This is exactly why I got out of teaching. I think the national movement and intent was a good idea... but now, as states have come out and made "their own" Common Core Standards -- the original intent of having a standardized curriculum nationwide has gone down the crapper. That, and couple the idea with it the fact that resources are not equitable because the federal government is not providing every school in America with exactly the same books, teacher resources, teacher training, student materials, etc... and - viola (!) - you have yet another clusterfuck!

Schools even in the same school district do not have the same resources across the board. Teachers are having to invent a curriculum that matches the new and rigorous standards... and some districts, like the last one I taught at, went ahead and wrote their own curriculum and mandated teachers followed it... even when it strayed away from what the new national curriculum was! After exactly one month of teaching under this new format, I quit! I have since come to believe that the true intent is to do away with public education as we know it. They seem to want it to fail! Parents, teachers, and - more importantly - students are suffering the worst educational crisis ever in America. I'm not even sure who to blame, so I totally feel sypathetic to your frustration. My best advice might be to do a private school. If that doesn't work, you could investigate a charter school -- but that has just as many negatives as pluses more often that not. Be glad your son is in 8th grade and is closer to finishing than he is beginning.

The final straw was when my district went to merit-pay, even after a month of the traditional pay tiers, and evaluated teachers on their adherence to the district's version/interpretation of Common Core. Even if I did what they wanted, I was to lose $15,000 in salary just because they were scrapping the old pay system and starting everyone at a "base." Being the only male teacher in the staff, and having EVERY behavioral problem student, anyone needing a "male role model," and an over-crowded classroom (32 6th grade students in a classroom!) -- I quit. No letter of recommendation, so severence pay, not even a thank you or goodbye to my students was offered. I gave my month's notice and that night got a call from the principal saying she thought it would be in the best interest to go ahead and bring in a long-term substitute to fill my position for the sake of the students' to bond with the new teacher rather than get too attach to one who was leaving. I was told to get my things that night, leave my badge, and to surrender my keys. I thought, fine - after 12 years of teaching and a Master's in Education... this is what I get out of this career?!?! Good riddance.

[Edited 12/16/14 17:23pm]

FormerlyKnownAs said:

This is exactly why I got out of teaching. I think the national movement and intent was a good idea... but now, as states have come out and made "their own" Common Core Standards -- the original intent of having a standardized curriculum nationwide has gone down the crapper. That, and couple the idea with it the fact that resources are not equitable because the federal government is not providing every school in America with exactly the same books, teacher resources, teacher training, student materials, etc... and - viola (!) - you have yet another clusterfuck!

Schools even in the same school district do not have the same resources across the board. Teachers are having to invent a curriculum that matches the new and rigorous standards... and some districts, like the last one I taught at, went ahead and wrote their own curriculum and mandated teachers followed it... even when it strayed away from what the new national curriculum was! After exactly one month of teaching under this new format, I quit! I have since come to believe that the true intent is to do away with public education as we know it. They seem to want it to fail! Parents, teachers, and - more importantly - students are suffering the worst educational crisis ever in America. I'm not even sure who to blame, so I totally feel sypathetic to your frustration. My best advice might be to do a private school. If that doesn't work, you could investigate a charter school -- but that has just as many negatives as pluses more often that not. Be glad your son is in 8th grade and is closer to finishing than he is beginning.

The final straw was when my district went to merit-pay, even after a month of the traditional pay tiers, and evaluated teachers on their adherence to the district's version/interpretation of Common Core. Even if I did what they wanted, I was to lose $15,000 in salary just because they were scrapping the old pay system and starting everyone at a "base." Being the only male teacher in the staff, and having EVERY behavioral problem student, anyone needing a "male role model," and an over-crowded classroom (32 6th grade students in a classroom!) -- I quit. No letter of recommendation, so severence pay, not even a thank you or goodbye to my students was offered. I gave my month's notice and that night got a call from the principal saying she thought it would be in the best interest to go ahead and bring in a long-term substitute to fill my position for the sake of the students' to bond with the new teacher rather than get too attach to one who was leaving. I was told to get my things that night, leave my badge, and to surrender my keys. I thought, fine - after 12 years of teaching and a Master's in Education... this is what I get out of this career?!?! Good riddance.

[Edited 12/16/14 17:23pm]

I keep seeing stuff on the local news about Common Core. Most of it is negative. It' sad that this country can't seem to get it together when it comes to education. Nobody seems to give a fuck about the students anymore. It's all about testing, data, testing, data and more testing. That sucks about what happened to you. I hope at least you have paid off your degree.

Another fucking gimmick...