Why I Love Being an Angry Teacher

I love being an angry teacher because it puts me in good company. Most of the great teachers I know are as angry as I am that education policy- from the national to the state to the local level- has been being hijacked by people whose only qualification for job is the accumulation of great wealth or a hunger for power and position. My voice is meaningless, my experience-all 49 years of it-is irrelevant, my accomplishments, in terms of students mentored, minds opened, lives changed, is useless because it doesn't translate into profits and isn't usefully evaluated as "data." But being excluded from the National Discourse on Education Policy has its virtues- it has connected me to a "beloved community" of teachers and parents determined to stand up for learning environments where creativity, imagination, and community building are as important as knowledge of facts. And those people, who are in every portion of the nation, and to whom I am connected to via social media, inspire me very day. We will keep the light of learning shining no how many dark clouds rise over the educational horizon. We will not give up. And we will not give in.