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Home : 2002 : July : 6

Experiences
By Gena

I have 12 years teaching experience at the high school level. In that time, I have seen many changes in our educational system here in Georgia. When I first started teaching, our local school system had more control and
we as teachers had more control over what was taught in our classrooms. The administration depended on the teacher to assess what the students needed to learn and teachers determined pace at which units were taught. If the class needed more time in one area, then we took that time until our students learned what they needed to know. Unfortunately, I personally believe that politics has

gotten too involved and the school is being run by those who have never stepped into a classroom. Teachers are pushed to cover topics so that students are simply exposed to information for the TEST at the end of the year (ITBS, High school grad. exit exam, etc). We are teaching for the test, not for our students. What the politicians feel are important is not the same as what is important for my students. The control is out of my hands and I have even been told that I can be replaced if I don't want to do what I am told to do.

I am not really sure what caused this change. Probably money had a lot to do with it. There is so much talk about schools being accountable, but yet, as teachers, our hands are tied by what someone at the capital thinks we should be teaching. It is all about the numbers (test scores). Also, teachers are getting too worried about what they can or can not say or do in the classrooms for fear of loosing their jobs. Here again, control has been taken away from the teacher.

As far as results, I think our children are less educated and are unprepared for the world ahead of them. They certainly know how to fill in a bubble on a test and they are real good at guessing (because teachers taught them to guess the right answer). They do not have a sound foundation to move forward in the world. If a student is fortunate to have concerned parents who teach a lot at home, then the child stands a good chance of making it. On the other hand, those children who come from at-risk homes will not do much better than their parents. We have not prepared those children to do better.

Sorry to sound so negative, but I can remember when I first starting to teach, I felt I was really making a difference and I knew my students were ready to enter the real world. In the past 5 years or so, the tide has changed. It's just a job now. Needless to say, we are having a great teacher shortage in Georgia. I wonder why?