A teacher explains why she gave up a career she loved

Interesting Observation, do you know what all these institutions have in common that contributes to their demise? The LOVE OF MONEY and POWER. When there is money and power, there is corruption. It occurs in every institution. The only reason the Catholic Church covered the child abuse scandal was for the retention of money and power. Wall Street worships money and power. Government is about money and power. The love of money and power is causing our downfall. The scriptures declare that the love of money is the root of all evil.

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I was very sorry to read this and wish her the best. The more I read the more I see that our educational system is very like the corporate America I experienced. I was lucky to have a direct boss that was wonderful, but upper management was quite different. Leverage the profits from this product to sustain this other product, even if we may not be following the letter of the law. This in the insurance/financial industry which has gotten nothing but a slap on the wrist from our government.

Rather like how our schools are “leveraging” special needs funding to fill the gaps left by austerity cuts. Why do you think the federal government is mandating “mainstreaming”? Do you really think all the money allocated for a special needs student goes directly to that student? Why do you think the lawsuits are happening? Do you think the parents WANT to have to sue for services? There are some bad apple parents, but they are not exclusive to the special needs community.

For all the posters who think special needs funding is not fair, what about ESL, free/reduced lunch program, transportation and gifted? Do you think that is unfair too? We are ALL paying for it one way or another-maybe we should just get rid of it all. Can’t take your kid to school because you have to work? Too bad, so sad, I shouldn’t have to pay for it.

We will keep my special needs son at home for school partly because his immune system function is not great and we won’t risk illness, but I had 2 teacher friends approach me about re-enrolling my son at his districted school last year. Why? Because they had a special needs parapro friend that wasn’t going to have a job because she had no one to work with. The irony there is that if we had chosen to re-enroll him, he would not have been placed in our districted school, but the nearest one with the special program the system said he needed (20 minutes away from home, what once was an hour and 15 minute bus ride). I would have had to fight hard to get him in my districted school with a parapro (maybe even threaten to sue). All to have him placed in a general ed classroom with the neurotypical kids-like the one who has a temper tantrum everyday at lunch or the kid who blows up in the computer lab if he has to wait, or the bad kids (my sons words) who put dirt on the slide on the playground. The kids in my son’s former special needs class were better behaved than the general ed kids.

If he got lucky and was able to eek out one year, we could apply for the Special Needs Scholarship. You know the one that takes YOUR taxpayer dollars and gives it to ME so I can send my child to any of the schools on the approved list? Even the ones that aren’t special needs schools and don’t really want special needs kids. Well I can’t afford the ones that are special needs schools, even with the scholarship. And the ones that aren’t, I wouldn’t send my child to. But I am lucky because we are somehow able to live on my husband’s salary allowing me to care for and educate my son myself. Many special needs parents aren’t so lucky.

While I sympathize with some of the posts about sue happy parents, not all of them are IEP/504 parents. We have a right to get angry anytime someone is “goosing” the system, but that honor is not solely the realm of special needs. Angry that our federal government is not fully funding Special Needs to the amount Congress is legally authorized? Contact your elected officials and demand action. I would do it myself but just like Jordan, I’m tired and would like to reserve my strength and faculties for more meaningful work-educating my son.

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Socrates, you sound like a typical “consultant” in the education “industry.” She has SIX classes, not six essays. Pray tell us what you do now in the “industry.”

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Every day people outside of the teaching profession are deciding to re-train to become teachers. One doesn’t leave something that they love, are passionate about. They find out what’s wrong, make adjustments, and continue to serve. Yes, I said serve. The teaching profession is about service, service to mankind. It’s not a government mandate; it’s a personal choice. Thank you to all of those who are passionate about the profession and are willling to continue. It’s not about the administration; it’s about the teacher changing the lives of the students. Again, I congratulate those dedicated teachers who don’t run from a little adversity! Bright kids learn in spite of the teacher; challenged kids learn because of the teacher.

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Ahh @Jan, even in the homeschooling world the state has its regulations and I MUST teach grade level appropriate ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies AND my son must undergo standardized testing (although I get to choose which one). They don’t require, however, that he receive OT, PT or ST-although we do receive the polite county mailer reminding us that he might be eligible for those services (which we have chosen to provide privately)-but the state doesn’t check to make sure we do. This is actually a relief as we can focus on time spent strengthening specific muscles as opposed to “being able to kick a ball __ feet on a __degree trajectory”. And he gets more one on one time in speech therapy as opposed to half of it being group speech therapy (with up to 10 kids).

By the way, the Autism diagnostic criteria is currently being revamped and it is predicted that many children will no longer meet the criteria. It will be interesting to see how the federal and state goverments deal with that. However, quite a few of the current Autistic special needs kids may no longer be considered special needs. That will mean less paperwork, but also no more services or special needs funding for that student either.

Thank you for your service to our schools!

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I’m very sorry that you had to make this heartbreaking decision. You helped me a few years ago when I had just graduated with my MAT, was unable to find a teaching job, and wondered why I had made such a stupid decision to go into teaching. You encouraged me by telling me that you could tell I’d be a great teacher and to keep trying. I did keep trying, and I was fortunate to find a great position. I realize that my satisfaction is mostly due to luck. I have an administrator and a department head who support me. I teach ESOL students who are nice children with parents who respect teachers. So thanks for your support a few years ago, and I wish you the very best.

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Mortimer Collins, Adam, everyman, you espouse the reason creative, dedicated, committed teachers leave their beloved profession everyday, with hoards to follow. It’s not because of students, or the loss of passion for inspiring them to envision a world beyond themselves and dream among the stars. There will never be enough pay to compensate for that “light in the eye” look from our students’ faces that makes the 10 hour days -on your feet- with a satchel of papers to grade at home worth it. It is not that at all. It is people like you who ensure that we don’t make a difference, who constantly nag, sue and balk, without respect for those dedicated to youth and to instilling creative, passionate ideals regardless of whether it fits into society’s ill gotten perspective.
Thank you Jordan. I too left after 8 years because I lost hope that the Atlanta system had the best interests of the students at heart. It’s hard to put on armor when the battle is already won. Distrust, fear, and rancor fester. If enough walk out, people will take notice. But there is a cost. For there is nothing sweeter than a lesson well taught, and the wide-eyed wonder of a child. Take heart: there are still places where educators are seen as philosophers and saints. I have the privilege of a job like that now. Walk toward the light… Blessings and thanks for your insight, courage, and well woven words.

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I left teaching after 11 years and worked in the private sector for 6. Each has its own issues, but like “Grateful to Be Teaching”, I missed the kids. I returned to teach in Fulton and was fortunate to know and work with Jordan. I retired a few years ago but have substituted almost every day since. It’s wonderful because I work mostly in my field, choose which schools and classes I teach (and, yes, I do teach!), get to know the kids at those schools and am very much appreciated by the staff and students. I make $84 a day, but I leave at the end of the day empty-handed and with no parents to call or plans to make or meetings to attend. I’ve worked long-term 3 semesters running, teaching high school math and cherish the letters of appreciation from the kids and parents when it’s time to return the classroom to the regular teacher. Jordan’s school has a changes in administration every year, to its detriment. I only wish she had transferred to another school instead of another career. Her talent is a God-given gift and I pray that she will regain perspective and reenter the field. There are too many kids who benefit from her talent for her to stay away. I was glad I came back, and I have former students who let me know every day that I made a difference when they tell me how they’re doing in med school, nursing in third-world countries, teaching their own classes, and pursuing various careers. That’s all anyone can ask: to make a difference.

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Thank you, Jordan!

You have just echoed my every thought! I am within seven years of retirement and trying to determine if I can make it that far. I don’t know how much more I can take, either. Teacher empowerment just is an unknown here, as is student accountability. I’ve taught for 25 years and made the mistake of neglecting my loved ones, too, and I ended up marrying but forgoing a family. Now I am widowed, physically and mentally exhausted, making less money every year, and tied to a job over which I have less and less control (because of bureaucracy)–but for which I alone am held accountable. I can’t even consider leaving because I’m “upside down” in my house. But for all of that, I’ll be paying higher property taxes this year, and making even less money because of increased furlough days. Yes, I am glad to have a job at all, but that does not negate the fact that we teachers, like other middle-class folks, are paying in a thousand ways for financial mismanagement and crimes perpetrated by other people!! And now, my students get to be responsible for a third of my evaluation, and their opinions will be tied to my pay? Do the crafters of these policies really understand today’s students, who approach standardized tests in a lackadaisical manner, entering random answers because they really don’t feel like taking the test in the first place?? Do they get that students can be vindictive, and many will relish the chance to destroy a teacher who expects them to work? Do they understand that influential parents can pressure the schools to make life too easy for their particular children?

Georgia does not have unions, and I never wanted adversarial collective bargaining. But we definitely need to stand up for ourselves when it comes to stuff like this, because it affects not only our paychecks but also the quality of education. Of course, true quality is the last thing on the minds of the powers that be; better to quell the public’s frustration temporarily by slapping a bandage of any size over that festering wound. (Who care’s if the infection spreads??)

I love real teaching, and I used to love going to work each day. And amazlingly, the less bureaucratic intervention I encountered, the more my students learned, and those who put in the effort were very successful. Now I dread the next bureaucratic policy that will suck up the little time I have remaining to give kids real help.

AND THINGS WILL NOT IMPROVE UNTIL JOHNNY IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS OWN LEARNING–AND THAT MEANS THAT IF HE IS LAZY, HE ACTUALLY MIGHT FAIL!!

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apologies for the typos

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coachK, I’m so sad right now that its hard for me to even explain it. I don’t know how public school systems work, butI think you need to know the impact you had on me. I and my brothers had you in ninth grade and debate. We all still know the definition of theme and symbol and still talk at dinner about conversations we had in your class. I even got my dad to read Fahrenheit because of you!!! Without you being my teacher, I wouldn’t love all the literature I love!! My writing skills would not be there. There are so many things that you did that I cant even name. I’m not just mad for me. I am mad because the next students won’t get the same amazing teacher you are. I know you had to leave, but I hate that is what it came to. #coachK4life

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Don’t worry. When you quit and jump around a few times you realize it’s all good, new experiences, igniting new passions, etc. It will always be there if you want to go back. And teaching can happen anywhere, not just in formalized institutions (schools).

I’m taking a break from corporate software development to pursue assistive technology for speech and other impairments. Tons of learning right now, meeting new people, it’s so much fun and there’s much more passion on my part. Good luck!

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@adam- Just wanted to point out to you that teachers get NO paid vacation, not the full summer paid as many assume. We are paid for exactly 8 hours per day for the 190 days a year we are officially at school. Our summer checks are derived from money withheld from each check we receive during the year. So, please stop knocking us for our lazy paid summers. Most of us give countless hours of our summers to continuing education, setting up our classrooms, planning curriculum for the coming year, etc, etc. Further, we get paid a fraction of what a babysitter would cost per each child we teach. Think about it, pay a teacher $3 per child for only the 6.5 hours she has students in her classroom and only the 180 days they attend, and for only 25 students, she’d make $87,760 a year! I teach because I love children and truly care about helping them learn and grow. I’m one of the few teachers who is pro merit based pay, anti-union, and who would have education in this country publicly funded but completely privately run. But, I’m so tried of the attacks on those of us who choose to sift through all the BS day after day for pennies when compared to those with similar levels of education in different fields. Much of the problem is that teachers, the expects in the education field, aren’t the ones making the decisions on how to best fix the system!

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All these whiny teachers just exemplify that most in the profession are just about what is best for them, not what their students really need. If you’re not cut out to give the kids what they need, just say so…don’t blame those that are just trying to do what is best for kids, even if it’s sometimes tough on adults.
Those in the civil rights movement sacrificed their comfort for the movement. The stakes are no less high here.
Teachers are either fixing this problem, or making it worse. Simple as that. Jordan is a selfish sell-out who talks a good game and loves having pity parties on this blog. Geezus, this is the second major pity party she has held…poor thing. Wah.

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I would like to invite all those who are calling teachers “whiny” or think having some concern for our own needs means we don’t prioritize children to come spend a day or two volunteering in a public school classroom. Mine serves 4 year olds who qualify for public pre-k by being in poverty, having a parent in jail, or being on Medicaid. They are precious, and I’m doing what I’m called to do, but if you think it is easy to helps to them on the best path for learning and success, you’ve got another thing coming. Come walk a mile. Public schools are begging for volunteers. Those who CAN teach! Trust me, I’m highly qualified for plenty of other careers. But, I do this because it care about my country’s future and our children that much!

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You seem to be a passionate person with a big heart and in the public school system today that can work against you as it seems to be about mandated laws. When I graduated college I knew also that there was a difference between education and learning. I knew I would burn out very quickly and therefore never attempted to teach. Perhaps I am a wimp for never trying. At least you learned a lot about yourself through the process and you know what you want for this next stage of your life!

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@Bye “All these whiny teachers just exemplify that most in the profession are just about what is best for them, not what their students really need.”

Did you somehow miss this whole portion of her letter? Or did you just ignore it?

“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.”

You interpret her concerns as being focused on “what is best for her”? Her heartbreak over watching the system deny struggling students what they need is “evidence of being a “selfish sell-out”"? Really?

Teachers I know who are dissatisfied with their job have numerous complaints about what is wrong with the system, but do you know what is top of their list? Their TOP complaint? It has less to do with how THEY are being treated than with the fact that all the data analysis, unfunded mandates, accountability measures, loss of funding, intervention data collection requirements, etc. are beginning to compromise GOOD TEACHING.

That’s right.

We have been taking crap for a long time and shouldering the burden, doing more with less and taking on more and more (because far too many of us suffer from a martyr complex). We have struggled to keep giving our students what they need while sacrificing our health, money and family life, because our students come first. Most of my fellow educators are on some type of medicine for high blood pressure or stress…and I am now being monitored erratic heartbreak, and blood pressure issues.

However, the chickens are finally coming home to roost. Now we see our students and our teaching beginning to really suffer, and THAT is not acceptable. Too many times, I have found myself in a position where I have to choose between doing what is best for my students, and doing what the district or state demands I NEED to do to prove I am doing a good job in the classroom. Up till now, I have been able to swing both, but in the last few years, I find myself on the wrong side of that line more and more times. The demands keep in increasing, and the hours in the day do not.

This year I had eleven students on a POI. You would not know what that means, but other teachers will. That means eleven students upon which I was supposed to keep detailed records of interventions, modifications, probe results, etc. Eleven students who I was supposed to meet about monthly to discuss their progress. Eleven students I was supposed to probe three times a week on various measures and record the data. Even if I used a five minute probe, that is fifteen minutes per child (one on one) times eleven children – a week! What were all my other students supposed to do when I was testing those children? My students are too young to work independently that often and for that long. I have known teachers who had entire classes on POIs. Do you think all of those students every received the help they needed? And if you did manage to collect all the data, chances are you would be sent back to collect MORE data, agains and again just like Jordan pointed out. Services DENIED.

There are only so many hours in the day, so do you spend those hours working on filling out POI paperwork, or actually preparing differentiated lessons for struggling students? Do you spend your time preparing your sixteen page evaluation document necessary to keep your job, or do you spend it planning engaging lessons?

You can only give everything of yourself for so long before things start breaking down. As one of my fellow teachers noted this year, “The better we look on paper, the less we are doing in the classroom.” Ironically, the very measurement put in place to prove we are educating our students are undermining our ability to teach. And it is the GOOD teachers who are suffering the most, because we are striving to do everything well.

We can no longer balance the ever increasing requirements for paperwork and documentation and testing with the ability to provide a solid education. We are seeing “best practices” preached, but in reality, our ability to implement those best practices is being compromised.

Believe it or not, most good teachers go into teacher because they WANT to make a difference in students’ lives. Good teachers put students first, and when GOOD teachers start being forced to make decisions that compromise my students learning, THAT is when they start thinking about leaving. Soon there will be very few GOOD teachers left in the classroom, and all the naysayers will get just what you have been striving for, the destruction of our public schools system. Have fun living in a country with a large percentage of uneducated, poor, and angry people looking for someone to blame.

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She gave up a career she loved to sell insurance? Tell me in 10 years how much more she earned than if she’d remained in a job she loved. I say good riddance. We’ve got enough people in the profession who blame everyone but themselves for the state of education today. Enjoy pitching insurance. I hope it brings that sense of accomplishment and fulfillment you lacked as a teacher. Here’s a fun fact for you. The average teacher is in the top 25% of income earners in the US today. Go work as an independent business owner, putting in 18 hour days, 6 or 7 days a week with no pension and expensive health insurance, and facing an 80% failure rate, then tell me your sad story as a public school teacher with your long days and frustration.

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My wife teaches 9th and 10th-grade math in Gwinnett County and has talked about leaving the profession, transferring to a private school or teaching online. She generally has at least one class that’s a block (for those who have been identified as struggling in math). After many conversations with her, I’ve found that there’s a real issue with behavior problems with students. Back when I was in school, if you were a discipline problem, you got sent home and/or were suspended or had ISS. Now, these students get sent to an administrator and then sent right back to the teacher with nothing having happened. These constant disruptions by certain students distracts the learning for other students and is hurting some of the ones who want to be there.

Countless times, she’s had students not be present on test day and not make it up. But, they can’t give them a zero and move on…they have to give the student ample opportunities to make up work they missed, even if it’s in the middle of May and the test was in February. This goes for homework, quizzes, etc. Now, what are we teaching our kids? In the real world, if you miss an assignment, there are no makeups. Depending on the job, you’ll lose it when you don’t turn something in when it’s supposed to.

Kids don’t understand consequences, because they’ve never had to deal with consequences in their life. Many parents give their kids everything they want, and they expect the same of the teachers in the classroom. Most parents want to blame the teacher for their child not passing, when in fact it’s the student’s fault. But, that’s our society, it’s always someone else’s fault.

And, tests. What good are these state and county standardized tests in each subject where the curve is astronomically huge. For her Algebra I class, the EOCT had an curve of 19 points, which was lower for the students that scored higher. After the curve, the average of the class was a 76. So, looking at it, the class average was a 57 before the curve. Now, if that’s going on in other Algebra I classes, I think the problem lies within the test. Why is there a test being created that is known to be almost impossible to pass for many kids, but yet we give it anyway, saying they should know the material? If that’s the material they should know, then there should be no curve.

Kids are inundated with tests, too many in my opinion, and teachers are having to teach to the test. I took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the PSAT, the SAT, the ACT and the GA HS Graduation Test and I turned out okay, as did most people my age. So, why do we need the EOCT, CRCT, Various Gateway Assessments, and others?

The whole school system is not “No Child Left Behind,” it’s “No Teacher Left Standing.”

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Excellent observation of the current state of public education. Great move, I also had to leave after 26yrs. Unbearable!

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“The more people that withdraw their support for the failed government system of “education” the sooner it will collapse and the marketplace can restore sanity and begin delivering a quality product.”

EXACTLY. That’s why the Jordans and the Fleds of the world will EVENTUALLY make a difference. When the talent pool becomes MINIMAL and you can’t even CHEAT your way to better results…when administrators can’t RETALIATE because there is no one LEFT to retaliate against…

As someone says on Bookman’s blog, the system ain’t broke…it’s “fixed” fixed against the teacher and by extension fixed against the STUDENTS.

No doubt Jordan will be EXPONENTIALLY happier this time next year. ZERO doubt of that.

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Although I never actually had you as a teacher, I am convinced you are one of the best educators to have ever walked the halls of Centennial High School. I cannot tell you how much having you as debate coach helped me grow–not only in rhetoric, but as a person in general. I am sorry about how jacked up the system is, and it sucks to see you go.

I understand that it is the path that you must follow, and I know it can’t be easy.

You told me a long time ago that the only way to liberate yourself from “The Cave” is to teach. Too bad The Man doesn’t want that to happen. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you thank you for everything.

Daniel

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Teaching has always had its trials. I’ve kept a file over the years and was re-reading many of the articles from when I started teaching in the mid-70s. It’s amazing how similar they are. Without the date, you would be hard pressed to determine whether it was or was not current.
The classroom has changed. The purpose has changed. The families have changed. But politics are politics and you just grin and bear it. It’s the same in private business, but the politics are more in-house. However, good teachers teach because they love teaching, if not school.
On the positive side, I believe more of today’s teachers are good or excellent than in the last 50 years. Why? Because they now CHOOSE to go into education, not (as another writer pointed out) because that was one of the few options for women (secretary, nurse, homemaker, teacher) and less accountability. Many whom I have had the pleasure to teach with, including Jordan, are very intelligent and talented and could take their pick of professions. But their passion lies in reaching kids and providing hope, which is why administrations/politicians/taxpayers feel free to cut teachers’ pay and working conditions – they know many good teachers will stay regardless.
When I started teaching I had 40 students in each class, was required to eat lunch in the cafeteria with my class during the entire 22 minute period set aside for that purpose, sat in the hallway between classes to make sure kids didn’t smoke in the bathroom, stayed overnight when snow prevented the buses from running, and was expected to visit every student’s home (mostly in the projects). What I did not have was the endless paperwork, micro-management of my instructional style and content, fear of lawsuits, and lack of respect; misbehavior? take a paddle to them in the hall. no supplies? hit local businesses for donations. small paycheck? most teachers had their kids on reduced lunch, mine included. From ‘85 to ‘91, when I had left teaching because of burnout and needing a bigger paycheck as a newly single mother of three, Joe Frank Harris raised our salaries by double-digits and Zell Miller gave us respect and hope. I left making $11,000/yr and returned 6 years later (even without full credit from “out-of-county” experience) and made $27,000/yr. But the smaller classrooms required more work to individualize learning, higher salaries came with suspicious taxpayers and more accountability, misbehavior involved vague and fearful handling, and duty-free lunches came with a working-lunch label.
Okay, so one set of problems was corrected and another set came along. I still loved teaching, knew I could reach kids and turn over their fear of math to a love of math. As in any business, you have to play the game. It wasn’t until the NCLB (yes, we’ll have everyone with 20/20 vision, olympian athletic abilities and ready for college by 2012. Right.) and the new, shallow, rigid, cookie-cutter math curriculum came along and the exams were written for me by faceless bureaucrats that I again cried, “Enough!” and took retirement a couple of years early. I was no longer allowed to be a creative, passionate force in my own classroom. It was being a world-class chef being handed Weight Watchers Cookbook and told, in no uncertain terms, to prepare dishes exactly as written. End of story.

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@ Beverly Fraud, 5:12 pm

“Why? WHY ON EARTH would you do that to a young person who has ENDLESS possibilities ahead of them?”
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Because I still had a passion for teaching, even in 2006, when I was 64 years old and had taught school for 35 years, in all kinds of difficult situations, including being an SST Chair for 20 years, altogether, in two different schools. I received as much from students as I gave to them. Teaching was life-giving Io me. It was, and is, in my blood. I cannot imagine any other profession better suited to my particular talents than teaching. My paternal grandmother had been a teacher, who had started her own school, as had been her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, before her. Her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, had also been ordained Baptist ministers as far back as the early 1800s.

If the love of teaching, and of giving to others for their betterment, is within your soul, that gift will remain with you throughout your life, and you will feel stunted in your own development if you are not able to have expressed that gift. I feel blessed that I was a teacher, as well as having served as a teacher within public schools, for 35 years of my life.

I am not saying that teaching is a profession that everyone should pursue simply because I had loved it throughout my teaching career. I am saying that I would continue to urge those people, who have a passion to give of themselves to others and to share their knowledge with young people, to choose teaching as their lifelong profession.

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Thank you for everythink, Mrs. Kohanim! I only had you for one year but you forever changed me. Thank you.

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