Lake County teachers say they are overworked and students are suffering because of the new common core standards now referred to as Florida’s State Standards.
Teachers at the school district meeting Monday night said the new standards are already taking a toll – and they’re only seven weeks into the school year.
The state has raised the stakes with the new student education standards for the 2014 – 2015 school year.
The district is asking the state to give teachers more time to do what is being asked of them. Officials said the new curriculum is too much and too soon for the students.
“We knew going into this that a lot of things that were taught at the third grade level are now actually introduced and taught at the first grade level,” says Lake County Superintendent Susan Moxley.
Teachers said this year their work outside the classroom has doubled and they can’t keep up. “We’re putting in countless hours. Teachers are emotionally and physically exhausted and it’s the beginning of the school year,” says Debra Heitling, a Lake County teacher who has been with the district for more than 15 years.
Teachers are trying to figure out how to teach a lot more new material in a lot less time.
“If you had asked me that when I started teaching that I would ever be standing here experiencing what we’re all experiencing right now I would say ‘there is no way this could ever happen,’” added Heitling.
The district is also asking that instead of issuing individual school grades, the State Department of Education should grade the district as a whole.