Bureaucrats for Jesus

I just cannot get over how much bureaucracy has infiltrated the world. Everyone now is almost fanatically concerned with political correctness, having filled out the right forms, have you been approved by this department, have you filled out this application... it goes on and on and on. What is really aggravating is the redundancy of it all. I feel like the bureaucracy exists solely for creating more jobs for the bureaucracy. Take for example becoming a teacher (wow! who could've known that's where I was going?!?). I have to take a certain regimen of classes, pass certain tests, teach a certain and specific curriculum, and submit my fingerprints to the state government for a background check. Pretty simple, yeah?

Well the background check, submitted on January 4th, is still being processed. I have, sitting in a folder right next to me, a statement from the state of Georgia that I am not a criminal, on both the state and federal levels. Can I use that here? No. That is stupid. Bureaucracy 1, Logic 0.

I have to pass two tests: a subject proficiency exam (CSET) and a basic skills exam (CBEST). Now, I have to take the CSET because my major (Food Science) does not match up well enough with any of the pre-set teaching credentials (Biology, etc.), so I have to prove my competence by taking three exams. Fair enough, point for Logic.

The CBEST is a 100 multiple-choice, two essay exam which, judging from the content, exists to ascertain whether or not I am autistic. It could have also been a test of paitence, as by the 45th time I was asked "What decimal does 3/5th represent? (actual question!)" I could have easily gotten up and started shouting. Are they serious? I have a fucking degree from a major university! I graduated high school! I graduated fourth grade and that is literally the skill level of this test!! Here is the most difficult math question, verbatim: 2x-7=13, what is x? And that was the only algebra problem. One of the essay questions: What is the best advice you have ever received? EVER?? HMM WELL ONE TIME I SAW A SIGN THAT SAID "PANTS FIRST THEN SHOES" AND THAT HAS WORKED WELL FOR ME YEP YEP TIME TO GO LEARN ABOUT FIRE SAFETY!! That Far Side cartoon is actually what I gave as the best advice ever. That is stupid. Bureaucracy 2, Logic 1.

I have to take some classes. 8 classes plus a teaching job for just the credential. I took one education class at UGA, a seminar-type thing where I basically taught a group of fifth graders twice a week for a semester, as part of Project FOCUS. At Kennesaw State I took two education classes, the basic and generalized introduction to education courses. Kennesaw and UGA operate on the semester unit, UC Riverside on the quarter system. A quarter is 10 weeks long; a semester is about 14 weeks long. Quarter classes (at least mine) meet once a week; semester classes meet three times a week. You cover more material in a semester. There is more homework. There is more learned. Is this true for all classes? For the purpose of this essay, yes. I've recieved credit for two courses here at UCR. I should recieve credit for three. Because of the nature of the quarter system, some major learning objectives are divided into two classes. What I have covered in one course at Kennesaw, is covered in two courses here. I cannot receive credit for the same transfer course twice. Stupid. Bureaucracy 3, Logic 1.

Finally, because of various laws (the stupidity of which I'll discuss later), what educators are allowed to teach is very strictly controlled. Teachers are required to follow a very specific outline. This outline includes an exact breakdown of what will be covered in the end-of-year test, including the number of questions per section (5 questions about trees, 2 questions about the oceans, etc.). The entire lesson plan is structured to teach to the test. Schools in California have actually been exposed as spending half the day teaching English and the other half Math - the two subjects currently tested and monitored by No Child Left Behind. Do you remember learning about the Chinese New Year, painting a pot you built and fired in a kiln, or recess? Not allowed anymore. This is stupid. Bureaucracy 4, Logic 1.

Basically, I'm frustrated that I can't just get out there and start teaching. I'm tired of constantly proving that I am capable, jumping through hoop after hoop, chasing down people all over the country for recommendations or getting signatures for countless forms. It is stupid. People are stupid. The bureaucracy of our everyday life is stupid, because it is not just teachers. It's everyone and everything. I don't even know whose approval we're seeking - some faceless government department? Just give me a job, a boss, and a paycheck.