Education Reform - an open letter to the governor from a simple school teacher

When I became a teacher 18 years ago, I did so because I wanted to make a difference in society. I believed then, as a I do now, that through the teaching of science I could inspire young people to think creatively.

I realized that I would never become rich as a teacher, but that the rewards of this profession would outweigh what I was giving up. With degrees in physics and engineering, I could have gone on to be a research engineer, easily earning three or four times what I earn now. With my background in math, I could have gone on to earn even more by taking a job in the insurance industry. But my calling was in education.

When I got certified the implicit message to me from the state was "while we can't pay you much, if you stick it out and do a good job, we'll protect you and take care of you." The teacher pension system, for example, is an extremely important benefit that allowed someone like me not only to become a teacher, but to stay in the profession.

Throughout the years, it has felt increasingly that I have been duped. First, we were told that what really matters is test scores of students. Forget individual passion, creativity and expertise. If I have a special area of passion (geology, for example, in my case), I have to curb that passion because the MCAS has only a limited number of questions in each area. While I am not opposed to standardized tests, they have become so all-consuming that every decision made in my school is somehow connected to bringing up or keeping up our MCAS scores. Now the state is moving towards tying teacher evaluations (and perhaps, salaries) to this very limited measure of student success. (There is also the little-discussed fact that there are corporate profit interests in the promotion of and expansion of these tests, but that's a discussion for another day.)