After six years of teaching, Josh Waldron gave up. He was perfectly qualified, an excellent teacher,  smart and sincere, everything we want in the classroom. But he had not anticipated all the hoops he would have to jump through, all the ridiculous paperwork he would have to fill out, all the  trivial requirements he would have to attend to.  He finally had to make a practical decision on how to best serve his family and himself.

 At the time I first heard about Josh Waldron, I was hearing all the same complaints from my sister-in-law. I got the feeling that the smarter, more sensitive teachers are almost targeted. It is if our Education Establishment wants to sabotage the system. The people who question orders, they are being made to leave. The people who are the most idealistic, they are being made to leave.

 This is not something new. There is a book call "Ed School Follies,"  almost 20 years old, where the  author talks about interviewing idealistic teachers in ed school. They are made, as part of their training, to do lots of idiotic things. When a gung-ho future teacher objected, the professor said, "Maybe you really are not cut out for teaching." There was a definite malevolence. The professor knew that this was precisely the kind of teacher who would complain, make suggestions, come up with new ways of doing things, and try to serve the kids instead of the system.

 Anyway, I got in touch with Josh Waldron and created this little interview. There are several links that complete the story. We've got to turn this around right away. We want to retain the best teachers, not drive them out of the schools.

http://www.examiner.com/article/interview-with-josh-waldron-the-tea...