Author Topic: Common-core frustrated teacher's resignation letter: 'My profession no longer exists'  (Read 869 times)

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rangerrebew

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Common Core-frustrated teacher’s resignation letter: ‘My profession … no longer exists’

March 10, 2014 by Cheryl Carpenter Klimek 63 Comments


Much has been said about the frustration of parents and children in navigating the Common Core curriculum standards, but now more teachers are beginning to speak out.

Educators say they believe the curriculum is “demeaning their profession,” and those who have had enough are simply quitting, according to the Washington Post.

 
Veteran social studies teacher Gerald J. Conti, is one of those at the end of his rope. He has submitted a resignation letter to Westhill High School in Syracuse, N.Y., saying that after 27 years at the school, he can no longer continue.

Conti explained how he devoted his free time immersed in research, always wanting to be on top of the topics covered in his classroom, but “never feeling satisfied” that he knew enough.

“I now find that this approach to my profession is not only devalued, but denigrated and perhaps, in some quarters despised,” he wrote. “STEM rules the day and ‘data driven’ education seeks only conformity, standardization, testing and a zombie-like adherence to the shallow and generic Common Core, along with a lockstep of oversimplified so-called Essential Learnings. Creativity, academic freedom, teacher autonomy, experimentation and innovation are being stifled in a misguided effort to fix what is not broken in our system of public education and particularly not at Westhill.”

A lack of leadership or organized campaign against the unpopular curriculum has led to confusion and lower morale among teachers and students, Conti said. He compared it to building an airplane while flying.

“After writing all of this I realize that I am not leaving my profession, in truth, it has left me,” he wrote. “It no longer exists. I feel as though I have played some game halfway through its fourth quarter, a timeout has been called, my teammates’ hands have all been tied, the goal posts moved, all previously scored points and honors expunged and all of the rules altered.”

Read Conti’s letter in its entirety here.

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/03/10/common-core-frustrated-teachers-resignation-letter-my-profession-no-longer-exists-105574?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
« Last Edit: March 11, 2014, 05:10:30 pm by rangerrebew »

Offline Rapunzel

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Buck Sexton is filling in on the Blaze this week, he spent an hour on the subject.  A LOT of parents and teachers called into the program - the teachers are as frustrated as the children... and some of these teachers were from Long Island and from California - in other words, union school states.    One father called in to say his third grade child has loved school and excelled in math and English... they were called down to the school and informed they had to "slow" their child down because under Common Core the child cannot be more advanced than the rest of the class (hmmm what have we been saying???).... anyway, they went to the principle of the school to ask what the heck and were told - nope, can't have your child ahead of the rest of the class - so they pulled their daughter out of the school and are home-schooling.\

A lot of this is coming to a head because of DeBlasio shutting down the charter schools in Harlem - seems these black children in the charter schools were showing up the kids in the government common core schools - and another interesting thing - if they shut down a charter school they can open up to two additional public schools and if they have kids deemed special needs (aka ADD, ADHD, etc., the public schools receive more federal funding for the special needs kids. Someone who called in opined is this one of the reasons so many schools are pushing ADD, ADHD diagnosis??

And last a mother called in her 17-year-old son took his SAT last weekend - the essay question was for him to explain how best to fix income inequality in the USA.   HE told his mom he probably failed because he gave answers based on his conservative principles.
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Offline rustynail

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No sympathy for this spawn of John Dewey.

Offline evadR

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The question as it stands is unanswerable.
They must first define "income inequality".
November 6, 2012, a day in infamy...the death of a republic as we know it.

Offline Rapunzel

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The question as it stands is unanswerable.
They must first define "income inequality".

True.  It is disturbing to find the Democrats latest meme showing up so quickly on the SAT's.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline mountaineer

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Quote
they went to the principle of the school to ask what the heck and were told - nope, can't have your child ahead of the rest of the class - so they pulled their daughter out of the school and are home-schooling.\
She'll probably be in college by the time she's 16, too.

Quote
And last a mother called in her 17-year-old son took his SAT last weekend - the essay question was for him to explain how best to fix income inequality in the USA.   HE told his mom he probably failed because he gave answers based on his conservative principles.
This is why it's a good thing they're getting rid of the essay component, which hasn't been part of the SAT for long, anyway. Much too subjective.
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Offline happyg

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My granddaughter, who is a sophomore, just wrote an essay on why she is pro life. I guess they had a choice between pro life and pro abortion. I'm not sure about that, but is the way I took it. I don't know how that will turn out, but am eager to find out.

Oceander

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Veteran social studies teacher Gerald J. Conti, is one of those at the end of his rope. He has submitted a resignation letter to Westhill High School in Syracuse, N.Y., saying that after 27 years at the school, he can no longer continue.

Conti explained how he devoted his free time immersed in research, always wanting to be on top of the topics covered in his classroom, but “never feeling satisfied” that he knew enough.

“I now find that this approach to my profession is not only devalued, but denigrated and perhaps, in some quarters despised,” he wrote. “STEM rules the day and ‘data driven’ education seeks only conformity, standardization, testing and a zombie-like adherence to the shallow and generic Common Core, along with a lockstep of oversimplified so-called Essential Learnings. Creativity, academic freedom, teacher autonomy, experimentation and innovation are being stifled in a misguided effort to fix what is not broken in our system of public education and particularly not at Westhill.”


Boo, hoo, hoo.

This is nothing but crocodile tears over having one's ox gored.  The telltale?  This:  "STEM rules the day"

STEM is an acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  It identifies a class of education policies and curricula that emphasize those areas, and the disciplines that they depend on, including chemistry, biology, computer science, computer engineering, and, ovbiously, mathematics.  STEM does not have anything to do with "'data driven' education, conformity, standardization, testing or, most definitely, zombies.

BTW, if zombies are your thing, you can find them aplenty over in the English departments of many so-called universities, where one can earn a doctoral degree with a dissertation on zombies:  The Zombie: "A New Monster for a New World", by UA doctoral student Kyle W. Bishop.

Why is STEM important?  If you're reading this, it's because of STEM disciplines.  If you use your smartphone to call friends, text 'em, find information, etc, etc, etc, it's because of STEM disciplines.  If you drive a car that's less than 30 years old, it's because of STEM disciplines.  If you think national defense is an urgent priority, then STEM is an urgent priority.  If you think rebuilding and maintaining America's dominant place in the world economy is a priority, then STEM is a priority.

On the other hand, if you think that social criticism, racial quotas and tribalism, and other liberal nonsense are a priority, then STEM is the absolute last thing in the world you want students to be taught.

Social studies is not STEM - obviously, or the author wouldn't have this obnoxious fear of it - and, as generally taught in the United States, is most decidedly amongst the class of liberal nonsense.


So, if you want the US to remain competitive - economically, politically, and militarily - in the 21st Century, then you should want more of our limited educational resources spent on teaching STEM and less spent on teaching socio-cultural criticism and liberal/leftwing politics.

Offline evadR

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Boo, hoo, hoo.

This is nothing but crocodile tears over having one's ox gored.  The telltale?  This:  "STEM rules the day"

STEM is an acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  It identifies a class of education policies and curricula that emphasize those areas, and the disciplines that they depend on, including chemistry, biology, computer science, computer engineering, and, ovbiously, mathematics.  STEM does not have anything to do with "'data driven' education, conformity, standardization, testing or, most definitely, zombies.

BTW, if zombies are your thing, you can find them aplenty over in the English departments of many so-called universities, where one can earn a doctoral degree with a dissertation on zombies:  The Zombie: "A New Monster for a New World", by UA doctoral student Kyle W. Bishop.

Why is STEM important?  If you're reading this, it's because of STEM disciplines.  If you use your smartphone to call friends, text 'em, find information, etc, etc, etc, it's because of STEM disciplines.  If you drive a car that's less than 30 years old, it's because of STEM disciplines.  If you think national defense is an urgent priority, then STEM is an urgent priority.  If you think rebuilding and maintaining America's dominant place in the world economy is a priority, then STEM is a priority.

On the other hand, if you think that social criticism, racial quotas and tribalism, and other liberal nonsense are a priority, then STEM is the absolute last thing in the world you want students to be taught.

Social studies is not STEM - obviously, or the author wouldn't have this obnoxious fear of it - and, as generally taught in the United States, is most decidedly amongst the class of liberal nonsense.


So, if you want the US to remain competitive - economically, politically, and militarily - in the 21st Century, then you should want more of our limited educational resources spent on teaching STEM and less spent on teaching socio-cultural criticism and liberal/leftwing politics.

Quite frankly, this is the post I have been looking for. I have heard all this harping about STEM and I cannot identify the problem.
November 6, 2012, a day in infamy...the death of a republic as we know it.