effective June 30. I did so even without having another job, although I am exploring moving to an independent school next year as well as the possibility of employment using my skills as a writer and an editor.
I am a retired/rehired teacher in the Prince George’s County Public School System in Maryland. As such I have no status or tenure, but am year to year. I was as a result of my performance this year guaranteed the ability to return to my job next Fall. Wednesday May 1st was, however, a deadline of sorts: as a non-tenured teacher if I submitted my resignation after that date I would lose my Maryland Teaching Certification — irrelevant if leaving for a non-public position or leaving teaching entirely. I had planned to leave my status up in the air in case I obtained a satisfactory independent school position after that date.
Without going into details, an incident happened at our school which was in some ways the final straw for me. I felt that neither the school system or our school’s administration were sufficiently supportive of teachers. This had been an issue for some time, including seeing several instances of teachers being assaulted and the students receiving insufficient consequences. I personally had experienced three such incidents, all admittedly relatively minor with no injury to me, but two involving the same student. Further, a long-term substitute had been seriously attacked (shoved to the floor) by a student who did not even receive an out of school suspension (the Code of Conduct would have allowed that student to be expelled).
There are many issues in our school. I knew of some of them before I came. I have learned of others during my 9 months in the building. There are also systemic problems, including the excessive interruptions because of mandated testing and such that contribute little to the learning of students and far too often interrupt the continuity of instruction.
I resigned online late Wednesday evening. Yesterday I put a letter of resignation in the principal’s mailbox. He had not seen that, but had been electronically notified that I had resigned. As a result he pulled me aside at the end of the day to talk with me. He made it clear that I had the right to retract my resignation up until its effective date. He told me he was surprised I had resigned, and wanted to know why, especially as he (1) considered that I was doing an excellent job; (2) hoped to get another few years from me before I left; and (3) wanted to rely on me to rebuild the Social Studies Department (which has had a vacancy all year — remember the long term sub? — and had two other teachers new to the building who also filed their resignations on Wednesday).
When he asked why I had resigned I was fairly blunt with him, in far more detail than I am posting here. Despite that he asked for the opportunity to talk with me, both about the issues and what I think needs to be done to address them, and to have the opportunity to try to talk me into staying. I made it clear he was unlikely to persuade me, especially given the most recent incident, but I was willing to give him the courtesy of that opportunity.
I am doing no instruction next week. I am out Monday, both to visit an independent school that is interested in me and for a medical appointment. Tues through Fri is mandatory testing that will consume all four of my instructional periods.
I continue to file applications for independent schools. Given my age (73 in 19 days) and my recent job mobility (I have been in at least one different school each school year since retiring in 2012) it is hard to even get a phone interview. I am in theory currently “alive” at a few other schools, two of which have said they may well get back to me next week, and one which might already have hired me except they are unsure that their finances will allow them to fund the position for which I would have been hired. None of the positions at which I am current would even pay 2/3 of what I currently make, although I can see a way clear to be able to maintain financial stability in any of them. In any of them, I would be able to focus on meeting the real needs of my students. None is for a school with a large endowment. One would involve a mix of administrative and teaching responsibilities, including supervising/mentoring other teachers. Another would be teaching all four core subjects (I would have to bone up on my science) to a mix of grades in a school which would with me present have only 3 teachers. Another is teaching average and up (including very gifted) learning disabled kids. One is a relatively low tuition school run as a mission of a local Protestant parish. All have strong focus on individual students. At least one is very progressive. None is test-intensive. My class sizes would not exceed 20 in any of them. In most cases I would have four classes or less (I currently teach 4 classes, but three of them have enrollments approaching 30 students — in the past I have taught 6 classes with up to 198 students on my rolls). I would probably have accepted any of these over returning to my current school even before the incident of last week.
But here’s the thing. I resigned as a matter of principle. And even if it means I never teach again and perhaps even struggle financially, I am comfortable with that decision. Although it is a bit scary, so is my wife. I apologize at not being more specific, but were I to be more specific it might complicate things for someone else, and since there may be legal issues involved, I have to respect that.
As I look at our politics, I see too many people -albeit largely in the Republican party — unwilling to stand up for principle. Standing on principle CAN be costly — one can lose or not be able to get a job, or even get arrested and locked up. When i was young I saw those striving for Civil Rights willing to make such stands, they drew me to do the same, and i saw a period of time where America’s attitudes changed on a lot of issues.
So far none of my students knows that I have resigned. Before the principal was informed, only 5 adults in my building knew, and all were quite supportive. I have since told a 7th person, and it will become public to the administrative team as a whole next week. In other jobs, both in education and before I became a teacher, I have usually been willing to take a stand on behalf of others. Standing for principle is something I very much want to model for my students.
Yes, I want them to think through and be sure they are acting on principle and not just on emotional reaction or pique.
For me, at my age, and knowing that I was already inclined to leave my current school even at a fairly great financial price, taking the stand and the action I did on Wednesday was a relatively easy choice.
For now I am still a teacher, and still in a public school.
I am comfortable with the choice I made.
Since this community is my home, I thought it worth sharing what I could.
Peace.