If I plan everything (or almost everything) correctly, the 2011-2012 school year will be my last. And since planning is a huge part of teaching, the odds are with me. I hope. Since I started teaching in 1996, I have not been unemployed, or gone without a steady paycheck. My willingness to walk away may reveal my frustration with the current conditions in the teaching profession. You may be thinking, She’s been teaching since 1996…surely she has tenure and seniority? I do, for now. There was time I took comfort in the thought of always having the safety net provided by tenure and seniority, but I predict their days are numbered. And while I feel confident in my ability to do my job, I have no confidence and no trust in the system employing me.
I thought I’d be a career teacher. My first job and only teaching position has been with the New York City public schools; initially I planned to stay a few years and then move on to better conditions and higher pay in the surrounding suburbs. But I gained my footing after my first couple years in the classroom, and my interest in a suburban job waned and then flickered out altogether. Teaching in an inner-city school brought with it lots of challenges and difficulties, but the students had a lot of heart and most of them were wonderful to work with. Since teaching is, or used to be, about working with students, I chose to commit to city kids, and the NYC schools.
And so I stayed. I never looked back, and never regretted my decision.
Now, it’s time for me to leave. My students are still likeable, bright, and challenging, but they don’t always do well on state exams. And since we’ve arrived at a place where nearly all of a teacher’s worth comes from how well his or her students do on standardized tests, I believe my days are numbered. The possibility exists for someone influential who is backing test-score-mania, like President Obama, or Governor Cuomo, to have an epiphany and say, “Wait a minute, something’s not right. There’s more to good teaching than test scores.” But I doubt it. It’s almost an election year, after all.
I’m not going to wait for anyone to have an epiphany. My list of issues and grievances with my current profession could fill many, many posts, and I could go into more detail about why I’m choosing to give up and walk away while many of my fellow teachers fight on. But I don’t want this to be about the past, I don’t want this to be about politics. I want to embrace the possibilities I find, even if I don’t know what they look like yet.
I hope to help you do the same.
