Why These 18 Oklahoma Teachers Are Quitting Their Jobs

[Anonymous]

I've been watching this thread with interest. I work in a curriculum office in a school district. It is the new trend for districts to not purchase new curriculum for several reasons. 1) Almost nothing is based on the CCSS. Some things are loosely aligned, but that is different than based off of. 2) It saves districts money to not purchase curriculum and to have teachers writing it. 3) Very little curriculum exists nationally that truly supports second language learners. Also there is very little for Spanish speakers. This issue impacts every urban district and many, many suburban ones.

A lot of districts say one thing and do another. Mine does. I've tried to make changes, but have been resisted at every turn. Teachers are absolutely right to be frustrated and angry. I was a teacher for 15 years, a principal for 10 and then when I got my doctorate, I went to the curriculum office. It is just unbelievable to me how dysfunctional every district is. I haven't worked for one that works well. I have about 4 more years to collect my full pension. Just waiting it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ESL

I teach ESOL in MCPS and we don't have a curriculum. We look at the general curriculum and pick out a language objective and then create lessons, materials and assessments from those "seeds".

[Anonymous]

Wow- this is a tough thread to read for many reasons. Mismanagement seems so pervasive.

Why on earth are school systems not designing or purchasing curricula or purchasing basic supplies? Are budgets so strained or do you feel that your leadership is wasteful with available resources and then stiffing teachers for the costs,? Or do you feel that states are budgeting poorly?

It’s really hard to imagine how our country is going to be competitive in a constantly changing and innovative global economy with the systemic problems described here.

[Anonymous]

One good thing that FCPS does is maintain a large online collection of curricular resources. It's not perfect, but it's way better than having to make everything on your own. There's also a feature that allows teachers to upload and share lesson plans and materials that they have made. Other school districts may want to consider at least having a way that teachers can share lesson plans instead of having so many teachers/schools working in isolation to create everything on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One good thing that FCPS does is maintain a large online collection of curricular resources. It's not perfect, but it's way better than having to make everything on your own. There's also a feature that allows teachers to upload and share lesson plans and materials that they have made. Other school districts may want to consider at least having a way that teachers can share lesson plans instead of having so many teachers/schools working in isolation to create everything on their own.

Lesson plans are just one part of the equation. Materials are another. That's why teacher end up purchasing tons of materials on TPT on their own dime.

[Anonymous]

Why on earth are school systems not designing or purchasing curricula or purchasing basic supplies?

Curriculum is not purchased. It is what is supposed to be taught. Materials and supplies are purchased to support curriculum. If curriculum is being purchased, someone is not doing his/her job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why on earth are school systems not designing or purchasing curricula or purchasing basic supplies?

Curriculum is not purchased. It is what is supposed to be taught. Materials and supplies are purchased to support curriculum. If curriculum is being purchased, someone is not doing his/her job.

And yet school systems and individual people do, in fact, buy curricula.

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2018/School-Notes-MCPS-Puts-Up-Webpage-about-Curriculum-Selection-Process/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One good thing that FCPS does is maintain a large online collection of curricular resources. It's not perfect, but it's way better than having to make everything on your own. There's also a feature that allows teachers to upload and share lesson plans and materials that they have made. Other school districts may want to consider at least having a way that teachers can share lesson plans instead of having so many teachers/schools working in isolation to create everything on their own.

MCPS had a feature like this, too. We were encouraged to create lessons, materials and assessments and then upload them to the MyMCPS curriculum site and later Google drive. I was not a fan of this because everything we spent time creating belonged to MCPS as soon as it was uploaded to one of those places. Essentially we were creating the materials for them and then they owned the materials we spent the time and effort creating. I spend a lot of time creating materials and am happy to share with other teachers, but those materials belong to me because I created them, not MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One good thing that FCPS does is maintain a large online collection of curricular resources. It's not perfect, but it's way better than having to make everything on your own. There's also a feature that allows teachers to upload and share lesson plans and materials that they have made. Other school districts may want to consider at least having a way that teachers can share lesson plans instead of having so many teachers/schools working in isolation to create everything on their own.

MCPS had a feature like this, too. We were encouraged to create lessons, materials and assessments and then upload them to the MyMCPS curriculum site and later Google drive. I was not a fan of this because everything we spent time creating belonged to MCPS as soon as it was uploaded to one of those places. Essentially we were creating the materials for them and then they owned the materials we spent the time and effort creating. I spend a lot of time creating materials and am happy to share with other teachers, but those materials belong to me because I created them, not MCPS.

Yes, that is generally how it works when you are paid for the job you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One good thing that FCPS does is maintain a large online collection of curricular resources. It's not perfect, but it's way better than having to make everything on your own. There's also a feature that allows teachers to upload and share lesson plans and materials that they have made. Other school districts may want to consider at least having a way that teachers can share lesson plans instead of having so many teachers/schools working in isolation to create everything on their own.

MCPS had a feature like this, too. We were encouraged to create lessons, materials and assessments and then upload them to the MyMCPS curriculum site and later Google drive. I was not a fan of this because everything we spent time creating belonged to MCPS as soon as it was uploaded to one of those places. Essentially we were creating the materials for them and then they owned the materials we spent the time and effort creating. I spend a lot of time creating materials and am happy to share with other teachers, but those materials belong to me because I created them, not MCPS.

Yes, that is generally how it works when you are paid for the job you do.

Many teachers do work like that off of contract hours because there isn’t enough planning time to get it done during the school day. If it was done during personal time - evenings, weekends, summer, etc. - then I don’t blame the teacher for not wanting to give away his/her work to a district that doesn’t provide adequate planning time and curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Contract time? Personal time? Other white-collar professionals in office or sales jobs work during “personal” time all the time! You give teachers a really bad and lazy name when you talk like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Contract time? Personal time? Other white-collar professionals in office or sales jobs work during “personal” time all the time! You give teachers a really bad and lazy name when you talk like that.

They also make double or more than teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One good thing that FCPS does is maintain a large online collection of curricular resources. It's not perfect, but it's way better than having to make everything on your own. There's also a feature that allows teachers to upload and share lesson plans and materials that they have made. Other school districts may want to consider at least having a way that teachers can share lesson plans instead of having so many teachers/schools working in isolation to create everything on their own.

MCPS had a feature like this, too. We were encouraged to create lessons, materials and assessments and then upload them to the MyMCPS curriculum site and later Google drive. I was not a fan of this because everything we spent time creating belonged to MCPS as soon as it was uploaded to one of those places. Essentially we were creating the materials for them and then they owned the materials we spent the time and effort creating. I spend a lot of time creating materials and am happy to share with other teachers, but those materials belong to me because I created them, not MCPS.

Yes, that is generally how it works when you are paid for the job you do.

+1 exactly why teachers should be paid more because they're working far more than 40 hours weekly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One good thing that FCPS does is maintain a large online collection of curricular resources. It's not perfect, but it's way better than having to make everything on your own. There's also a feature that allows teachers to upload and share lesson plans and materials that they have made. Other school districts may want to consider at least having a way that teachers can share lesson plans instead of having so many teachers/schools working in isolation to create everything on their own.

MCPS had a feature like this, too. We were encouraged to create lessons, materials and assessments and then upload them to the MyMCPS curriculum site and later Google drive. I was not a fan of this because everything we spent time creating belonged to MCPS as soon as it was uploaded to one of those places. Essentially we were creating the materials for them and then they owned the materials we spent the time and effort creating. I spend a lot of time creating materials and am happy to share with other teachers, but those materials belong to me because I created them, not MCPS.

Yes, that is generally how it works when you are paid for the job you do.

I don't think you're understanding how little many teachers are paid across our country. In some areas, the salaries are pitifully low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We asked for power strips a few years ago and were told there was no money. No money for copy paper. No money for paper towels. My friend who teaches in another Title One school came to visit last week after school to help me with packing. She went to the bathroom and was gone for 15-20 minutes. I asked her what took her so long as she said she couldn't find a bathroom with toilet paper. So very tired of it all. It's a good thing this is the last week.

As a parent with a child in public schools, I am sorry you have to deal with this. At the beginning of each semester, the home room teachers ask parents to donate Clorox wipes, Kleenex, and toilet tissue. Those who can and want to will, others not so. I think it’s a darn shame teachers have to beg for the bare necessities.