Everyone wants to talk to the middle and high school teachers about what’s happening in the elementary schools but no one wants to listen to us

I’m an elementary school teacher. I have my middle school certification as well but I’ve only taught elementary. I’m in a very unbalanced district. My 4th grade class has 38 kids. We don’t have enough staff to deal with this many kids and the kids are getting more and more violent. The kids are getting more and more violent and the administrators blame it all on the teachers and parents. <br><br>I tried to go into middle school this year but was told I wasn’t “qualified” but I’m still certified. They don’t want to pay for a professional development on “how to deal with middle schoolers”. I’m going back to elementary and will be teaching 3rd grade instead of 4th.<br><br>The same board that oversees the elementary schools also oversees the middle schools. They don’t seem to care that we don’t have enough staff or that the kids are getting more violent. <br><br>I’m hoping to get my high school certification next year. I’m not sure how I’m going to swing it but I’m going to do everything in my power to never have to teach elementary again. The pay for elementary school teachers are already much lower than the high school and middle school teachers and we have double the amount of students. <br><br>If the board is going to continue to ignore the elementary school teachers than we should be paid more. I’m not asking for a miracle. I’m asking for a more livable wage and smaller class sizes.