It’s no secret that teachers have it rough, but the reasons for that probably aren’t what most parents expect. When people talk about the problems in education, they usually mention teachers’ low pay and the abysmal behavior of “kids these days.” Well, former Kindergarten teacher Jessica Gentry says those aren’t the only problems, and she recently took to Facebook to set the record straight about what really drove her to quit her job: pushy parents and the education system itself.
“Let me tell you why those who ooze passion for teaching are leaving the occupation like their hair is on fire,” the fired up former teacher from Harrisburg, Virginia, writes in her post. “The old excuse ‘the kids have changed.’ No. No friggin way. Kids are kids. PARENTING has changed. SOCIETY has changed. The kids are just the innocent victims of that.”
Gentry says parents are working too many hours, addicted to electronics and often forced to leave their kids in unstable parenting and child care situations because of their busy lives. While much of that may be out of parents’ control, it’s changing how kids behave.
“Kids behave in undesirable ways in the environment they feel safest,” Gentry explains. “… For those ‘well behaved’ kids — they’re throwing normal kid tantrums at home because it’s safe. The kids flipping tables at school? They don’t have a safe place at home. Our classrooms are the first place they’ve ever heard ‘no,’ been given boundaries, shown love through respect.”
On top of all of the changes they’re facing at home, Gentry says schools are pushing tougher curriculums and more electronics. “In the midst of all of this … our response is [that] we need to be ‘21st Century’ schools. 1 to 1 student to technology,” she writes. “Oh. Okay. So forget the basics of relationship building and hands on learning. Kids already can’t read social cues and conduct themselves appropriately in social settings … let’s toss more devices at them because it looks good on our website.”
She’s not wrong about the rise of in-classroom technology. A survey last year showed that 50% of U.S. teachers now report a one-to-one, student-to-device classroom ratio, meaning the students are using tablets or some other mobile device for at least a portion of their learning. How this use of technology is affecting children remains to be seen. In a policy statement, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) says studies have shown conflicting evidence as to how the use of screens impacts social skills and learning, therefore, it is their official position that technology is OK in the classroom, provided it is being used “within the framework of developmentally appropriate practice, to support learning goals established for individual children.”
However, Gentry says that isn’t what’s happening. Instead, kids are losing valuable learning time. “Since our technology approach doesn’t seem to be working, teachers must need more training. So take away two planning periods a week. And render that time utterly worthless when it comes to ADDING to the quality of the instruction,” she reveals. “Just this year, a new math assessment was introduced for K teachers. We had to attend a training on a school day (time missed with students) then it took us THREE WEEKS to administer it … Such. A. Waste.”
Perhaps the most difficult thing on Gentry’s plate, she adds, was building strong relationships with parents. “Instead of holding parents accountable … and making them true partners, we’ve adopted a customer service mindset,” she writes. “… I was cussed out by parents who wanted to attend field trips but missed the THREE notes that went home … I’ve had parents stand me up multiple times on Conference Days then call to tattle on me when I refused to offer an after-school option.”
All of it, combined with stagnant wages that often don’t account for the long hours teachers work during the school year or the fact that 94% of teachers are being forced to spend their own money on basic classroom supplies, creates an environment that Gentry says “put my physical and mental health in jeopardy every. single. Day.”
In Virginia, where Gentry worked, more than 1,000 teacher positions in the state sat unfilled in 2016, and similar teacher shortages are happening nationwide, according to the New York Post. Roughly 8% of teachers are leaving the profession each year, citing concerns like growing classroom sizes, dwindling budgets, lack of administrative support, low decision-making input and overall dissatisfaction.
Gentry’s post is spot-on for a number of teachers who are concerned about the state of the U.S. education system. It has been shared more than 209,000 times at the time of this writing and has thousands of positive, supportive comments. The question now is whether or not politicians, school officials and parents can address these problems before more teachers like Gentry leave the profession behind for good.
