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| Now get the hell OUT! |
Rarely, as an English teacher, do I find myself at a loss for words.
Now, as I’m faced with the fact that I have to say goodbye to my students, and tell them I will not return as their teacher next year, I just don’t know what to say.
Do I tell them I’m leaving because the school they attend is finally so broken of an institution that it is unlikely to see repair and it is in fact more likely that the state will take over the school and turn it into a Charter?
Do I tell them that, in the words of a respected 22-year veteran, the district is currently “pissing down its own leg” and this is the worst he’s ever seen?
Do I tell them I’m leaving because their principal is a bully to both teachers and students?
Do I tell them that, due to the lack of instructional leadership in the school and district, I feel I am beginning to stagnate as a teacher?
I’ve referenced before that the school in which I teach is about to enter the third year of a three-year turnaround plan, meaning that at the end of the 2013-2014 school year, the state could possibly take them over. Yes, the situation factored into my decision to leave, but really there is so much more.
This year, at the high school, between resignations (15) and non-renewals (10), 25 teachers will not return (at least as of today). When submitting resignations, many teachers cited frustrations similar to those I mentioned above, including the fact that, in a board meeting, which is now public record, a board member suggested that white teachers cannot understand our Latino students, and therefore cannot teach them effectively. To insinuate that, because some teachers are white, we cannot properly understand, relate to, motivate, or lead students