Teacher's Powerful Viral Resignation Letter Slams Broken, Harmful School System

​A teacher from Polk County, Florida went viral for posting a jaw-dropping resignation letter to Facebook which slammed recent education reforms. Wendy Bradshaw took aim specifically at standardized test-based accountability, a system which she says forces educators to engage in practices which are "actively harmful to child development and the learning process​," and told her friends and followers she could no longer be part of it.

"​I love teaching," Bradshaw said in her resignation letter, which she posted to Facebook on Oct. 23. "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.... I wanted nothing more than to serve the students of this county, my home, by teaching students and preparing new teachers to teach students well."

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Bradshaw, who specialized in working with students with disabilities, said she devoted her life to education, pursuing  ​​undergraduate, masters, and doctoral degrees​ in the field. "​I spent countless hours after school and on weekends poring over research so that I would know and be able to implement the most appropriate and effective methods with my students​," she said.  

But Bradshaw said recent education reforms, which she called "misguided" and "harmful," have caused long-reaching damage which she could no longer be silent about. "​This letter is also deeply personal," she wrote. "I just cannot justify making students cry anymore​:"

​Like many other teachers across the nation, I have become more and more disturbed by the misguided reforms taking place which 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. 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. I am absolutely willing to back up these statements with literature from the research base, but I doubt it will be asked for. However, I must be honest. This letter is also deeply personal. I just cannot justify making students cry anymore. They cry with frustration as they are asked to attempt tasks well out of their zone of proximal development. They cry as their hands shake trying to use an antiquated computer mouse on a ten year old desktop computer which they have little experience with, as the computer lab is always closed for testing. Their shoulders slump with defeat as they are put in front of poorly written tests that they cannot read, but must attempt. 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.

Bradshaw is an administrator of the Facebook page for Opt Out Polk, part of Opt Out Florida​. The group "advocates for multiple measures of authentic assessments that are used to inform instruction and which do not result in punitive consequences for students, teachers and schools," according to its Facebook page. 

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Bradshaw said her master's degree was focused on behavior disorders, "so I can say with confidence that it is not the children who are disordered."

The disorder is in the system which requires them to attempt curriculum and demonstrate behaviors far beyond what is appropriate for their age. The disorder is in the system which bars teachers from differentiating instruction meaningfully, which threatens disciplinary action if they decide their students need a five minute break from a difficult concept, or to extend a lesson which is exceptionally engaging. 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 biggest motivating factor in her decision was the birth of her daughter in June. The prospect of her little attending kindergarten where she taught school should have filled her with joy but only gave her dread.

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

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Since then, her post was shared more than 61,000 times and was featured on news outlets across the country. Current and former teachers as well as parents chimed in on Bradshaw's Facebook page with their own stories of frustration with standardized testing. 

"I was so sick and tired of having to 'teach to the test', which is absolutely the wrong way to teach all children," said one retired teacher. "The current education system does not prepare children for real life."​

Another teacher who quit said she resigned after 15  years of teaching. "It broke my heart to do it but I did it for my family," she said. "I need to stand up and do something, say something, make some noise or my 'babies' will be the ones discouraged and frustrated. We need to stand together. Things just need to change."

She said "We are in the business of children, yet we are failing them."

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