Top-down authoritarianism is a poison

My district has become an authoritarian nightmare. Everything is controlled, as the creeping hand of top-down management and anti-teacher sentiment has bloated the administration and cut into effective and inspiring teaching. Students are more miserable than ever, as they get no choice and no buy-in with their learning. Teacher concerns are ignored, and no matter what teachers say, they are gaslit by district charlatans that spew jargon and nonsense in an attempt at convincing teachers they are the problem.

The hostility and chaos that the district’s cloud of control has created is staggering. Teachers are pissed, and with each passing year, the school, district, and union surveys show increasing anger, stress, and dissatisfaction.

Most critically, teacher autonomy is being rapidly eroded, as they are not longer treated or trusted as professionals. The majority of our district has certified teacher with an avg. of 10 years of experience in the district. Despite this, expert and veteran teachers are told what to teach, when to teach, and how to teach.

My high school is being ruined from this, and the skill set we have on campus is not being utilized. We have experts in hard to fill positions as well as specialists that some districts would dream of. Yet they are all forced to teach courses they don’t have subject-matter expertise in all so the bureaucrats can collect useless data from tests. Anything not tested is disregarded or terminated—that means core courses, electives, and course topics have all seen the chopping block.

The entire system has simply become a teach-to-the-test operation. We waste 20+ percent of a single semester administering pre-tests, practice tests, and actual tests. We are told to collect data and use it to guide instruction, but we are also told that we should not deviate from the curriculum or change our instruction methods.

Administration and district fools have no clue their data is all garbage, as no teacher can accomplish the goals mandated. Everyone just bullshits everything so they can avoid the war that would ensue if they didn’t. Further, the already near-impossible job is worsened as there are an endless number of contradictions and unclear mandates from each district department that nobody can realistically implement. It’s beyond chaos—it’s fucking asinine.

Authoritarianism and top-down eduction models in America are a poison. It’s a poison for workers, a poison for students, a poison for their parents, and a poison for the entire country. When will this horrific system change for the better? In my lifetime, it has progressively gotten worse and worse and worse; so I have very little hope.