Are there any other teachers in Texas that are just fed up?

Question

People outside of education have so little understanding of what the job is like. I've been doing this for 17 years and I feel like I'm in a battle zone; no support, personal and sometimes physical attacks on teachers, people who just walk out of the job because it is too tough, the constant and never ending work, and the insulting emphasis on mediocrity like the TAKS Test and NCLB. I love my students but we aren't helping them become productive citizens we are losing our inner city kids. My school district grabs at programs, like AVID and Capturing Kid's Hearts, but never follows through on them. It is all show so someone can protect or validate their position. Please, someone give me hope I am so tired.

Answer 1

I'm not from Texas but from Belgium. Here lots of teachers experience the same thing that you do. In my opinion, the parents rely too much to school to educate their children since many decades, this results in undisciplined children and rude parents who are aggressive towards the teachers because they were not well educated in their homes when they were children.

Also, our society does more and more emphasize on trivialities such as which clothes you wear, what car you drive, what television or computer you own instead of emphasize the inner values of a person.

I heard that in Germany many schools (even the students) want to reintroduce the school uniform and a study showed that in schools where the uniform was implemented things went much better.

A close contact to the parents is necessary, but as some parents are not in state to take advantage of these contacts and think, when there is a problem with the kid, that the teacher is aggressive towards their kid, this is difficult to handle.

Children, very young or older need to have interests and hobbies such as sports or arts, but this costs money and some parents are not able to afford this.

Fortunately, sometimes you meet some kids or parents who are cool and realistic and who do their best to raise their children to become well educated citizens. Try to remember these ones and make the best of the others who might hide some good surprise for you as I can see from your question, you are a good teacher.

I wish you all the best, and when you are very tired, think that somebody far away in Belgium wishes you all the luck in the World.

Answer 2

Of course there are other teachers who are fed up (and not just in Texas).  

The good news is that you wouldn't be fed up if you didn't really care and want to do good things for your kids.  You probably accomplish more than you know.  The difficulties you mention aren't new.  The problems change but teaching has never been easy.  Take a deep breath- you can make it a bit longer.  Then be sure to take care of yourself- many teachers are good at taking care of everyone but themselves.  You need to renew a bit so you can remember what is important and keep things in perspective.  

I looked below your questions to see what others were open and saw the question I am copying below.  Most students won't really appreciate it until later and they might not tell you but what you are doing matters.  

Take it easy---

What kind of gift should I get for my amazing teacher?

I am in 11th grade and I have this amazing chemistry teacher. This is her first year teaching and she has such a passion for what she does. She stayed after school with me all the time, to help me understand the material. She is such an inspiration and she has also offered to help me with physics next year, even though she will have her own new students. I want to be a teacher when I graduate and she has been such an inspiration.

Answer 3

I don`t teach in Texas.  I am a teacher from Ontario, Canada.  But I can sympathize with you.  There is always constant pressure, you have everyone scrutinizing your every move and programs get started without enough resources to make them work and then there are the people who constantly comment on how lucky we are to get summers off!!  

Basically, if you love your students then that is why you do it.  We don`t teach for the money because if we did there would be no teachers.  We teach because we understand that we have a profound effect on our students, even if they don`t think so at the time.  We are there to help them through and exciting and terrifying part of their lives.  Ours is a labour of love.

Best of luck

Answer 4

yes we do

Answer 5

I'm not a teacher, not from Texas, but I empathize with you and believe me, it is happening to varying degrees everywhere.  We are losing our inner city kids because school is totally irrelevant to their reality.  All of the things you cite are parallel to the reasons I took my kids out of public school and homeschool them.  I also continue to work in the school system, as a paraprofessional.  The system is broken.  Of course you are tired.  Read John Taylor Gatto.  It would be a pity if the system lost someone as caring as you obviously are: maybe you can find some (possibly rebellious?) way to make a difference to your kids......good luck.

Answer 6

Son has had the same complaining on the issues you are talking about. He is teaching now in a Christian school, where the students and parents respect the teachers. There is not any nonsense in the class rooms.  Maybe this is something you could look into.  Good luck and God bless all teachers

Answer 7

Wow, I teach in New York,but I really understand how you are feeling. WE are not really educating our students to be any more than good test takers. I have seen many of our children with good test scores who can't really understand what they are reading,write a complete English sentence or solve the simplest math problems. Administrators are so afraid of parent complaints that they rarely discipline the severe behavior problems,so everyone suffers. Parents,who have lost control of their children,want the schools to do their job.

However, the thing that keeps me going is the many hard -working and respectful children I meet and somebody has to be there for them!

Answer 8

I am not a teacher, but I am a parent in NJ. I have a 5 year old son entering kindergarten.

I know that many teachers are starting to become discouraged due to the lack of parental support.  I feel for you, and respect what you are trying to do for the kids.

I live in a community that is low income, personally I live in low-income housing.  I see how the parents are not involved in the children's lives, they do not care how they act in or outside of school. It upsets me, and It gives the low income community a bad name. Just yesterday,  I heard one mother tell her son to tell his teacher to "f" herself if she complained about his homework!!!

I am very involved with my sons preschool, I attend everything, I make sure his homework is complete. I make sure he is respectful to his teacher. When he starts grammar school, this WILL continue. Every teacher deserves respect from the community, the children and parents.  

To mold a child into a successful adult, you need a good teacher, good parents, and a child.