Good luck to you, Samantha!

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Home : 2004 : January : 14

Good luck to you, Samantha!
By NJ teacher

I have been teaching since 1976 in two different districts. One was rural, and the other affluent suburban.When I first started,I really loved the job. While I had some difficult kids, overall, they were very appreciative,
and back then,the state testing mandates were less stringent, so you had more time to do the "fun" things like celebrate different holidays and do lots of projects. Now, it's test, test, test with pressure from the principal to "teach to the test". We have children who have no concept of the word "respect", even at the primary levels. We have parents who speak condescendingly down to you,

like you were their maid, and not their child's teacher. The plans are increasingly time consuming to write, and with shrinking budgets, more and more seem to come out of our own pockets. I don't see myself retiring for about 10 more years yet, but it's getting harder and harder.