Teachers Need a Life Preserver

I am an impassioned educator that has watched my profession be debased for the past decade. Politicians and big business have vilified and disparaged public school teachers, along with all of the facets of a public school, under the guise of the desire to improve the present failing education system.  To demonstrate that there are earnest attempts at reforming public education, new laws, new requirements, new initiatives, new programs and increased testing have been mandated

Teachers are drowning! We are jumping through hoops, checking boxes, filling out forms and fattening file folders, all in an effort to satisfy the requirements mandated for a reformed public education system that promises to be better. That is a haughty claim that only time will tell if it comes to fruition. More time is spent documenting how we are doing our job, instead of allowing us to do our job. Time is a premium; so much to do, so little time! We now spend every unencumbered  second trying to meet the demands thrust upon us by mandates crafted by people that we can only hope are true visionaries.

Change is inevitable, but not always beneficial. In an effort to be progressive, we sometimes leave things of value behind. Our success as educators will be determined by the way that we change, adapt and move forward. Let's help shape it! Starr Sackstein, (@mssackstein) an educational blogger and author, clearly states that your voice matters! Why does my voice matter? Use it to be part of the dialog on how, together, we can improve the current model of our education system without losing all the things of value that has made us a success!