DC Teacher Chic, one of the city’s most prolific teacher-bloggers, has thrown in the towel, posting to her blog on Friday, “I am no longer an employee of DC Public Schools, and for the first time in weeks, I feel like I can take a deep breath.”
The news of her departure spread quickly around other teacher blogs, and sparked some strong reactions, ranging from the intensely supportive to near-abusive. DC Teacher Chic had been a vocal advocate of the merit pay proposal offered by Rhee, which led some to accuse her of hypocrisy for now giving up the classroom.
One commenter wrote, “For DC Teacher Chic to be on such a high horse about veteran teachers and then just walk away and give up on teaching is so immature that I have to wonder exactly what this ‘passionate teacher’ was offering her kids.” Another scolded, “For Chic to leave at this time of the year is just plain wrong. And it does make all the advice and stances taken by Chic less valid…You have confirmed their worst belief – that, in the end, everyone quits on them. The good kids in the class will think it their fault, the bad kids will think they have won.”
Reading these reactions made us start to question why teachers, particularly teachers in the most challenging schools, are held to such different standards than other professionals. Many of the city’s teachers (yes, even the ineffective ones) work for years under conditions that would be considered physically or psychologically intolerable by their peers in other fields, yet when they leave, are often accused of just not caring enough about the kids or being bad at their job. And often, these accusations are made by other teachers.
While some teachers may thrive in certain settings, others, even excellent teachers, may not, and all have personal reasons for staying or leaving. I had a relatively positive experience at the D.C. public school where I taught, but one of my colleagues experienced sexual and verbal harassment, the brunt of administrative politics, and had her courses and class lists changed multiple times without notice.
Was DC Teacher Chic’s quitting in the middle of the semester professional? No, not any more than walking out of any job without notice. But it’s also not unusual in the District, particularly in the worst schools, where teachers need the most support and are often given the least. We’ll miss reading DC Teacher Chic’s thoughts on teaching in a D.C. school, but our loss is small compared to that of her school and students.
