Colorado Teacher Rick Young Says Paperwork Made Him Quit
Rick Young has spent his entire 25-year teaching career at C. Oakes High School. However, he has decided to retire. Young said that it’s largely because “[i]t’s become a lot harder to teach and especially to teach in a way that I personally think is meaningful for my students.” His remark is in reference to increasing government interference with teaching methods. Though designed to create accountability, the bureaucracy can stifle creativity and effectiveness.
The school is located in Colorado, which uses the “Colorado Academic Standards.” Young taped these rules to his wall to make sure he followed them closely. This includes tasks like “striving for a world-class outcome” and “focusing on a 21st-century skill.” Young expressed his frustration:
Everything’s very time-consuming. In in my mind, it’s not productive time. It’s not helping my students. It limits the freedom of teachers to really freely teach and of principals to freely lead and evaluate.
Not only does Young believe the suggestions robbed him of creativity; he also feels the rules took a mental and physical toll. This is what eventually led Young to decide upon retirement rather than returning to teach for another year.
For Libertarians, the solution to issues like these is simple: the free market. Just as with any other industry, more private enterprise in education allows competitors to undertake ingenuity in finding the best solutions. More private and charter schools, perhaps facilitated by a voucher system or tax deduction, could allow children, parents, and teachers to proceed as they wish. While students could seek out the very curriculum for them, teachers like Young could be free to test different teaching methods.
In the status quo, however, the Department of Education and similar state agencies loom over the learning process. Instead of learning, students are taught how to test. This is because states are competing, but not to produce the best results for their students. Rather, they are competing for more government funding. Accordingly, success in this department can be achieved only by dedicating time to test preparation over actual education.
You can watch a Learn Liberty video on this topic below:
