Confessions of a Bad Teacher: The Shocking Truth from the Front Lines of American Public Education

“Confessions of a Bad Teacher is a vivid account of life in the corporate school reform trenches, with all the agony, comedy, hope and humiliation experienced by so many of today’s public school teachers. Owens goes beyond telling war stories to reflect on the big picture of bad policies and politics that drive the school day, and to offer some steps readers can take to preserve and protect the precious gift of democratic public education.” — Julie Woestehoff, co-founder, Parents Across America

“A compelling and thoughtful personal narrative about corporate school reform’s war on teachers.” — Dr. Michael Klonsky, Ph.D., DePaul University

“Here’s the soul-wrenching scoop on what happens when a middle-aged professional who’s great with kids, loves literature, and wants to ‘give back’ decides to become a teacher. Being willing to work from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. is not enough in the face of a broken system that includes a crazy principal. This is a book every urban teacher can relate to and everybody else should read. In a nation obsessed by a ‘bad teacher’ witch hunt, John Owens offers a wake-up call, asking us to face the problems few ed reformers acknowledge.” — Susan Ohanian, author of What Happened to Recess and Why Are Our Children Struggling in Kindergarten?

“John Owens is the real deal. A fine teacher–despite the title of the book–who has been caught up in the reform madness of our times, he has the great ability to write movingly about his experiences. This book is a keen insider’s view of what is happening in education across the country and a refreshing refutation to those who would ‘fix’ our schools from afar, without understanding them.” — David Berliner, bestselling co-author of Collateral Damage: How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America’s Schools and Regents Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University

“John Owens’ Confessions of a Bad Teacher offers a devastating portrait of the utter failure of the school reform movement at ground zero: the school, the classroom and the teacher under assault.” — Norm Scott, founding member of the Independent Community of Educators

“John Owens’ book is an eye-opener about what happens in real classrooms today. It shatters many of the myths about ‘school reform.'” — Diane Ravitch, Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and bestselling author of The Death and Life of The Great American School System

“School teachers are under siege from both pundits and politicians in ways that other public servants are not…. The blanket criticisms of American teachers are accepted as universally true, not aimed at the exceptions in the classroom or the principal’s office. Confessions of a Bad Teacher is hyperbole as a title but dead-on in its characterizations, and reveals the weaknesses of the criticisms, the true fault-lines in public education, and the nobility of a profession being treated unfairly.” — Dr. Robert A. Scott, President, Adelphi University

“This book is Freedom Writers meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Inspiring and heartbreaking.” — Angela Susan Anton, Publisher, Anton (Long Island) Community Newspapers, New York

“This book should serve as a wake-up call to the general public…. Owens shows us how hard-working, well-intentioned teachers are being castigated and blamed for problems they did not create, and, in most cases, they lack the means to solve. Insightful, engaging and often heart breaking, this book will help readers to understand why so many great teachers are leaving our schools.” — Pedro Noguera, Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education, New York University and author of City Schools and the American Dream

“Confessions of a Bad Teacher is perhaps the most important book about the American public education system that will be published this year…Owens’ writing is honest (at times brutally so), to the point, and looks at the issues surrounding education reform through the lens of those of us on the front lines, those of us who feel lately as though our voices have not been heard.” — Mercurial Musings

“Confessions of a Bad Teacher: The Shocking Truth from the Front Lines of American Public Education daringly addresses a subject few are brave enough to discuss openly…He provides an exemplary reminder of how easily and frequently those on the other side of the classroom door lose sight of what it is that really matters – the students, the whole child.” — School Administrator

“A closely observed, often hilarious and profane new memoir.” — USA Today

“A heartfelt call-to-action…. [Owens] offers a worthy perspective on the need to change the ways in which teachers are viewed and concludes with useful suggestions to get started.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Admirably, Owens portrays himself as an enthusiastic teacher with good intentions rather than a martyr–no small feat given the subject matter. His inclusion of case studies in the form of anecdotes from other public school teacher furthers his argument…will be useful for anyone considering a teaching career. ” — Publishers Weekly

“An intelligent, readable, and occasionally eye-opening analysis of the deep flaws in today’s educational system…Owens’ narrative is punctuated with the voices of teachers from across the country who echo his plight and expose the absurdity of relying on data-driven business principles to try to fix American education. ” — Booklist

“Challenging, emotional read…Owen’s passion for meaningful reform is real.” — Choice

“Eye-opening…The author does an excellent job detailing the problems faced by public school teachers in America. He effectively utilizes a mix of statistics, vignettes from public school teachers around the country, and his own personal narrative of his experiences in a Bronx middle school to illustrate how the focus of the school system has changed from students to data. ” — Beyond the Stacks

“I could immediately identify with the reform-promoted, administrative disconnect between the classroom realities (and the teacher’s use of his or her own critical thinking and experience on how best to promote learning by identifying where students are and working upward from that point) and the ignorant-yet-demanding push to make students and teachers conform to some inflexible ideal “student achievement.”I was sold on Owens’ book right then and there.” — The Chalk Face

“I knew our educational system had problems, but reading this book was a serious eye opener. I really had no idea it was as messed up as it is. It also saddens me because I would love to be a teacher, but it sounds like it has become a revolving door system and it wouldn’t justify the cost for the education.” — White Shark Book Reviews

“I think all educators will be able to relate to this book and see they too could be labeled as a “bad” teacher simply because what they see as the best for their students may seem inappropriate by the “powers that be”. ” — Texas Library Lady

“Owens gives a readable, personal account of one man’s experience in one school.” — Library Journal

“Owens goes beyond telling war stories to reflect on the big picture of bad policies and politics that drive the school day, and to offer some steps readers can take to preserve and protect the precious gift of democratic public education.” — Big Education Ape

“Owens speaks the hard and not-so-pretty truth, and he includes a chapter on ensuring the health of your child’s education. That’s extremely helpful and, in some districts, mandatory knowledge.” — Bookworm Sez

“Owens uses vignettes from his teaching experience to introduce problems in the American educational system, most notably how teachers are blamed for today’s failing public schools and how the “witch-hunt” for bad teachers is destroying classrooms…His concluding lessons are a heartfelt call to action. ” — BookPage

“Owens’ book truly exposes what goes on in classrooms across the United States, a view from the trenches. This is a book that parents and policy makers need to read, and then they need to start some long and hard conversations to fix the educational system over time…It’s time to change the narrative of blaming and labeling all teachers as bad teachers. Read this book, learn more, and take some action. ” — The Itinerant Librarian

“This is my school, this is my experience, this is my career. And it’s all laid out far more succinctly and calmly that I could ever have done. This book is going into the school library if I have to pay for it with my own money. The teachers (and parents, if any of them pick it up) have got to see that what we are going through isn’t just us, it isn’t just an isolated situation. God bless John Owens, where ever he is.” — Allison Dollar – School Librarian, Gallup McKinley County Schools

“This was an eye-opening and fascinating read which would be a great addition to a public or academic library collection. ” — Taryn Bush-Librarian

“With firsthand accounts from teachers across the country and tips for improving public schools, this books is an eye-opening call-to-action to embrace our best educators and real reform for our children’s futures” — Carolyn Eubanks – St. Petersburg Public Library