On not being alone. Sometimes it just...

[YvonneCa]

...makes one sad. http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/12/01/tln_teacherswonder.html?tkn=MQQFe+a+9p+v6RJFmXSTXGfubDQJqsxolTbe&cmp=clp-edweek

[MadHound]

1. Teachers are under deliberate, bipartisan attack,

An attach designed to do away with public education in exchange for a private, profit driven model. Worse yet, the students' best interest isn't even being considered, despite the rhetoric. The only thing that is being considered is the maximization of profit.

I'm just getting into teaching, my second career. I went back to college to get my education degrees four years ago, back when they were screaming for teachers. Now that I graduated (with many honors), unable to find a teaching job, and looking at the slide that education is going into, I wonder if I made the right decision. Luckily, I got not just two degrees in education, but also a degree in history. I'm seriously considering going back, getting my masters in history and teaching at a juco or as adjunct faculty.

But all the teachers I know are in the same place as those whose article you linked to, overworked, tired, depressed, and looking to get out. I was slated to get a job in the same middle school I student taught in, the teachers, principle and other staff loved me. Trouble is, when the teacher whose job I was supposed to take over quit, the school board didn't pony up the money to replace her. Those 120 kids were divided up between the other two teachers. I talked to my cooperating teacher and she literally doesn't have enough floor space or desks in her room to seat all the extra students she has, thus some of the students sit on the floor or wherever they can.

Hopefully we wake up to this massive mistake soon. Already the first generation of NCLB kids are hitting college, and falling flat on their face. If that keeps up, perhaps people will realize that we've taken the wrong path. We'll see.

[monmouth]

2. Florida, already in the cellar nationally for education..The new

soon-to-be governor, Rick Scott just hired Rhee as education something or other...sigh.

[YvonneCa]

5. I heard that. I keep expecting she'll show up...

...in California.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. I taught college years ago, and my bet is that these failures

will only result in dumbing-down the university curriculum to the point that the illiterates can graduate.

In the old days, students competed to get into good colleges. In these times, colleges compete to attract students.

Colleges did not advertise themselves in my era. That whole business leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[YvonneCa]

4. I felt terrible when I thought it was...

...only me. Only my district. Now I feel worse. :(

[Starry Messenger]

6. k&r

[YvonneCa]

7. For those that want an excerpt...

...this is not from the actual article...is is part of a comment that brought tears to my eyes when I read it:

"This is my seventh year of teaching and many of my students appear to love my class. My caring, my concern, my passion for my subject inspires many of them. I have students tell me that I am their hero; my students who have graduated regularly contact me and I hear about their triumphs in life and sorrows. Many of them still come to me for advice and guidance. Yet, I am burning out and I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this. I cannot keep up with the ever increasing demands, the endless paperwork (I write 540 lesson plans each and every year, since I teach 5 levels of Latin), the additional duties. I put my students and my job before my own needs; I try to schedule doctor's appointments around the job. I have rolled into school with a 103 degree fever because I felt it was more important for me to be there with my students. I have given students money for lunch, even when that left me with no money for myself and have thus gone hungry. Some of my students count on havng me their entire high school career. Even though I am deeply unhappy, I can't bring myself to leave and disappoint these children. I drive an unsafe car because I cannot afford to fix it; I frequently am very cold in the winters because I cannot afford to really pay the heating bills. I can never relax because I am always thinking about the additional work I should be doing. I used to berate myself because I needed to hear that my work, my sacrifices, and my caring were valued and important. I cringe every time I read another story questioning the intelligence, the dedication and the ethics of teachers. My very soul cries out, "But that's not fair!" I have never cheated on anything in my life, I have scored in the top 2% on every standardized test I have ever taken, I have a Mensa level I.Q. as measured when I was in school, and yet I meet many people who simply disregard me as a stupid plebeian, unable to understand or help to solve the problems facing the world today. I am tired, and I have seriously begun thinking about finding a new profession."