More than 700 teachers have decided to retire or resign this summer from schools in Baltimore County, Md., a number that represents an increase of about 100 from two years ago, the Baltimore Sun reported a little more than a month ago.
“If I do what … the county is now expecting me to do, I can’t look at my children in the eyes. I know I am not giving them what they need,” the paper quoted one resigning teacher as saying after a 22-year career in the county’s schools.
The increase is due mainly to resignations, since they are up to 418 from 325 two years ago while the number of retirements has remained about the same. Also, the report printed in the Sun was from early June. Teachers usually decide to hang up their pencil packs by July 15, so there are still a few days left for more to announce their resignations.
Resaignations may be on the rise because of the county’s abysmal implementation of the standards in the Common Core. Cheryl Bost, vice president of the Maryland State Education Association, told the Sun her union has heard more complaints about the Common Core implementation from teachers in Baltimore County than from elsewhere around the state.
Or, they could be deciding to quit because the number of changes being squeezed into very little time for adjustment has been higher than usual.
A veteran teacher from Providence, R.I., Stephen Round, published his resignation a year ago on YouTube, above. In the video, he made a promise to use his talents to teach dyslexic students for free, and he has made good on that promise. See his new Reading For All nonprofit, the website for which is available here.
