A syndicated article
appeared in the Washington Post back in January that posed the question, how
hard is teaching? The story focused on a seventh grade language arts teacher in
Frederick, Maryland who, after much deliberation, decided to quit the teaching
profession. The teacher, who chose to remain anonymous, had become
disillusioned and disenchanted with the profession. The teacher (we do not know
if it is a man or woman), remarked that the objective that were to be taught
were superficial and without meaning. The teacher recalls an incident where
he/she was summoned to the principal’s office was handed a list of students who
were performing poorly. Despite proving the principal with data showing the
extra effort to reach these students, the teacher was told,” They are not
allowed to fail.” The teacher was lambasted by parents as not doing a good job
when there children brought home Bs and
Cs
The teacher in the article also remarked about the public
perception that teachers had a lot of time off- not fully knowing the research and
outside preparation required to be an effective and meaningful classroom
teacher. Teachers are held to extremely
high standards both in the classroom and the community and are constantly required
to butt heads with parents, administrators, board members and members of the
general community.
Added to this mix is the politicization of public education
in America by anti union government officials trying to curry favor with
voters. So the question is where will this all end up? I believe that that the
scenarios that are unfolding around the country will continue to dissuade
bright college graduates from entering the teaching profession .Additionally,
many of those already in the profession will strongly consider changing
occupations. The success of public education in America is everybody’s problem.
We all have a vested interest in having the best and the brightest teach our
future generations of Americans.
c.2014 J. Margolis
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