You Asked, I Answered.

The TN State Department of Education puts out an educator survey each year, and this morning, my coffee and oatmeal were particularly energizing, so I used half an hour of my 45 minute planning period to fill it out. The questions are crazy, leave no room for qualification or explanation and sometimes don't even apply (an NA button might be nice!), but at the end, educators have an opportunity to share anything else with the state BOE they feel compelled to share. The box allows 1800 characters and my count was '0' by the time I finished. I'm sure no one will read it, but in case you're curious just how brave my sumatra and oats made me this morning, below is what I typed...and I mean every. single. word.

Testing initiatives are killing learning in our state. We are seeing a stark decline in love of learning and also in learning itself. I can attest to the fact that years ago, I had genuinely smart students who loved learning new things and took on challenges because they wanted to be better. Now that we're offering free education after high school (TN Promise) and we're pushing every student toward college (something that is completely backward, in my opinion), students have no need to strive for better knowledge or learning. I also teach college in our state and have seen a stark decline there in effort and appreciation of learning. Students who should be learning trades or earning vocational hours in high school are using state money to come to college and then failing to complete the requirements to graduate. Instead of letting them fail (on all levels) we are passing everyone as a means to avoid rocking the boat and then wondering why the workforce is complaining about their soft and hard skills. They are socially inept and only conditioned to test. If they aren't receiving a grade, the effort isn't worth it, and even when they are receiving a grade, they know they can't fail, so the motivation to do well is capped at "passing" because if a 70 gets me a high school diploma and free college, why do I need to work for advancement. I think we need to seriously reevaluate our approach to education in this state, or good teachers like myself are going to burn out and find other professions. It's hard to love what you do and to pour your heart into it endlessly, only to be defined by numbers 1-5, determined by variables far beyond your personal control. I've been labeled a moron and a rockstar in various schools over my 13 years of teaching, and I've learned that an objective rubric and subjective evaluation of me on any given day is certainly not the defining factor that will make or break me as an educator. Consider getting real teachers instead of suits at the BOE.