Alabama Teacher of the Year who left Mountain Brook for Birmingham is resigning (Not qualified)

Alabama Media Group. ^ | October 29, 2015 | Adam Ganucheau

[george76]

Ann Marie Corgill, 2015 National Teacher of the Year finalist and 2014-2015 Alabama Teacher of the Year, has submitted a letter of resignation to Birmingham City Schools.

Corgill, a fifth-grade teacher at Oliver Elementary School, moved to the Birmingham school district after teaching at Cherokee Bend Elementary School for three years - a move widely considered a step in the right direction for the Birmingham City Schools.

But in the letter obtained by AL.com, she cited confusion about her certification after Birmingham and Alabama Department of Education officials recently informed her she was not qualified to teach fifth grade.

"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,"

...

In addition to the confusion over her certification, Corgill wrote that she did not receive a paycheck from the district until Oct. 23 - two months after school started - and still has not received an explanation from district officials.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

According to teacher certification records provided by the Alabama Department of Education, Corgill has Class A and B certifications to teach primary school through third grade students. But Corgill also holds National Board Certification to teach children ages 7-12, an age group that would include most fifth graders. But . . . the national certification does not override or replace the state certification requirements.

Good lord. I didn't realize it was this complicated. Welcome to the world of the regulatory state.

[Nifster]

Gubmint schools

[NorthMountain]

Once again, it is long past time to abolish government schools. Educating our children is too important to allow the government to continue making a hash of it.

[Jonty30]

Somebody needs their palm greased.

[goodnesswins]

How did her students do?

[chajin]

It is wrong to say she is not qualified. She is not in compliance. In a Platonist top-down society, quality is defined by compliance with the requirements, not by one’s inherent ability to accomplish a task. Imagine Hosmer being forced to resign from the Royals because he did not spend the required amount of time studying in AAA, and you get the idea.

[Tupelo]

Looks to me like she is qualified and THAT may be the problem in Birmingham.

[Timber Rattler]

Good lord. I didn't realize it was this complicated.

Yeah, getting into the teaching profession is ridiculously cumbersome and expensive. I did it back in the 1990s, and it was a pain in the rump, and continues to be so with all the continuing education and re-certification requirements.

And don't get me started on "lateral career transfer" into the profession, the requirements of which are even more ridiculous.

[caveat emptor]

Maybe she's an uppity white.



Birmingham should be one of America's crown jewels, a city renowned the world over and a desired location for international tourism. White flight from Birmingham resulted in thriving suburbs Over The Mountain (OTM), while the increasingly black city partied like it was 1865, electing a string of ineffective black mayors (though it didn't matter the results they produced; the mayor was black... long live democracy!).

Recently rated the 7th most dangerous city in America (white people can create trendy bars and bistros, but they can't work miracles), the 74 percent black city of Birmingham is in the midst of a violent crime wave. A reminder that the AP article crowing about the resurrection of Birmingham was devoid of the critical component as to why it had to be brought back from the dead in the first place: it being one of America's blackest cities. [Seven violent deaths in the last eight days: Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper issues statement, Birmingham News, June 24, 2013]:

Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper today released a statement following a rash of homicides in recent days.

At least seven people have died violent deaths over the past eight days, five of them since Friday. Two people were killed today in separate incidents, two Saturday, one Friday, one Wednesday and one Sunday, June 16.....

[sharkhawk]

To be fair, what are the qualifications to be named “teacher of the year”. How is it decided? Students test scores? popularity. I know there was a teacher at the local high school who was Illinois “teacher of the year”. He was a history teacher who had Che and Mao posters in the classroom, and was an avowed communist.

[fieldmarshaldj]

I’m glad I wasn’t in his classroom. I would’ve ripped down and burned those posters of Communist mass-murderers.