A fed-up teacher in Florida posted her emotional resignation letter to her Facebook wall, and it quickly went viral.
In the letter dated Oct. 23, Wendy Bradshaw admonished the Polk County school board for placing standardized tests over the needs of school children.
“Like many other teachers across the nation, I have become more and more disturbed by the misguided reforms taking place which are robbing my students of a developmentally appropriate education,” she wrote in the post, which has since garnered over 30,000 likes and 45,000 thousand shares.
Standardized testing related to Common Core has caused controversy nationwide, and Bradshaw pointed out that the latest reforms — all of which originate with President Barack Hussein Obama and his administration — force “teachers to engage in practices” that are “harmful to child development and the learning process.”
The situation has become so bad, Bradshaw wrote, that she often sees students burst into tears because of their inability “to attempt tasks well out of their zone of proximal development” — or act badly in an attempt to be labeled the “bad kid” instead of the “stupid kid.”
It is also the system that punishes teachers who dare deviate from the system and try other — and perhaps better — methods of instruction.
To: The School Board of Polk County, Florida
I love teaching. I love seeing my students’ eyes light up when they grasp a new concept and their bodies straighten with pride and satisfaction when they persevere and accomplish a personal goal. I love watching them practice being good citizens by working with their peers to puzzle out problems, negotiate roles, and share their experiences and understandings of the world. I wanted nothing more than to serve the students of this county, my home, by teaching students and preparing new teachers to teach students well. To this end, I obtained my undergraduate, masters, and doctoral degrees in the field of education. I spent countless hours after school and on weekends poring over research so that I would know and be able to implement the most appropriate and effective methods with my students and encourage their learning and positive attitudes towards learning. I spent countless hours in my classroom conferencing with families and other teachers, reviewing data I collected, and reflecting on my practice so that I could design and differentiate instruction that would best meet the needs of my students each year. I not only love teaching, I am excellent at it, even by the flawed metrics used up until this point. Every evaluation I received rated me as highly effective.
Like many other teachers across the nation, I have become more and more
disturbed by the misguided reforms taking place which are robbing my
students of a developmentally appropriate education. Developmentally
appropriate practice is the bedrock upon which early childhood education
best practices are based, and has decades of empirical support behind
it. However, the new reforms not only disregard this research, they are
actively forcing teachers to engage in practices which are not only
ineffective but actively harmful to child development and the learning
process. I am absolutely willing to back up these statements with
literature from the research base, but I doubt it will be asked for.
However, I must be honest. This letter is also deeply personal. I just
cannot justify making students cry anymore. They cry with frustration as
they are asked to attempt tasks well out of their zone of proximal
development. They cry as their hands shake trying to use an antiquated
computer mouse on a ten year old desktop computer which they have little
experience with, as the computer lab is always closed for testing.
Their shoulders slump with defeat as they are put in front of poorly
written tests that they cannot read, but must attempt. Their eyes fill
with tears as they hunt for letters they have only recently learned so
that they can type in responses with little hands which are too small to
span the keyboard.
The children don’t only cry. Some misbehave so that they will be the ‘bad kid’ not the ‘stupid kid’, or because their little bodies just can’t sit quietly anymore, or because they don’t know the social rules of school and there is no time to teach them. My master’s degree work focused on behavior disorders, so I can say with confidence that it is not the children who are disordered. The disorder is in the system which requires them to attempt curriculum and demonstrate behaviors far beyond what is appropriate for their age. The disorder is in the system which bars teachers from differentiating instruction meaningfully, which threatens disciplinary action if they decide their students need a five minute break from a difficult concept, or to extend a lesson which is exceptionally engaging. The disorder is in a system which has decided that students and teachers must be regimented to the minute and punished if they deviate. The disorder is in the system which values the scores on wildly inappropriate assessments more than teaching students in a meaningful and research based manner.
On June 8, 2015 my life changed when I gave birth to my daughter. I remember cradling her in the hospital bed on our first night together and thinking, “In five years you will be in kindergarten and will go to school with me.” That thought should have brought me joy, but instead it brought dread. I will not subject my child to this disordered system, and I can no longer in good conscience be a part of it myself. Please accept my resignation from Polk County Public Schools.
Best,
Wendy Bradshaw, Ph.D.
In an interview with local cable channel Bay News 9, Bradshaw added that she has begun receiving numerous heartfelt responses from other teachers and parents who feel the same way.
“They’re from parents who say, ‘I see it every day — my kindergartner hates school,'” she explained.
She also wrote that she would be willing to return to teaching, but only if changes were made. For the sake of children in Polk County, we hope that happens soon.
The children don’t only cry. Some misbehave so that they will be the ‘bad kid’ not the ‘stupid kid’, or because their little bodies just can’t sit quietly anymore, or because they don’t know the social rules of school and there is no time to teach them. My master’s degree work focused on behavior disorders, so I can say with confidence that it is not the children who are disordered. The disorder is in the system which requires them to attempt curriculum and demonstrate behaviors far beyond what is appropriate for their age. The disorder is in the system which bars teachers from differentiating instruction meaningfully, which threatens disciplinary action if they decide their students need a five minute break from a difficult concept, or to extend a lesson which is exceptionally engaging. The disorder is in a system which has decided that students and teachers must be regimented to the minute and punished if they deviate. The disorder is in the system which values the scores on wildly inappropriate assessments more than teaching students in a meaningful and research based manner.
On June 8, 2015 my life changed when I gave birth to my daughter. I remember cradling her in the hospital bed on our first night together and thinking, “In five years you will be in kindergarten and will go to school with me.” That thought should have brought me joy, but instead it brought dread. I will not subject my child to this disordered system, and I can no longer in good conscience be a part of it myself. Please accept my resignation from Polk County Public Schools.
Best,
Wendy Bradshaw, Ph.D.
In an interview with local cable channel Bay News 9, Bradshaw added that she has begun receiving numerous heartfelt responses from other teachers and parents who feel the same way.
“They’re from parents who say, ‘I see it every day — my kindergartner hates school,'” she explained.
She also wrote that she would be willing to return to teaching, but only if changes were made. For the sake of children in Polk County, we hope that happens soon.
