Teacher of the Year speaks: ‘Wall of bureaucracy led to my resignation’

Her letter noted that the district moved her from teaching second grade to fifth grade a month into the school year.

Ann Marie Corgill, Alabama’s 2014-2015 Teacher of the Year – and a finalist for 2015 Teacher of the Year – is quitting. Why? She added that despite her National Board Certification as a middle childhood educator – which certifies her to teach children up to the age of 12 – the administrators had determined that she must apply for a new Alabama certificate.

In January, Corgill was named one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year award. But that does not supersede the state certification requirement, said Alabama Department of Education spokeswoman Erica Pippins Franklin.

But after the school year started, Corgill was shifted to fifth grade – and that’s when things started to unravel. Corgill said in the resignation letter that a department official told her that National Board Certification does not substitute for state certification, and she is, therefore, not qualified to teach fifth grade.

Oliver Elementary is a Title I school, meaning it receives federal funding and special assistance because it has high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families. “I love them and work to give them my best”.

In the letter obtained by Al.com (http://bit.ly/1MwE2zy ), Ann Marie Corgill says she resigned in confusion about her certification after Birmingham and Alabama Department of Education officials recently said she was not qualified.

Corgill said Friday that she fired off a resignation letter out of frustration, but that she is now trying to work out the issue with the school system, and will “continue to give my life to the profession”.

Corgill said she is now working through problems with Birmingham City Schools and has until Monday to make her final decision on her employment status with the district.

Corgill chose to resign anyway.

The Birmingham City Schools spokesperson says they’re working through the situation and have no further comment.

Nonetheless, she said the experience “has shown me the importance of teachers’ voices in public education”.