Sunday, November 17, 2013

Talluluh Writes an Open Letter to our Congressmen on Education

Below you will find a letter I recently typed that will be making its way to my district's members of Congress.  I am sharing this letter in the hopes that I will inspire others to take action.  It's a serious topic, and I feel so passionately about it. 

Dear Congressman,
I am a teacher.  While I feel that sometimes the general public views teachers as a “whiney” bunch, I can tell you that my whining has little to do with how difficult my job is.  It has everything to do with the fact that the government is setting unrealistic and inappropriate expectations for my students.  It is saying that all students, regardless of outside factors, should master the same rigorous standards set forth by our state. 

 I have been teaching for six years.  When I began my career, full of hope and inspiration, I taught second grade.  While I loved my students, I did not have a passion for the content I was teaching.  I had always dreamed of being a Kindergarten teacher, and when a position opened in my district, I made the change.  This is my fourth year of Kindergarten.  When I look at the Oklahoma Academic Standards, I see objectives that I formerly was teaching second graders.  Six years is not a long time.  Why has this push been so sudden, and so harsh?  I know that many of the children in my room can master many of these standards. But does that mean we should expect all others to do the same?  My fear is that we are creating a generation of students who will function like robots.  They may be “career and college ready” by the standards’ definition, but what about the social definition?  What about peer interaction?  What about inspired learning?  In early childhood, this comes in the form of play-based learning.  This is a truly research-based theory that has been eliminated in our classrooms and replaced by drill and test methods.  I fear for my students as they grow.  Now they are innocent.  They are not fazed, because I do my best to make sure they receive a balance of play and academics.  But I fear for what happens in three years.  I do not like the direction we are headed.  I foresee an even greater increase in children with anxiety and depression issues.  I foresee an increase in teenagers who dread coming to school, an increase in dropouts.  In a society that tells children and teenagers alike that they are not good enough, shouldn’t education be doing the opposite?

Our State Superintendent had the audacity to say this about teachers who gave her a failing grade, according to NewsOK.com:
 “It's just a union tactic. These are individuals that are opposed to accountability. These are individuals that are focused on maintaining their power base in the state of Oklahoma,” Barresi said. “They are not focused on students; they are focused on adults. I am about improving education for the children of Oklahoma. We have lost too many kids.”
Not focused on students? I have loved and cherished every child that has entered my classroom.  I have held students as they sob.  I have coached them through failures.  I have celebrated their successes.  I have paid lunch money for students who’ve had none.  Washed clothes that came to school dirty. Bought extra snacks for those who come to school hungry.  I have dedicated as much time to the children in my classroom as I have to my own children.  I have given my students confidence and a feeling of self-worth.  I have taught them to value their effort, and to strive for more.

 The only portion of my whining that pertains to me, is the fact that the government does not trust me to do my job.  Sometimes, I feel that even my own administrators lack trust in me.  Teachers are not opposed to accountability.  We hold ourselves accountable, and we want others to hold us accountable as well.  Come in.  Visit our world.  See what we do, day in and day out.  Then tell us whether or not we are putting enough effort into what we do.  Whether or not we are teaching the content.  Teaching is not a quantitative skill.  It is not something you can measure by a number on a page.  I have a college degree that I am still paying for.  And yet, somehow, I am not qualified.  Legislators know better.  Parents know better.  John Doe, off of the street, knows better.  There is no other profession that is attacked, belittled, and questioned as much as the profession of an educator.  In my district, I am no longer allowed to enter my students’ test scores into our online system.  The administrators have repeatedly told me that this has nothing to do with trust.  It does.  This trust issue starts at a federal level and has trickled all the way down. 

My plea to you today is that you listen to teachers.  The deletion of Developmentally Appropriate Practice from our elementary schools and our curriculum will have dire effects on our future society.   Common Core and the Oklahoma Academic Standards are a smoke and mirrors tactic that will not solve our country’s educational issues, especially not for Early Childhood Education.  Each and every day, I am a warrior for my students.  I go in to my classroom, into my principal’s office, into meetings with our administration, and I FIGHT for those young children.  I have not been quiet about the fact that what is happening in Early Childhood Education in our state, and our nation, is an absolute travesty. Teachers across the state are giving up the fight.  They are retiring, finding other jobs to do.  GREAT teachers are leaving our profession left and right.  These teachers are tired of fighting a losing battle.  I am not that easy to get rid of.  I will continue to be a warrior.   I am asking you to do the same.  Be a warrior for the teachers, but more importantly, be a warrior for our children.  Fight for us in Oklahoma.  Fight for us in Washington.  FIGHT.

                                                                                Sincerely,
                                                                                Lauren Stahlman
                                                                                Kindergarten Teacher

                                                                                Woodward Public Schools