HAMMONDSPORT, N.Y. – Rachael McLoud is a teacher in the Hammondsport Central School District in Steuben County, New York.

She recently penned an essay regarding the new Common Core academic standards, which was published by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. The following are key excerpts:

“I have been teaching for 13 years now and never have I felt so discouraged and deflated as a teacher. New York state has taken away almost every decision I used to have when I was a prestigious teacher. I used to be able to know what my students were going to be tested on and teach them concepts related to the test. I was able to pick materials and topics to teach that supported their interests, learning styles and individual needs. Now I am handed a script that is comprised of what I am supposed to teach and the script also includes down to the minute how long I am supposed to teach each item in the script for.

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“Teaching used to be prestigious and teachers used to be treated with dignity and respect. This year as I read from a script I do not feel proud to be a teacher — I feel ashamed and embarrassed. I am not teaching students skills they really need or are practical for the real world. I am not able to pick items to explore that my students actually want to learn about. I have become a robot. If I want to keep my job as a teacher I am to do as I am told and this means I will teach as a robot.

I am not alone — the majority of teachers across New York State feel discouraged. The results from the 2013 New York State 3rd-8th grade tests in mathematics and English Language Arts are horrific. Some of the tests had only 15 percent of students across the state pass them. That means 85 percent of the students failed the test. What should this tell you? As a teacher, as a parent, and as a taxpayer this tells me that something is wrong with the test — and to throw the test and scores out!

When 85 percent of students fail a test, one of two following conclusions must be made:

The majority of teachers across New York state did not do their jobs last year and did not teach the material to students. Therefore those teachers should be fired.

The tests did not match the curriculum being taught and the test makers did a poor job writing the test. Therefore the test makers should be fired and the test scores should be thrown out.

I find it hard to believe that across New York state the majority of teachers did not do their jobs and need to be fired. The likely conclusion is that the tests were poorly written; however, it is the teachers across the state that are being blamed for terrible test results. Why in the world are we blaming teachers and not the test makers? Why are the test makers not being questioned on how ridiculous the test questions were if that many students across the state failed them?

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In my heart, I know I am an awesome teacher. Deep down inside I have a love for teaching, but right now that love for teaching is being ripped away from me. We need to stand up for our students and our teachers and do something. The Common Core is hurting our students! The Common Core is hurting our teachers! The Common Core is hurting our education system in New York state.