LIVE AND LEARN: Teachers, Please Stay

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By Riley O'Casey

Over the past few years, public education has come under attack. More and more responsibility has been placed on educators, while less funding has made it difficult for educators to do their jobs effectively. Some legislators and corporations would disagree with this statement, but ask any public school employee what education is like today, and you will hear differently. I am still amazed that legislators and CEOs of big businesses continue to have input into “education reform” when they know NOTHING about the ins and outs of a public school and what it takes to educate our children.

I’ve recently read several articles written by teachers who are leaving the profession. Each one hurts my heart when I read why they are leaving. The following quotes are from these articles:

”My profession is not only devalued, but denigrated and perhaps, in some quarters despised...data driven education seeks only conformity, standardization, testing, and zombie-like adherence…creativity, academic freedom, teacher autonomy, experimentation, and innovation are being stifled…”

”No matter what I wanted for the kids, it wasn’t going to happen…kids come in disadvantaged…my school was completely third world…through it all…it completely negated your life outside school…exhausting…to teach anyway means to be giving, to deliver something. You’re giving out…it’s just too much.”

"I don’t think I’m leaving the education system; I think the education system left me…I can no longer cooperate with a testing regime that I believe is suffocating creativity and innovation in the classroom. We are not really educating our students anymore. We are merely teaching them to pass a test.”

"If they have Ds or Fs, there is something that you are doing wrong…they are not allowed to fail…how dare you give my child a B…’GIVE THEM…GIVE THEM?’  Teachers are held to impossible standards, and students are accountable for hardly any part of their own education and are incapable of failing.”

"All educators understand these frustrations; we go through it every day. There were several times in my 14-year career when I considered leaving and doing something else. But I refuse to be a statistic. Anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first five years. In fact, teacher attrition has grown by 50 percent over the past 15 years and the national teacher turnover rate has risen to 16.8 percent.”

Teachers leave for many reasons, including: lack of planning time, workload, lack of influence over school policy, burnout, threat of layoffs, low wages, testing pressure, poor working conditions, unprofessional treatment by administration and large class sizes. Public education was very different from when I started 14 years ago, but the need for quality educators remains.

Educators: WE NEED YOU!  We need you to stay in the profession. Your students need you to stay in this profession. Please, don’t give up!  Stay in teaching to fight for your students, colleagues, and profession.  Every time a teacher leaves due to the any number of reasons, our profession loses an incredible person who changes the lives of children.  The phrase POWER IN NUMBERS is very true...when educators stand up together and fight, change is made.  I recently read an article in the Washington Post, from April 2013, about a teacher who decided she would never leave teaching.  Good for her!

The Prince William Education Association, of which I am Vice President, is fighting for our students, members, and public education. But we can’t do it without our 4,000 members standing beside us!  There are those citizens who feel that the teacher’s association is powerless and helpless, but that is not true.  There are educators who feel that their voices are not heard, but know that when standing with others, your voice is heard.  We are making changes, but we need everyone’s help.

Prince William County educators are in for a fight to decrease class sizes and increase employees’ salaries. As I’ve stated in previous articles, PWCS have the largest class sizes in the Commonwealth of Virginia. PWEA recently launched a Class Size Campaign. Overcrowding in schools doesn’t just impact the classroom – buses are overcrowded, counselors and specialists have huge case loads, and many students have very little time to eat lunch as the lines are extremely long.

Parents, students, and fellow educators: YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  How? Attend the February 25th Board of County Supervisors meeting, at 7:30 p.m. at the McCoart Building, to let our elected officials know that SMALLER CLASS SIZES ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU!  Can you give up a few hours of your time to make such a huge impact for your students?  Your children?

I’m willing to fight for my 191 students, my colleagues and my profession! Fellow educators, I need you standing beside me!

Riley O’Casey is a local educator  who teaches middle school social studies. She is also an active member of the Prince William County Education Association.

This column is an opinion piece and does not necessarily reflect the views of Bristow Beat, its editors, writers or sponsors.

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