The Anchorage School District administration is killing the love of teaching. They are smothering the joy and passion of our profession through their top-down curriculum mandates, block subject scheduling, direct/scripted teaching requirements and forced curriculum interventions.
The district claims it is doing what’s best for students, which in itself is debatable. But when teachers have low morale, feel like they’re not being listened to and are frustrated because they are being told what to teach, when to teach it and how long to teach it, how do you think this translates into the classroom?
Parents, please ask yourselves, do you want your child to enter a classroom where your kid’s teacher loves what he/she does and is passionate and excited about working with the curriculum, or do you want your child to enter a classroom where the teacher is burned out, frustrated at not being treated as a professional and is underappreciated?
The answer seems obvious. Please contact school board members and/or ASD Superintendent Deena Bishop and share your concerns.
— Mark Miner
Anchorage
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.