EDUCATION REFORM PART VIII: DISCONTENT, DOUBT, AND DISRESPECT: A Clear and Present Danger for Teachers

Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions. -Unknown

Which comes first, irritability or insomnia? As a retired teacher, I still recall those nights when an angry parent email kept me awake. Or tossing and turning over an administrator’s endless requests to “reflect” (the most dreaded word in education) on my teaching decisions. I usually failed to craft the perfect response in all those restless battles in bed.

Then there were the days when I’d just wake up angry. Why did I constantly have to spend so much time dealing with the sanctimonious adults instead of teaching the kids? I loved teaching and had done it for decades, but something shifted over the past 20 years. It’s taken me some time to fully understand what changed. Knowing what those shifts are and how they have impacted both our culture and teachers could provide insight as to the failing educational system plaguing our children. I’m sure you can guess the first two.

The Internet and Email

Quick-fire ideas or comments, often sent without much thought, typically come from people who avoid in-person confrontation but thrive on a good one-sided rant. You can demean someone in seconds, at midnight, in your pajamas, and it is almost impossible for the receiver to send a rebuttal for at least a few hours.

Solution: District-wide mandate that emails filled with vitriol or personal attacks are NOT allowed and the sender would face censor from further email communications.

Social Media

Today’s communication platforms have been overtaken by those spreading spin, ideology, and deliberate misinformation. One of the main tools of 21st-century bullying, used by both adults and kids, is designed to dismiss differing ideas and belittle anyone who doesn’t conform to the prevailing ideology.

Solution: Any reference to social media in the classroom is unacceptable. Better yet, all phones are turned off and locked up during class.

Reality TV

Surprise! This shiny new genre actually emerged in the early 1990s, and in my view, it has had the most damaging impact on our culture. Why? Where did our children (and their parents) learn to shout expletives, confront others aggressively, and insist on talking over any opinion that doesn’t align with their own? What our culture either overlooked or failed to investigate is that Reality TV is scripted—designed to sell a fantasy to audiences who love to live vicariously through the exaggerated personas of these so-called “real” people and their staged events.

Solution: Parents, this one is on you. Start by monitoring your children’s television time and content. Teach your children about the negative uses of social media and television. Make your children aware of the fraud surrounding them so they can become better consumers.

Disjunct School Calendars

Another glaring issue facing today’s teachers is the constant interruptions of the school calendar. It would make much more sense if the number of student vacation days during the year were lessened. After the summer break, it typically takes about one to two months to get students focused and into the rhythm of classroom expectations, only for them to take a four-day weekend or, worse yet, a week off. When students return, it often takes the entire next week to get them back on track and remind them of classroom protocols. When you add up the multiple breaks throughout the school year, it's a wonder these young minds manage to retain anything at all.

Solution: It’s simple. Eliminate all of the unnecessary breaks throughout the school year.

Professional Development Days

I never felt so insulted and angry as when I had to sit in a classroom for multiple hours hearing someone share with me completely irrelevant content. My grades needed to be posted, correspondences answered, plans made, and time to organize my room for the next week.

Solution: Administrators, this is on you. Do away with days where your staff is held hostage from getting things done that directly affect their students. If you do have in-service days, find motivational speakers with certified reputations.

The Successful Teacher

Why do those teachers who stay in education for decades succeed? More than likely, they possess the following:

1. Clear and effective classroom and time management

2. Strong subject knowledge and teaching methods

3. Strong communication skills—both written and verbal—with colleagues, administration, parents, and students

4. Unconditional love and compassion for all children

5. Thick skin and unwavering determination to persevere, even on days when everything seems to turn against you—days filled with discontent, doubt, and disrespect.

We have a problem, Houston! Education in the United States is in a slow-motion crash and burn. In my research of teacher shortages, school districts are hiring student teachers, paraprofessionals, and yes, even custodians as substitute teachers. According to EducationWeek’s survey of teachers nationally, when asked about the likelihood that they’ll leave teaching in the next two years, 54 percent of teachers said they are “somewhat” or “very likely” to do so.

The aforementioned shifts definitely put teachers in a precarious situation. But lack of substantial pay is right up there.

The Best and Worst Countries for Teacher Pay

In 1968, I had the incredible opportunity to spend a summer studying in Bremen, Germany. My university minor in German gave me full immersion into the culture. When I looked at my passport in 2019, untouched for the past 50 years, I jumped at the chance to return to Europe with my husband. As a college student back in 1968, visiting castles and churches and learning about history wasn’t a top priority. But this time, my focus was on absorbing as much culture as the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Switzerland had to offer.

As the guide spoke about modern German society, I heard a striking fact: German teachers earn as much as cardiologists. Teachers' pensions are highly respected, with retiring educators even receiving honors from Germany’s chancellor. Thanks to substantial pensions, teachers don't need to supplement their retirement. What a refreshing concept!

The following is from Business Insider, researched by Shayanne Gal, Marissa Perino, and Leanna Garfield:

In many of my blogs, I’ve discussed the challenges teachers are facing today. When educators left their positions this year, interestingly, they reported that money wasn’t their main reason for leaving. However, here’s a dose of reality: the abuse, long hours, and lack of support from parents and administrators might be eased if teachers' salaries reflected the "battle pay" they truly deserve.

Educator Pay Data (NEA 2024)

Summers Off Misnomer

One mistake non-teaching professionals often make is to remind us teachers that we have the summers off. Just saying that can raise the blood pressure of anyone in the teaching profession. The moment school ended, my summers were spent researching new music, ordering and cataloging it at school, cleaning my classroom, and organizing concerts, contests, and school trips. I typically took one to two weeks for an actual vacation. Teacher pay is based on a 10-month salary spread out over 12 months. Most of June, all of July, and half of August are unpaid days, during which teachers are preparing for the upcoming school year without any compensation.

Is Teaching a Calling?

In my first year of teaching in 1971, my calling to teach felt emotionally right, but in 2025, it seems less practical. Where else in society do we expect salaried individuals to work long hours without breaks, arrive early and stay late, supervise weekend activities, fundraise for struggling programs, prepare lesson plans, and grade papers outside of their paid contract? If teachers were paid six figures and professional athletes had to take on second jobs to make ends meet, perhaps only then society could celebrate the end of inequities in teaching and restore its status as the noble profession it once was decades ago.