Teacher ready to throw in the towel

To the editor:

This is my second year teaching English at Colony High School. I’ve only been a high school teacher for six years; however, my education career started almost 15 years ago, in 1997, at Kent State University in Ohio when I was given a teaching fellowship while working on my graduate degree in Foundations of Education.

They gathered all of us newly hired teaching fellows in a room for half a day and we were “trained” to be teachers. The following Monday I faced a room full of undergraduate pre-service teachers who had registered for my class — History of Education — and that’s how it all started. I’ve never looked back or had any doubts about my career choice, until now.

I enjoy many aspects of my career as an educator — my excellent colleagues, the supportive administration at Colony and, of course, the students who give me gray hair, but who also make me want to go to work each day. However, I’m facing a difficult decision; quite simply, I’m wondering if I can continue to do this job and be effective. Because I taught for nine years at the university level, I’m now 45 and looking at a minimum of 15 more years of teaching high school before I can even begin to think about retirement. I’d like to spend those years right here in the Mat-Su Borough School District, specifically at Colony, because I have become a part of both communities.

I don’t pretend to understand the complexities of public school finance; I only know that there never seems to be enough money, and even in this growing district, cuts in staff are, for some reason, a never-ending reality. However, adding another class while keeping the same number of hours in the workday this year has not made me a more effective or efficient teacher. I have 34 more students than I did last year — 110 sophomores in total — who have to pass the High School Qualifying exam in order to get a diploma.

In addition, I have two sections of upperclassmen I’m trying to help get ready for college and/or the world of work. That’s 54 more students for a grand total of 164 students. Even working every weekend, I haven’t found a way to manage the paperwork load. Essays are not returned in a timely manner. Projects I was able to have students complete last year have had to be eliminated due to the shortage of instructional time. I’m left wondering what exactly it is I am preparing my students to do. Because I have high standards, I’m thinking I need to admit defeat and choose another job that I have some hope of completing with success.

Back at Kent State, my pre-service teachers and I used to read and discuss articles about the many drawbacks of the factory model of education, which had been so popular during the industrial revolution, and here we are 15 years later implementing the factory model and expecting different results.

I’m not producing seatbelts as I did one summer during college; I’m trying to produce proficient readers and writers who will have a strong set of skills in order to be competitive in this global economy. The treadmill has been turned on high and I’m running as fast as I can, but I’m afraid I can’t keep this pace and I may have to drop out of a field I have loved since that first day in my History of Education class.

I hope there will be more discussion about the drawbacks of the seven-period day and the adverse effects it is having on our students and staff.

Nancy Podgorski

Wasilla