Nearly thirty years into my teaching career, I took a two-year leave of absence to work for a national education nonprofit. This was permitted under my teaching contract--as a 鈥渃areer鈥� leave. Someone was hired to take my position as middle school band teacher. When I returned (which seemed to come as an unwelcome surprise to the district), instead of disrupting the new band teacher鈥檚 career, I let Central Office know they could move me into another music position, although I was still the senior music teacher on staff and contractually able to reclaim my old job.
The district crafted a kind of Frankenstein position for me, composed of bits and pieces that nobody wanted to teach: two newly created sections of middle school choir, with 70+ students in each (which I was qualified to teach), a course called 鈥淓nrichment鈥� where teachers rode herd over kids who hadn鈥檛 turned in assignments (which, theoretically, anyone could teach), our first-ever English as a Second Language class (which nobody in the district was qualified to teach), and a section of 7th grade math (which I was not qualified to teach). All of these classes met in the auxiliary gymnasium, behind a curtain.
I grieved this placement--mostly on behalf of the 7th grade math students, who were entitled to a better teacher, and the ESL students who deserved someone who had a clue about second-language pedagogy. I lost the grievance. The Superintendent sent me a message: You have that fancy National Board Certification. You can teach anything.
Big story this week: after being involuntarily moved to a grade level she wasn鈥檛 qualified to teach, under Alabama certification rules, but met the parameters of her National Board Certification. The district Corgill moved to--in her personal effort to put the best teachers where they鈥檙e needed most-- for a job she loved and appeared to be doing very well.
What鈥檚 interesting is . Who鈥檚 the villain here? Is it her new district? Is it the Alabama Department of Education for being nit-picky and having irrational rules? And--what good is a National Certification program if not recognized by individual states?
Which raise still more questions: If a teacher is certified to teach elementary grades, how much of a stretch is it to move from one grade to the next? Is it a simple matter of extra effort on the part of a good teacher, to learn a new curriculum and adapt teaching methods for students at a different developmental level? Or is a leap from third grade to fifth grade something for which an entirely new certification is required? Are we looking for flexible generalists or developmentally specific specialists in our teacher workforce?
These questions were hot topics when NCLB鈥檚 鈥渉ighly qualified鈥� teacher language was first rolled out. School leaders were quick to point out that while large suburban districts could hire a chemistry teacher, rural districts probably needed someone who could teach biology, earth science, and physics and chemistry in alternating years. A science generalist, who would be of great value for a long time, through changing demographics and curricular shifts.
This of course was back in the good old days, when LEAs believed in their own ability to discern what is/is not quality teaching, and how to best use the talent they hired. It took some time (and waivers plus hoop-jumping) to sort out just who was allowed to teach what under NCLB.
I don鈥檛 believe, however, that this story has much to do with arcane rules around certification. Nor do I believe Ann Marie Corgill was anything less than an outstanding fifth grade teacher. This is a story about power and control--and visible teacher leadership.
When , they always run the risk of stepping on the toes--or in the limelight--of someone above them in the pecking order. Simply expressing a widely shared viewpoint () feels like insubordination to some school leaders. When teachers have a national platform and thousands of readers or fans--when their voice and leadership are elevated--they become a threat.
Don鈥檛 believe it? See: . Or
It鈥檚 hard to find much of Ann Marie Corgill鈥檚 thinking online at the moment; some blog posts, articles and Corgill鈥檚 Facebook page have quietly disappeared. I have great respect for her, as a fellow State Teacher of the Year, and know she will land on her feet--perhaps using the experience as a lens for how quickly we disenfranchise the voices of genuine teacher expertise. It鈥檚 hard to keep a good teacher down.
And--my ugly-patchwork job, a punishment for having the temerity to step outside the district, lasted one year. I learned to love--and actually teach--constructivist math, and did my best for the ESL kids. (Did you know there are 36 letters in the Albanian alphabet?) I survived, and had some great days. But it was a lesson learned: Never think that your world-class professional performance will protect you, when someone in the hierarchy wants you gone.