Teachers look askance at politics of public education

 Christina Meeks remembers wanting to be a teacher ever since she was a little girl, despite efforts by her family and mentors to persuade her to pursue another field. She received two master’s degrees in teaching, earning extra credentials in special education, teaching foreign-language speakers who are learning English, and early childhood education.

Now in her 10th year of teaching, the special education resource room teacher at Ridgeview Elementary School in Yakima, Washington, wonders whether she wants to stick it out in an educational environment increasingly focused on students meeting test-based performance standards.

Meeks and many other local educators blame the federal No Child Left Behind Act for causing powerful discontent and demoralization among teachers. She said she never thought the politics of public education would affect her job so much. And she never thought she would consider leaving her beloved profession. Read about her quandary in The Yakima Herald online.