sad about leaving

So I am sad about leaving Madison.

Madison was a great place to feel like you were making a difference. The students really needed good teachers. The environment did not support good teachers at all. The office lady have you evil looks each time you wanted paper. There was no air. The principal only cared about make himself look good and not working hard. The majority of the  school board were on the board for the power. They lacked education, some had criminal records, and they really hated the teachers. The teachers were the lowest paid in Oakland county before the school board imposed more cuts. When a new class or new special education room was put in, it was just a room with kids and a teacher. No books, no syllabus and curriculum. Best practices were constantly ignored.

And what happens to a teacher in that environment is stressful. Most fight with best intentions for awhile. Then the real separation happens. Most give up. They care about the students and will do the best then can to teaching them, but the fighting and going the extra mile are burned out of them like red hot iron pokers put to your eyeballs. And it does hurt the teachers that much.
Some see the poor standards and bad examples around them as a license to adopt what ever moral standard they want. They come in after the bell rings. On a day they forget lesson plans, they bring in the driver's ed test answer key and let the kids just look at that during class. They text in class and talk about inappropriate things like how much Zanic they used.
Some bail. Good teacher that cannot stand the environment and are lucky enough to have a way out bail. That's me. I feel survivor's guilt about it.
It's rare the great teacher who stays without being corrupted by their surrounding. Those are the amazing teachers. One of the things I learned at Madison is that it is easy to have high standards when everyone around you does. The true test is how high are your standards when they do not have to be. True moral character comes from do the right thing in a vacuum of morality not in a church.