2014-15 Alabama Teacher of the Year Abruptly Resigns
On October 29, 2015, as AL.com reports, the 2014-15 Alabama Teacher of the Year, Ann Marie Corgill, quit her job.
Ann Marie Corgill
She is state certified to teach primary through third grade. Corgill is also National Board Certified to teach through seventh grade.
Corgill began the 2015-16 school year teaching second grade but was moved to fifth grade.
The state says that she now needs to renew her state certification to include teaching fifth grade.
But here’s the kicker:
When she was chosen as state teacher of the year, Corgill was teaching fourth grade– outside of her state certification.
On October 29, 2015, Corgill decided she had had enough and tended her resignation. Here is an excerpt:
After 21 years of teaching in grades 1-6, I have no answers as to why this is a problem now, so instead of paying more fees, taking more tests and proving once again that I am qualified to teach, I am resigning. …
Please know that I wanted to give my all and share my expertise with Birmingham City Schools. …
In order to attract and retain the best teachers, we must feel trusted, valued and treated as professionals. It is my hope that my experience can inform new decisions, policies and procedures to make Birmingham City Schools a place everyone wants to work and learn.
Corgill has over 20 years of teaching experience, much of it in Alabama, in grades 1 through 6. In 2008, she published a book, Of Primary Importance: What Is Important in Teaching Young Writers.
In addition to being required to recertify, Corgill reports that for some unexplained reason, her first paycheck of the year was delayed for two months– until October 23, 2015.
Apparently, the district where Corgill taught thought it fine to not pay her in a timely manner for a job it assumed she would keep doing even as it (or the state) was planning to communicate to her that she was not qualified in the state’s estimation to do that job.
AL.com (linked above) notes that it will update the story as it receives more details.
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Schneider is a southern Louisiana native, career teacher, trained researcher, and author of the ed reform whistle blower, A Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who In the Implosion of American Public Education.
She also has a second book, Common Core Dilemma: Who Owns Our Schools?, published on June 12, 2015.
deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog 
What a travesty…they are destroying teachers, children and school..shame on them.
Just another example of the BS teachers deal with daily from politicians and ignorant lawmakers throughout our country! Very sad state of affairs! Another good one gone,
Sad, but I’m not surprised. Alabama is slowly becoming a crazier and crazier place to teach. Eventually, hopefully sooner than later, more parents will begin to protest. They might already be making more noise in northern Alabama, but it’s almost silent where I live in southern Alabama. I wish Ms. Corgill luck; once a teacher, always a teacher in one way or another.
Along with New York…
Nationwide strike. That is all.
YES a millions times over!!!!
It’s the books!! She wrote two book that may have been somewhat critical of current regime’s practices. They, in turn, found a way to make her life difficult. She wins the integrity contest!!!
In the mid-70s, after earning my Masters Degree from Teachers College (Columbia University), I was certified by the State of New York to teach Special Education in all of the exceptionalities and taught there as a Teacher of Classes for the Emotionally Handicapped (Self-Contained) for almost 10 years. Upon relocating to Florida, I certified there under a reciprocal agreement between the States but had to choose to be certified in a specific exceptionality. I chose Classes for the Emotionally Handicapped and served under that certification for another 27+ years as a teacher of self-contained classes, as a supportive facilitator, and as a PE teacher in a special center for severely EBD students. After serving 6+ years as “Coach”, I was notified that I was teaching out-of-field and would have to take the subject area exam for PE. It would be the first time that I would have to take and pay for a certification exam.
The certification exam cost me $200 and was devised and administered by Pearson. I absolutely loathed giving Pearson my money. Previously, certification exams cost $20. Furthermore, I had to wait a month for the results as Pearson had to “set” the cut scores. I passed the exam and completed the final years of my 40-year career, but consider myself fortunate to have retired when I did.
It’s no wonder that teachers are getting out, and that young people are choosing to avoid the profession to the extent that colleges are shutting down their teacher education programs for lack of demand. I ran into a retired, special needs teacher of 37 years who is in her second year of serving in a part-time capacity because her district has been unable to staff her position. I hate to think where this is all heading.
I’m sad to hear this but proud of and grateful to Ms. Carful for standing her ground. More and more, states (and the federal government) seem to think they can heap any insult, create any hurdle, and we’ll keep taking it. We are far past enough.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
Reblogged this on Dolphin and commented:
Do you see the game plan? If you can’t beat’em, wear them out until they have had enough. This is beyond comprehension.