Holly Carbine Critical Issue in Education MEd 6220

I know there are so many issues in education and poverty has been brought up as the

most critical issue. My view is different because right now I feel like I have to go with what is

the most critical issue to me. The politics of education are the most critical issue of education for

me. I am writing this because it is so fresh in my mind and something that I feel passionately

about.

I was a first year teacher this year. I did not get my Bachelor’s degree in education. My

degree is in health and nutrition. After I earned that degree and had volunteered in elementary

classes and did my senior project in education I knew that was where I wanted to be. My heart

was in education. There was no denying that. That led me to applying to the Masters in

Education program after earning my Bachelor’s Degree. I applied to the Elementary Licensure

track and I got in. It was the best decision I made and I was finally doing something I loved.

After I had fulfilled the licensure requirements, I began the daunting task of searching for

a job. I had 19 interviews and finally landed a job with a job share. The interview was amazing! I

was excited because my team teacher taught at my elementary school when I was growing up

and my principal was the assistant principal. I had a great deal of respect for these two women.

It was the week before school started and they had not been able to find a 4th first grade

teacher so we began the year with 30 students. It was very challenging being a first year teacher,

being a job share teacher, and having 30 first graders. Classroom management was tough to say

the least. My co-teacher would not communicate with me about classroom management. It was

really hard!

When we came back from Christmas break, they finally hired a teacher. So our class size

dropped to 21. I felt like things were going so well. My evaluations were good and I had no
Holly Carbine Critical Issue in Education MEd 6220

indication that there was a problem. February rolled around and my co-teacher decided she was

going full time for the next school year. I went in to meet with the principal over my evaluation

and it was then that she informed me she wasn’t sure if she was going to renew my contract

because I was lacking in my classroom management.

I was blind-sided. She never told me there was a problem before then. How was I

supposed to know I wasn’t up to par? It felt as though she had already made her decision. She

asked me to write lesson plans, which I did in very thorough detail. She asked me to meet with

two other people for help, which I did and then went and observed other teachers in the district. I

put so much effort into improving. Toward the end of the year when I went to meet with my

principal she informed me that she was disappointed that I put forth no effort into improving.

That is when I wrote my resignation letter, I felt like my hands were tied and that was my only

option.

I finally decided to go meet with Human Resources over this. I just didn’t feel right about

what happened and I felt like my teaching career was destroyed. When I met with the HR

director, she informed me that the principal’s decision was the only one that mattered. She then

proceeded to tell me that I have no future with their district. I am struggling to understand. I was

a good teacher. My students test scores were among the highest in the school. I put my all in to

teaching every day.

Now, as I look into other districts, their requirement is to have a letter of recommendation

from my most recent supervisor. How do I get that? I am three classes away from completing my

Master’s degree, what good is it going to do if I can’t teach? The most critical issue in education

is that they are not keeping good teachers who want to be there. A lot of districts are

experiencing teacher shortages. Now I don’t have to wonder why they are at a shortage.