'I just cannot justify making students cry anymore': Florida teacher slams 'damaging' education reforms and standardized testing in powerful resignation letter

A Florida teacher has become an internet sensation after posting a powerful resignation letter to Facebook hitting out at education reforms.

Wendy Bradshaw, 36, who works in Polk County, Florida, handed in her notice to the school district on October 23 after becoming exasperated by reforms that she saw as damaging to her students' development, saying: 'I just cannot justify making students cry anymore.'

In her letter, Wendy specifically attacks: standardized testing and the accountability it fosters, a system she claims takes no account for the individual needs of children.

Had enough: Polk County, Florida, teacher Wendy Bradshaw resigned from her job after becoming frustrated with what she saw to be 'damaging' education reforms, and her resignation letter gained 63,000 shares

A life dedicated: Wendy studied for several degrees in education and worked hard to help her students, but felt handicapped by reforms that 'are robbing my students of a developmentally appropriate education'

'I love teaching,' she begins her letter. 'I love seeing my students’ eyes light up when they grasp a new concept and their bodies straighten with pride and satisfaction when they persevere and accomplish a personal goal.'

But, she adds that while she studied hard to gain her degrees - including undergraduate, masters, and doctoral degrees in education - and planned to devote her life to helping students, she found herself handicapped by disturbing 'misguided reforms' that, she said, 'are robbing my students of a developmentally appropriate education'.

'Developmentally appropriate practice is the bedrock upon which early childhood education best practices are based, and has decades of empirical support behind it,' she wrote.

'However, the new reforms not only disregard this research, they are actively forcing teachers to engage in practices which are not only ineffective but actively harmful to child development and the learning process.'

Wendy was simply tired of heading into work everyday to be forced to teach in a way that frequently left her students in tears.

'They cry with frustration as they are asked to attempt tasks well out of their zone of proximal development,' she wrote. 'Their shoulders slump with defeat as they are put in front of poorly written tests that they cannot read, but must attempt.'

Putting the word out: Wendy posted her letter online after handing it in to the Polk County school district

Clearing it up: In her letter, Wendy explains how she often saw her students cry as they struggled with tasks 'well out of their zone of proximal development'

The degrees to back it up: Wendy has degrees with a specialization in behavioral disorders, but thinks that 'the disorder is in the system'

She adds: 'Their eyes fill with tears as they hunt for letters they have only recently learned so that they can type in responses with little hands which are too small to span the keyboard.'

And as the frustration builds up in her students, Wendy - an expert in behavioral disorders - also witnessed them developing behavioral problems, responsibility for which she lays firmly at the feet of the system.

The disorder, she said, is in the practices being forced upon teachers under threat of disciplinary action.

'The disorder is in a system which has decided that students and teachers must be regimented to the minute and punished if they deviate,' she said. 'The disorder is in the system which values the scores on wildly inappropriate assessments more than teaching students in a meaningful and research based manner.'

But the real turning point for Wendy came when she gave birth to her daughter on June 8, 2015. Looking down at her child and imagining her life ahead, Wendy had an epiphany.

'I remember cradling her in the hospital bed on our first night together and thinking, “In five years you will be in kindergarten and will go to school with me",' she wrote. 'That thought should have brought me joy, but instead it brought dread.

Game changer: Wendy wrote that the real turning point for her came when she gave birth to her daughter in June this year and was filled with 'dread' when thinking about her education

Disappointment: Wendy recently attended the Florida State Board of Education Meeting on October 28 to speak, only to find a disinterested board with members browsing their phones during the meeting

'I will not subject my child to this disordered system, and I can no longer in good conscience be a part of it myself.'

Since uploading her letter online, Wendy's Facebook post has been shared more than 63,000 times and earned her thousands of supporters - including many of her peers.

'You are soooo right,' wrote one supporter. 'I retired early because of what was happening in the Florida school system Unfortunately, Florida is not the only state making poor choices. [sic]'

Another added: 'I completely agree. I worked in a school district for five years. And had to watch children struggle and teachers become frustrated. So much so they throw up their hands and give up trying to teach the way the state wants.'

After her letter gained internet fame, Wendy appeared at the Florida State Board of Education Meeting on October 28 to speak out among other educators with similar concerns, telling the Board that they needed to 'recognize the limitations of standardized assessment'.

However, the now-former teacher was disappointed to find a disinterested Board of people checking their phones and seemingly not listening to people 'who had driven for hours to speak for three minutes'. She also included a photo of board member Andy Tuck seemingly browsing his phone during the meeting.

Source: Daily Mail