever met. I’m not. I was just one of many who strive to make a difference. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we just have to quit.
Kathleen Carpenter
June 22nd, 2012
5:40 pm
It’s sad that we can’t help teachers like Ms. Kohamin. I see so many who try to do best practices when the circumstances cannot support it. Reading every essay of 150+ students, while an admirable goal, is just not feasible. How about engaging students in peer review, especially since these are high school students?
My sister teaches on the south side of Chicago–smallest class of 7th graders this year was 34. 5 classes that big and bigger. She teaches writing and is getting burnt out from trying to read every kids’ journal every day. What I tell her is that she’s trying to do “perfect practice” when she needs to think about “best that I can” practice.
The locus of control for classroom teachers does not involve class size determinations or other constraints that are placed upon them. What we need to help teachers figure out is whether they can sleep at night if their lessons aren’t perfect. If not, I would argue that almost any job of worth is going to keep them up at night.
Not blaming the teachers. We need to try to help them feel at peace when they’re doing the best they can in an imperfect setting.
MB
June 22nd, 2012
5:42 pm
The point about special ed funding is that it has been maintained at the level of buying a new A-class Mercedes while all the other students are dealing with funding for a 1999 Chevy Tahoe. (I just googled Mercedes $30K and Chevrolet $8,700 and those were the first reasonable hits.)
For figures on how IDEA unfunded mandates are affecting our students NOT in special ed, see the budget presentation from Fulton Schools a couple of years ago. (Since we know our state funding has only gone down and the feds stimulus money has evaporated since then, one would think the disparity is likely even worse now…) Federal funds covered 25%, state funds 14%, and local funds 61% of the average cost of $30,323 per FTE (student). For 2010, that meant that (in Fulton Schools alone), $156.9 million was spent on 5174 students, with $96.4 million of that amount in local funds. For comparison, cost per FTE for “regular” students in Fulton was $8704 per FTE; again, since class sizes have increased for those students, would guess that figure has decreased since then! That $96 million could have been used to keep class sizes smaller for all students, rather than benefiting only about 5%. How long can this inequity continue? http://tinyurl.com/FCSSSpEd
Eric
June 22nd, 2012
5:42 pm
We ask too much of teachers to begin with! No wonder she’s burned out and left.
bootney farnsworth
June 22nd, 2012
5:51 pm
the trolls are out in force on this one.
guess they’re celebrating the demise of another “government worker”
Beverly Fraud
June 22nd, 2012
5:52 pm
Jordan has done a great service to public school education by leaving. NOT because she’s most likely a poor teacher, but because most likely she’s an EXCELLENT teacher.
It may be the ONLY thing that will make the education monolith listen is a MASSIVE BRAIN DRAIN as the best and the brightest leave.
Has it gotten to the point that, if a high school guidance counselor DARE suggest to a student a career teaching in the public schools, that guidance counselor should be charged with child endangerment toward that student?
Private School
June 22nd, 2012
5:53 pm
“I have lost my faith in public education. That means it is time to walk away.”
Thank You Jordan Kohanim!! Our decision to send our 2 children to private school from K-12, especially in this godforsaken public school system, is one of the best my wife and I have ever made!!!
This gets so old
June 22nd, 2012
6:01 pm
@BrianAiken: Time for a little reminder that members of GAE are also members of the NEA — which bills itself on its own website as the ULTIMATE union? Also, where that $168 in extra yearly NEA dues goes?
ref: http://www.nea.org/home/18469.htm
ref: http://goo.gl/rtJIZ
ref: http://goo.gl/bNdPt
Reality
June 22nd, 2012
6:06 pm
Private School — “I have lost my faith in public education. That means it is time to walk away.”
The more accurate statement should be — “I have lost my faith in parent(s).” By definition, by teaching in Fulton County you were already working with 3 strikes, i.e., an environment where none of the following are valued — hard work, education, individual initiative, and a stable family life…
Anna
June 22nd, 2012
6:23 pm
@Adam & Mortimer Collins I know you could probably give a rat’s butt to what I’m about to say, but I’m going to say it anyway.
@ Adam–Really? “If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen?” Is that the best you can come up with? Have you even worked in a school setting before? I’m not going to waste everyone’s time about going on and on about how much teachers do (because EVERYONE knows how much we do)…but, yes…you’re right-tax dollars pay our salaries. But, OUR SALARIES pay for YOUR child’s school supplies when YOU don’t bring them in (oh, I’m “sorry”–I definitely don’t mean YOU specifically–it’s more a “general” comment).
@ Mortimer — I get the whole “winners never quit, quitters never win” bit. Really. I do. But, how much abuse would you take on your job (Assuming you’re not a teacher)? What if your co-worker bit you because he didn’t like the presentation you gave? And what if your boss told you to “Get over it” & entertained the idea of firing you because you were a trouble-maker? How would you like to go to work every day, get hit, slapped, punched, bit, kicked, cussed out and being told “You can’t do anything about it?” by your boss? All while you plan lessons that meet the EXACT need of every student, attend faculty meetings, create assessments, deal with crabby parents, deal with crabby coworkers & administrators, turn this IEP in, have this IEP meeting, etc etc etc. THIS is what many teachers (including myself) have gone through every day for two years. Both of you are definitely entitled to your opinion, but BACK OFF!
former student
June 22nd, 2012
6:28 pm
Coach K –
I was lucky enough to be one of the students affected by your teaching. You taught me to question, and writing that makes me sad. That I was raised in a society where I literally had to be taught to question things around me; shown how to have the curiosity that leads to learning and intellectual growth.
When I heard about you leaving, I was devastated. I knew you loved teaching. But I knew how hard it was for you. I knew how much time you devoted to your students because I was one of them.
I had a lot of wonderful teachers in high school. They were helpful, and kind. While they encouraged the seed of doubt I had in ‘the man’ and ‘the system’, you were the one who planted it, by teaching me that just because something is common practice or socially acceptable, does not make it right or just. I will forever continue to question authority, because if I don’t, I’ll stop learning.
Bye
June 22nd, 2012
6:32 pm
Total freakin’ sell out. Good riddance. Can’t wait to hear her pontifications and self-righteousness about education now that she is revealed for who she really is…someone who is in it for the kids as long as it’s convenient for her to keep her upper-middle class, white, privileged comforts.
Sell. Out. This is why there is such an achievement gap.
The Best and The Brightest
June 22nd, 2012
6:37 pm
Beverly Fraud said “It may be the ONLY thing that will make the education monolith listen is a MASSIVE BRAIN DRAIN as the best and the brightest leave.”
That ship has already sailed. There has already been a massive brain drain from the teacher rank and file and it started around the 60s when women gained more freedom and opportunities. In the last century teaching was a profession that was filled almost exclusively by women. As women gained momentum in the fields never before opened to them they had better choices and left. That is why you find many poorly-educated teachers. The best and the brightest have already left and most never had to leave — because they never started in teaching. They had more opportunities the day they entered college and chose a more rigorous curriculum than education.
My classmates are women engineers. They are doctors. They are directors and VPS in business. I had a goal in the tenth grade. I wouldn’t become three things; a teacher, a secretary or a nurse. Those were the three job choices my mother had. I had more and my children’s generation have more.
So the whole “brain drain” the sky is falling scare tactics are benign. The best and the brightest from my generation have already left the teaching profession and for my children’s generation — they never went into the field in the first place. With some notable exceptions, those women with the lowest SATs scores and those with little real education went into the teaching profession.
It is no wonder many teachers quit the first few years. They are the the lowest common denominator in the first place and would not have succeeded regardless of their chosen profession. Garbage in. Garbage out.
Beverly Fraud
June 22nd, 2012
6:42 pm
“Total freakin’ sell out. Good riddance”
Of course Bye. Just like the people who quit working at Three Mile Island were self righteous about the “supposed dangers” of nuclear power.
Beverly Fraud
June 22nd, 2012
6:45 pm
“someone who is in it for the kids as long as it’s convenient for her to keep her upper-middle class, white, privileged comforts.”
Bye is right. All teachers should be required to live in public housing projects so they can better relate to the needs of their disadvantaged students.
Pay cuts are in order to separate those who care from those merely in it for the money.
Realistic Educator
June 22nd, 2012
6:51 pm
Jordan,
Your letter brought tears to my eyes. I felt your pain and I understood why you did what you did. Thank you for your service to our children. Now that you have gone, there will be one less bright and shining star in the nurturing universe. There will be one less true educator who cares and who is devoted to actually helping children learn. I am sorry that you did not get to know the profession that I came into over 25 years ago. I am ashamed of what public education has become. And thank you for reading those essays yourself. Student peers can’t tell me what is in the heart of a student. I can only know that if I can read their writing myself. Perhaps one day, somewhere, far, far over the rainbow…our society will once again understand the need for small classes and personal attention from human beings who are well trained, intelligent and creative and who also don’t necessarily need a script all the time. They know how to ad lib and think on their feet and alter a plan to meet the needs of real children… not statistical averages.
CY 2.0
June 22nd, 2012
6:53 pm
To all of you who insist teachers are simply whining and that “if we can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen,” let me be frank. Unless you have been or are an educator, keep your two-cents worth to yourself. I don’t tell you how easy your job is or how baseless your complaints are. The reality is that nearly every American is doing more work for less pay, less benefits, less recognition, less everything. You are probably overworked and stressed, but that doesn’t mean I’m not. We need to stop fighting and belittling each other and actually do something about it. Here is an article that goes into way more depth on what I am talking about: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/speed-up-american-workers-long-hours
Beverly Fraud
June 22nd, 2012
7:09 pm
To all of you who insist teachers are simply whining and that “if we can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen,”
What these people don’t get is that teachers ARE getting out of the kitchen.
It’s the children who are being left to BURN.
Voice of Truth
June 22nd, 2012
7:21 pm
Your departure should be an indictment against the School System, including the parents and the principal, that deflated you with such politics. Unfortunately, American Education is inundated with politics and classism so much so that the purpose of education is being lost or at least significantly compromised. The very parents that want to benefit from the educational system at any cost, immoral or legal, are destroying it by driving away really good, caring, and knowledgeable individuals from the teaching profession. The children always lose when a good teacher departs the profession. Sadly, the parents do not realize how your departure will only contribute to the demise of the American Educational system thereby negatively impacting future generations and the democracy we value.
Ellen
June 22nd, 2012
7:39 pm
Jordan, thank you for your honest and eloquent appraisal of the current education system. You obviously have the talent and dedication that is needed in today’s classroom — the profession will suffer your loss. Your words echo my sentiments perfectly. I have cried many tears over my failure to address the neediest of students bound as I have been by the demands of the SST/RTI/IEP/504 processes. Paperwork requirements, budget cuts, and overcrowded classrooms jeopardize not only the education of students who deserve the services those programs provide, but also increase the number of at-risk students who may be “falling through the cracks.” I have been robbed of the energy needed to inspire and educate, and it was with sadness that I retired this month. I will look for opportunities to positively impact young people’s lives — after all, “they are our future.”
cris
June 22nd, 2012
7:45 pm
I attended a teacher workshop this summer – for PLU’s (oh yeah, we don’t HAVE to have PLU’s anymore) because I find the area that I teach fascinating and I want to learn more about how to transfer my love of learning to my students (yeah, I guess I’m patting myself on the back a little – but I did pay for the workshop out of my own pocket). So one of the speakers had an interesting…point – he called it a “cage for every age” referring to how the education systems insists on dividing students by age instead of ability. Shouldn’t we let them progress as they are able? Sounds like a great idea! Maybe this is one of the ways we can go outside the box (is there anyone creative enough to come up with a better phrase…please?) to help solve some of the issues in education?
Wait one minute….
Yes, it’s a great idea – we’ll have students who are engaged and challenged by material that is suited for their abilities….discipline problems will dissapear, testing will become less important because students will be at a level that they are capable of working at, teachers will be able to go more in-depth on their subjects…..fabulous, right?
BUT
You have that one parent who feels that their 8 year old needs to be with their other 8-year-old friends even though they can’t comprehend that material because if they don’t get to be with their 8-year-old buddies, their self-esteem will be destroyed and said parent will be left feeling incompetent as a parent, so by God, let’s SUE the school system because my 8-year-old IS ready for 6th grade material because his/her 8-year-old buddies are and that’s where mommy and daddy feel comfortable with them being placed……
One of many great ideas that will probably never be tried because the school system can see the lawsuits coming from a mile away and they aren’t going to take a chance on getting sued. Maybe it wasn’t taking God out of school that ruined everything….maybe it was letting the lawyers in that sent it all to Hades…
Just my thoughts…I still love teaching…this coming year will be my 20th and while I enjoy my summer, I’m starting to get a little excited about the upcoming year…..I’m also really nervous about being replaced by an online program or a brand new teacher (no offense – they’re just cheaper budget-wise) so I can relate to Jordan leaving and being exhausted and feeling like you’re spending more time with/for your students than you are with your own kids.
Hope there is someone out there who can solve this conundrum….not only in time for me as a teacher, but for the thousands of public school childrenin this state.
YC
June 22nd, 2012
7:50 pm
Jordan, I had the pleasure to work with you during the 2010-11 school year and I can relate to your feelings of burn out and sorrow. I chose to leave this year as well. In the last four years, we’ve had furloughs, salary reductions and increased pressure to make miracles happen. As someone that has served five FCS in the last four years, I could not believe how some parents demanded and threatened at their children’s expense and others that simply were not involved and thought it was our job to raise their children. I wish you and your family all the quality time and stability that you deserve. THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR CHILDREN!!
Voice of Truth
June 22nd, 2012
7:51 pm
I must respond to the suggestion that we decentralize education. I must say that such an opinion is shortsighted and does not address the root of the problem with the American Educational System. America will not be able to sustain its competition with other nations that have a more appropriate political structure, or should I say, a less political structure, that lends itself to competing in a global society and economy. The American political system is over politicized and cumbersome. Other developed and many developing nations are less political in their educational governance thereby contributing to the development of their national standards years ago, higher teacher quality, competitive student achievement, and popular respect for the educational process and system. America on the other hand is severly retarded with the governance structure that includes the local Board of Education, the State Department of Education, and the Federal Government. The constitution assigns the responsibility of education to the states and states relegage it to the local governments. This structure is antiquated and is only further complicated by the politics involved in decision making as it pertains to budgets, hiring, attendance zoning, facility construction, school operations, etc. It is most unfortunate to see that the American population does not realize how the American political structure does not lend itself to streamlined decision-making related to educational decisions, infrastructure decisions, and many other areas that impact the majority of us. For example, America does not have a super railway between two major cities as they exist in China and Japan. Why is this the case? POLITICS. We have compromised obtaining advancements in technology because we have a skewed value or appetite for politics. Another example would be implementation of national standards. While we are making progress with states adopting the Common Core State Standards, the celerity of adoption and implementation has been and will be hindered by politics related to selection of standards and budget shortfalls affecting the acquisition of resources needed for a unified national implementation. Local governments, due to local control, may slice the standards to the point that national assessments may not result in the desired outcomes, and that without penalty. Our political process was advantageous during the first 200 years of our country when there was not fiscal interdependence and modern globalization. However, while we value its impact our the greatness of our nation, the same political system is now becoming an albatross. The weight of it is causing us to lose our competitive edge and hinders us from making timely decisions in the best interest of the nation. Our political system rewards those with wealth, who in term, retard the progress of those who do not have wealth. And what do Americans do? They repeatedly vote them into office since they “recognize their name” or since they claim to a member of the political party were preference. Our voting decisions are often superficial and shortsighted. The political system as it is compromises our advancement in the 21st Century and is highjacked by the wealthy who advocate free capitalism but without a sense of responsibility or obligation. In conclusion, the American Education System is severly and negatively impacted by our political processes. Until this changes, while there will always be pockets of success, the system as a whole will continue to be overcome with the cancer of apathy among stakeholders, inequity, scarcity and misallocation of resources, reduced teaching quality, and trivial debates that produce no significant improvements toward erradicating all student failure.
Voice of Truth
June 22nd, 2012
7:59 pm
Readers, I can assure you the public schools are not God-Forsaken. There are many God-Loving people called to work in our public schools. If it were God-Forsaken, God would not call God-Loving people to the field of education. Such comments are baseless and indicative of spiritually uninformed persons. Most God-Loving and God-Fearing students go to a public school. And most God-Loving and God-Fearing educators work in a public school setting in some capacity.
Interesting Observation
June 22nd, 2012
8:01 pm
All institutions are disappointing us. Take your pick: organized religion (Cathlict Priests, Eddie Long, et. al.); Banking and finance (2008 Wall St. chaos, Enron, housing crisis); Higher education and sports (Penn State/w Sanduski); Doping atheletes (steroids Bonds et. al.) Why should public schools be different? Afterall, public schools reflect the public. We have seen the enemy and he is us.
Private School
June 22nd, 2012
8:18 pm
Voice of Truth @ 7:59 — fine, substitute “dismal” for “godforsaken”…
Old Physics Teacher
June 22nd, 2012
8:22 pm
Georgia Coach,
Don’t go there; just don’t go there. I’ve spent 20 years in the classroom and 25 years as a sports official. I’ve watched you guys almost 50 years. Two of my family are retired coaches, and we constantly talk about sport0 and coaching. Your “students” don’t respond to you. They respond to the fans that cheer for them when they win. Try this: play only scrimmage games for a couple of years without keeping score or allowing fans to watch or do radio play-by-play and don’t allow any college recruiters to come by. See how many “students” still want to play and sweat and bleed for 15 hours of “home-work” a week for you. You’re just someone they have to follow, or you won’t put them on the field to get cheered. I’ve had coaches brag over and over about how well their “kids” respond to the coaches “challenges”… until… they start losing… Then the coaches move on to more talented players where they make even more money.
Are their good coaches who are good teachers? Yeah. But it has nothing to do with the “special rapport” of a coach reaching a student in a special way. That’s just you deluding yourself.