Back to school: Seems normal on the surface, but things are far from fine for educators in this country

O P I N I O N

At 6 a.m. of the morning that began my 24th year as a public school educator, I woke to the clock radio that had been dormant since June blaring The Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” Groggily, I rolled out of bed in search of either caffeine or a methamphetamine—something to shake off the sleep[1].

As luck would have it, my wife had brewed a pot of coffee before leaving for work. However, when I went to pour myself a cup, it became apparent that my wife had assumed that I had shrunk down to the size of a hamster overnight and a thimble-full of dark roast would suit me just fine.

So I put on another pot, although I was running late—I have a tendency to smack the snooze button like John Bonham ripping through his solo in “Moby Dick”—filled my mug and left for the pastures of Pembroke.

This academic year marks the first time since COVID-19 shut down the world in March of 2020 that educators have experienced anything that resembles normalcy in our schools. There are no mask requirements, unless a person has recently contracted the virus; there is no social distancing; there is no remote learning—synchronous or asynchronous—no spraying down student desks between classes, and no COVID-19 PowerPoint presentations from the school nurse.

Although it seems normal on the surface, things are far from fine for educators in this country.

Anyone who hasn’t been on a two-year technology fast knows that teachers are leaving the profession in droves for myriad reasons, but they can be somewhat succinctly summed up in a single point.

In the past two years, a significant portion of the population has demonstrated how much they value educators, and the response has been underwhelming[2].

Teachers have always been underpaid, but it’s futile for teachers to complain about their salaries. When a person decides to pursue the profession, they know they will never be justly compensated for the work they do, and they either have to accept it or choose a different profession.

And there will always be the armchair quarterbacks claiming that teaching is a part-time job with vacation time that is disproportionate with other professional jobs. This, of course, works under the assumption that teachers never plan or grade on weeknights or weekends, never use their summers for professional or curriculum development, and never have to hold down multiple jobs to make ends meet[3].

I believe the real reason so many educators are leaving the profession boils down to an issue of respect. Teachers are frequently undervalued and disrespected by many parents, students and communities—an indignity that has been vociferously voiced by some on the far-right want to see education in this country privatized.

Most of this stems from the kind of mass paranoia that can eventually manifest in insurrections. These people believe that all public educators are socialist lapdogs trying to indoctrinate their students with liberal ideologies and propaganda, a theory that is fatuous, insolent and absurd.

Already this year, numerous school districts throughout the country are struggling to staff schools, and as a result, people who have not been properly trained to teach are being charged with leading classrooms of children.

This as a fact should strike real fear in everyone.

And unless this problem is confronted with a nationwide push to treat teachers with a little more dignity, there is not enough coffee in Colombia to court people to the profession, and the long-term damage will make the pandemic seem like a summer soaked in sunshine.

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[1] I’ve exhaustively documented my love of sleep and disdain for early-mornings in this column.

[2] That’s a euphemism.

[3] I have a few side hustles myself. In fact, you’re reading one of them.