I saw a post in an educational group about teachers and administrators calling it quits sooner than later. Some threw in the towel just last week.
I sent a response back with what are the specifics leading to all of these withdrawals so quickly. I did not get a reply back; I am not out of touch, and I do not know many of the issues they all face, but I wanted details. I wanted to know the following:
- What caused the dam to burst?
- How long did you feel it was building?
- Did your school or district have incentives?
- What changes happened this year?
- Do you feel good at school?
- Do you feel safe at school?
- Do you feel like you are in charge of your teaching?
I have so many questions and discussions I want to have. Why do I want to have them? Because I want to know what I can do to help. As a former teacher and principal, I see the quality of educators I have worked with daily. We had some that were not the best, but we also had extraordinary ones as well. Losing these individuals who know precisely how to teach any child to read is crushing. I have seen teachers work with students who others had no success with before. I enjoyed being in their classrooms.
This I know: People need to hear what they do matters; others understand and want to support them. We must keep the schools that are doing great things for our children. Talk to the school principal and see what you can do to help them and show support. Lift instead of pushing down. Do we have problems in education? Yes! We do. Let’s fix them.
