Teacher shortages are making the headlines again.

So over the last few weeks the news has been filled with articles about teacher shortages. I’m a 20 year veteran of the classroom, I’m done in May. I got into teaching because I loved it. My father, and brother are teachers. It’s in my blood. However, I can’t stand it any more. I put my resignation in over the holidays. So I’m done June 15th. I’ll miss the children. I’ll miss the teacher camaraderie, but I can’t take this any more. <br><br>I’m the president of my local teachers association. I have been for a few years. I have watched our make up change. We’re not as confident as we once were. Teachers are a confident breed, especially the long timers, we can handle anything. Not anymore it seems. Our membership is primarily long time teachers. We have many retired members from our school who still pay dues, and will only stop when they pass away. Many of the new teachers don’t join the union anymore. They ask why should I? Nothing ever changes. I used to tell them support your union and things will change. I’m not saying that any more. <br><br>Our school once was a place people begged to get into. Begged. I got my job over 20 years ago because the current principal was my professor in college. He liked me, so when the department chair went out suddenly a month before school started, he called me, and gave me a job. More than 1000 people applied for my job. A thousand.<br><br>We are now begging.<br><br>Our school district is a decent district, we put out a ton of college kids. Our teachers are experienced, we have no problem filling our seniority positions with a ton of applicants. We need new teachers. We have no new applicants. Over the past few years we’ve went from the top 1/3 of the class to the bottom 1/3 of the class. Why? No one wants to be a teacher any more. Why? Well I think I have a few reasons.<br><br>First; teaching isn’t teaching any more. We are just proctors of standardized testing. We teach to a test. The test results are what count. Our board meetings are filled with testing data. We have many data coaches in our school who sit in meetings all day, and talk about how our test scores are. Testing data has become everything. <br><br>Second; parents. I love parents, I have a great relationship with 99% of them, but I just don’t understand parents any more. More than half our parents don’t even make parent teacher conferences. I have parents who are so lazy, they won’t even call me back. They just text me from their child’s phone. We have parents who think their kids do no wrong. I had a parent get mad at me because I wrote up her son for threatening a teacher. Why did he threaten a teacher? Because teacher took his phone. He was playing games on the test. Oh, and by the way, her son is a great kid. He would never do that. (He had 5 write ups that day). <br><br>Third; The disrespect we get from students. I was a smart mouthed kid in school. I know I was. But I also knew the lines not to cross. Kids don’t any more. I have kids cuss me out on a daily basis. I have kids tell me to fuck off. I have kids threaten me. This isn’t the minority, this is the majority. I have one class that is so bad I just don’t even talk any more. I put what I want them to do on the board, and I sit at my desk the entire class. I usually get 5-15 assignments out of a class of 25. It’s not worth it any more. No matter what I do, the kids know that no matter how bad they act, nothing will happen. The administrators don’t care any more. <br><br>Fourth; The politicians. I’ve never been political. I never cared. I had a professor once ask me if I was democrat or republican. I said, I don’t know. I’m so apolitical I don’t care. I don’t think politicians know the first thing about education. I think they all went to school decades ago, and have no idea how it is today. I think they don’t like teachers because we usually tend to vote democrat, or liberal. I think they want to ruin schools. I think they want every kid to go to a private school. I think they care nothing about public schools. I hate saying that, but I have come to that opinion.<br><br>Fifth; The pay. Now I’m not saying I’m poor. I’m not. But I’m not as rich as people think I am. People seem to think teachers are rolling in it. We are underpaid for sure. I want to be compensated for my time off in the summer, but I’m not, that’s fine. But don’t tell me I get paid too much because I get summers off. I don’t. I get paid less than half of what my peers who graduated with me are making. I make less than my students who graduated with a technical degree are making. I have a master’s degree, and a bachelors degree, I’m done paying for them both after 15 years, and still I make half of what a technical degree graduate makes in half the time. Fuck that. Fuck that in the fucking shit. <br><br> Sixth; We are just shit on constantly from every angle. Teachers are seen as subs. I’m a college professor who can’t get a job at the local quickie mart. The local quickie mart pays better than a teacher, and requires a high school degree. Why would a college graduate want to be a teacher? Why would anyone want to be a teacher? <br><br>Last night was the final nail for me. My superintendant told me I’m not allowed to talk to the press ever. The answer to a teacher shortage is not to talk to the press. It’s to listen to teachers. But we don’t do that any more. I will talk to the press. And I will tell them the truth. We have a problem. We are in trouble. Kids are going to suffer. The board doesn’t care. The administration doesn’t care. We will continue to do what we are told. That’s it. We won’t stand up for students any more, because we are tired.<br><br>That’s why I’m done. So I’m sorry. I know I’m hurting the profession I love. I’m hurting the children I love. I have failed them. I’m sorry.<br><br>Edit;. I didn’t think this would blow up like it did. I have thought about quitting many times before. But this week we couldn’t find a sub for a teacher. So I had to take her class, a class of bad, troubled kids. I didn’t get any work done that day. Yesterday, I had a meeting with superintendant, and he told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to the press. I have talked with the press several times this week, and have more meetings this weekend. He told me I wasn’t allowed. Because the board is trying to keep the shortage under wraps. And it just hit me. I can’t do this any more. So I put my resignation in yesterday at 2:00. I’m not frustrated with students. I’m frustrated with a system who doesn’t give a fuck about kids. I am a shitty teacher for giving up, but I can’t do it any more.<br><br>Edit 2; I didn’t expect this to blow up like it has. I’m happy. I changed my mind. I’m starting a go fund me page for my school. I’m going to talk to the press. I’m going to go to the board. I’m not going to quit. You convinced me. I’m going to fight like a mother fucker for these kids. Thank you.