The Times Have Brought Us Here – Teacher Edition

Recently, a teacher’s TikTok testimony about not wanting to be a human shield for her students sparked outrage. Many felt she was wrong for expressing this feeling that was supposed to be relegated to the corners of mind. As outrageous as I personally find this response to someone verbalizing their desire to live, it was also a bracing reminder that if the saying ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ were a profession, it would very likely be a teacher in modern America.

When they said we had no supplies, we ran to DonorsChoose and Facebook Marketplace

When they said kids were hungry, we bought and brought extra snacks

When they said mental health was struggling, we became the therapists they wouldn’t hire

When they said curriculum was weak, we wrote my own

When they said technology was broken, we used our personal devices

When they said special needs weren’t supported, we became interventionists

When they said behavioral issues were rising, we became behaviorists

When they said counselors were scarce, we became the emotional support

When they said parents weren’t engaged, we became school parents

When they said funding was low, we worked overtime without pay

When they said “just do more,” we sacrificed our own mental health every day

We, as a profession, have been doing the matrix to compensate for a system that has repeatedly said, they do not care. So they’ve continued to ask, and they’re now asking for all that is left. Your life. School shootings are now at their highest recorded levels.

As teachers, we must confront a hard truth: We can’t teach boundaries if we have none. If we want change, we must demand it. This means setting boundaries and refusing to be gaslit and allow our dedication to be exploited. This has historically and continues to look like forming a union.

It’s no accident that the schools and systems they exalt are those where teachers make less and unions are virtually nonexistent. This is the future they want. Our degradation and well being cannot be the price paid to give children the education they, by virtue of being born the United States, deserve. There’s a barely hidden agenda to promote and glorify certain educational models that prioritize cost-cutting over quality education. We must challenge these narratives and advocate for a more just education system, from the staff meeting to the school board meeting because our very survival depends on it.

I don’t need to belabor the point because reality is plain for the world to see. From new challenges with student behavior, cell phones, the politicization of education and the introduction of AI to the education landscape, layered atop the golden oldies of crumbling infrastructure, stagnant pay, underfunding and lack of resources, every one of these problems are beyond us as teachers’ ability to address. The mass exodus from teaching is a clear indicator of the crisis at hand. Burnout and resignation rates are soaring because of unreasonable expectations and systemic neglect. It’s long past time to reframe the conversation around education, emphasizing systemic solutions that prioritize safety, support, and respect for teachers. These were never our responsibilities to shoulder. We must hold people with power to account.

So the times have truly brought us here – at the junction of self preservation and confrontation, the intersection of agonizing or organizing. Like diamonds are not formed without pressure, so too will this system not correct course without considerable pressure being applied. The choice is now ours: continue down this path of disrespect and burnout, or stand together to create meaningful change. The times may have brought us here, but from here, we can decide.