Why Teachers Quit.

My district, under some truly delusional actions by the state of Texas, has implemented a program known as total inclusion. No pull outs, no special classes, no content mastery or small group teaching for the kids who struggle to function. Instead general ed teachers are supposed to magically develop the skills to intuitively know how to address multiple IEP mandates for multiple children within a regular classroom setting. To some, this may sound like insanity, but to many this is the endgame for special education wherein teachers are simply observers and record keepers. The sad thing is, I'm a good teacher. I find kids who have talent and I get them to where they need to be. I write recommendation letter, I find college sponsors, I push them, I reward them-which last time I heard is what a teacher is supposed to do. But the New Regime, a rather aggressive and arrogant movement led by Special Ed teachers who see general ed teachers as The Enemy, seem intent on making our lives more complex than it should be.

First, there is the placement itself. A student with mild challenges can be easily incorporated into a regular class with support. That means that the general ed teacher is informed-FULLY-and that care is taken to place the student into a class where his or her numbers won't tip the apple cart. But what is happening is that because of scheduling special core classes for these groups, a full third of some classes hold severely disabled students in a regular classroom. That in itself creates a situation where the teacher must pay due to the special ed student first leaving the regular students to their own devices. Then you have 504's, BIP's and other special designations. We have to file no less than five and sometimes as many as nine pieces of paper every single week PER STUDENT, which with ten students results in 90 pieces of paper be handled. Today the head of Special Ed celebrated all the necessary data we are generating. What she ignores is that in order to do this, many teachers are dumbing down programs, ignoring advanced students and diluting rigor in programs.

Second, there is the issue of classroom management. I am one of those teachers who rarely if ever sends students to the principal. Generally speaking, special ed students aren't referred for behavioral problems. But when you have a situation where you have autistic spectrum kids who can be set off by too bright a light, or a word or an emotionally disturbed student who likes to openly rant over ways to attack people it makes it hard to encourage students to stay in an elective program. when they view it as a holding area for kids who cannot do anything else.I spent half an hour on Friday trying to convince an amazingly talented sophomore to stay in art after she was verbally assaulted by an emotionally disturbed student. My fear is that the talented students will leave and my classes truly will little more than a place to put every problem, every kid who fights, every kid with issues.

I have five years until I can retire. Five years. That's 900 days of teaching. What's sad is I am good at what I do. I had more kids get 5's on their AP portfolios that the rest of the district combined. I have more kids taking AP than any other school. I have more kids in elite art schools or in art programs in major universities than any other teacher in the district. That is what I have always thought I was supposed to do-make kids successful. And while I am good at finding those kids who never realized they had talent, the stark reality is that someone who can't move their arms, cannot read, cannot write, cannot talk, is probably not destined for anything beyond a very limited life. I want to make their lives pleasant, but not at the cost of everyone else. After today, I feel broken. I feel that all my work is simply not worth it. I believe that everything I have done to build up the program has been nothing more than a joke.

I wish I felt differently. I wish I could feel more hopeful. But this is what the feelgood policies of the current crop of educational elites and the politicians of the Left has done to the once noble idea of a free public education. I hope my children will be able to afford decent private schools for their kids. It's over.

First Week of School

I admit, the first day of school has always been met wtih sleepless nights and nervous tummies at my house. And I am the worst sufferer. Even in my role as teacher, I revert to first grade status wondering if things will go well. I worry that I am not prepared-although I chronically over prepare for every event. I worry that the kids won't like me, although realistically most kids don't like teachers. I don't enjoy being hated. I will settle for being tolerated. I worry that my evaluations won't go properly or that something from outside, such as real life events, will upset my apple cart.

I am happy to report that the first week went well. Technology is still not up to par, which really is normal. The students are a mix, with some potential doofuses in my third period. It doesn't endear me to students when they jovially discuss their summer fun of running from the police and committing crimes. Nevertheless, the advanced classes show SO MUCH PROMISE. They knocked out a quick piece this week, for me to just see where they were talent wise. I am impressed. I have several kids in Advanced Placement, but there are at least three others who should also submit portfolios, if they can. And....there are more kids in the wings. Our AP gave us a mandate to raise our numbers or risk losing a position. Well, we did that and more. Every section of every art class is FULL. Sure, it's crowded, but it's exciting too because lots of these kids are underclassmen and will fill our classes for years to come.

When I consider the somber tones of today's faculty meeting (yes, on a FRIDAY....) wherein teachers of Health and PE were informed that next year, the new requirements would make those classes 'go away' it makes me both happy and sad. We are holding on in our little corner of the curriculum. I just don't know for how long. Which is why this year, I will finally take that ESL certification test. In Texas, its the one discipline where you can come back from retiring and not take a hit in compensation. *sigh* I guess that's what it's come to.....

Texas Aims To Take Art Out

While many of the performing and visual arts teachers are
aware of this action, others may not be. Let me make a plea
here, fine arts are the fabric that holds together our
society. While we need engineers and doctors and lawyers,
there is not one thing you wear, drive or live in that
didn't have a designer plan it out. Divergent thinking is a
higher order skill. As fine art educators, we deal with them
every day. So please consider contacting your state
representatives. It may just be art now, but what will it be
two years, five years or ten years down the road?

ACTION NEEDED: CONTACT YOUR SENATOR & REPRESENTATIVE ASAP
If you believe fine arts should continue to be required for
graduation because it is important to the overall education
of Texas schoolchildren and you believe that if the
legislature doesn’t require fine arts they will be sending
school districts the wrong message about its importance, you
need to call your Senator’s and Representative’s capitol
offices. Ask them to vote no on SB3 and HB3 unless fine arts
is kept as a graduation requirement (as is required in the
current Recommended Program). This notification is urgent as
Senate Bill 3 is expected on the floor Wednesday, April 29.

Find your Senator’s and Representative’s Capitol Office Numbers

SUMMARY

* The current one-credit fine arts graduation
requirement will be eliminated if the Senate and House pass
their current committee substitutes for Senate Bill 3 and
House Bill 3 (the new accountability bills).
* Senate Bill 3 is expected to go to the floor on
Wednesday, April 29.
* The bills include revisions to the Recommended Program
for graduation. The revised program (commonly referred to as
the 4x4+2) will require a student to take four years each of
math, science, English Language Arts, and Social Studies
plus two years of foreign language. The other eight credits
in the 26-credit plan will be academic electives. After more
than twenty years, there will be no fine arts credit
requirement for graduation from Texas public high schools.
* Without a fine arts requirement, many students will
never experience rigorous, meaningful instruction in the arts.

TALKING POINTS
You may select from the following talking points for why a
fine arts requirement is important as well as add your own:

1. Supports Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
(THECB) Fine Arts Graduation Requirement: Currently, the
THECB requires three credits of fine arts for a student to
graduate with a baccalaureate degree from a Texas
institution. To not include a fine arts requirement in high
school is philosophically counter to this requirement. With
no high school requirement, there would be no fine arts
required for students in public school after grade five. A
4x4+2 plan does not support a seamless K-16 education for
Texas students.
2. Supports Leading Business and Technology Author Dan
Pink’s Philosophy of 21st Century Workforce Training:
Twenty-first century work skill development should be the
driving force behind our education system moving forward in
Texas. As Pink details in his best-selling book, A Whole New
Mind-Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, while
“left-brain” abilities are absolutely necessary, that
dominance is gone and the workforce of the future belongs to
a different kind of person with a different kind of mind -
creative and empathetic “right-brain” thinkers. Rigorous
instruction in fine arts is a major component of this
workforce development.
3. Impact on Minority and Low Socioeconomic Students:
There is a genuine concern that these students, with no
required exposure to fine arts in middle school or high
school, will simply be channeled into courses focused on
TAKS or end-of-course performance and not clearly given
their options to explore fine arts, an area of study that
may keep them in school and encourage successful academic
performance in other subjects.
4. Aligns Texas Requirements with Federal Legislation:
The current core academic subjects defined in No Child Left
Behind include mathematics, science, English language arts,
social studies, languages other than English, and fine arts.
Requiring a fine arts credit aligns Texas with NCLB as well
as the core subjects of P21 - The Partnership for 21st
Century Skills.
5. Aligns with the College Board Publication, "Academic
Preparation for College - What Students Need To Know And Be
Able to Do": This College Board document defines the basic
academic subjects as English language arts, fine arts,
mathematics, science, social studies, and foreign language.
6. Creates Flexibility: Even with a fine arts credit
requirement, the Recommended Program will provide for seven
academic electives from the foundation and enrichment
subject areas versus the 3.5 elective options in the current
Recommended Program.
7. Offers Broad-Based Academic Experiences: Fine arts is
a subject area offering students the opportunity to explore
a variety of academic disciplines through state approved
courses in music, art, theater and dance. The arts options
are expansive and diverse unlike the other current required
enrichment subjects such as communications applications and
physical education which are singular or limited course
offerings. One ISD includes over forty TEKS-based fine arts
courses in its course catalogue.
8. Supports Texas Education Code (TEC) Objectives: Adding
a fine arts credit requirement supports a “well balanced and
appropriate education” as called for in Objective 4 of
Section 4.001 of the TEC.
9. Supports Student Success: Based on a TMEA study of TEA
data, students who participate in fine arts courses
demonstrate higher achievement in other academic areas,
better attendance records, and lower drop-out rates than
students who do not participate in fine arts.