Superintendent and school boards should be required to be on a rotating schedule where they alternate between teaching and administration so they can feel the effects of their own policies.
In my state, Washington, there isn't any qualification to be on the School Board, other then getting enough votes. Education is not required. Unbelievable.
True. When I was in school, you were on time, you didn't talk out of turn, you had your supplies, you did your work, you went home, and you learned everything that the teacher taught. It was a very straightforward and successful process.
The schools were dismissive of all parent rights during Covid. Unfortunately the administrators created a use vs them when it comes to parents rights and schools that will not end anytime soon. Family doctor Issued waiver from mask program, school said “we know best”. Administration closed schools to protect teacher, no regard for effect on children. 8 could go on, but this teacher is a victim if the administrations mistakes
When you worry about "how will they make it without me..." remember the 6 month rule. While you are working there and you're SO CRITICAL that you cant even get time off for a vacation, keep in mind that 6 months after you leave, you'll call back for something and they'll say, "Who are you again???"
I'm hoping that when I leave, the 6 month rule is 6 minutes. I've worked in the steel producing world since 1998 as a maintenance and repair electrician the entire time. I really like what I do, and I have the attitude of gratitude (well, most of the time). The money and benefits have been really good for me and my wife. It's allowed us to have multiple homes, cars, and travel, and the BS you had to experience as a teacher was something I never had to tolerate. But, it's soon time to go, move on, and move forward. I also understand your reasons. I can not believe what teachers have to go through, no matter what your pay is. The kids, politics, bs, stress, entitlements, lack of leadership, and the stomping down of those that attempt to display leadership. With the federal government in full control of schools with the carrots (money) they dangle in front of administration, it's nearly impossible to be good anymore. So, I'm glad you left. Stay happy, stay grateful and know the source of it all! Give praises and a loud Hallelujah to God that you have had such a good life!
I had the opposite experience. I quit and they could never replace me. They simply added my responsibilities to someone that worked in an adjacent department.
US employment standards are rubish in the uk you get unlimited sick days, 12 months off for a baby, and nearly 6 weeks of paid leave and even with that teachers are leaving due to burn out and stress, I worked for IT support in schools for 9 years when I gave in my notice it was my last day as had 6 weeks of leave, if we worked past our hours it was credited as holiday normaly had 8 or 9 weeks off a year, so they had to pay me overtime to do my hand over for 1 week. Also as a man got 4 weeks off extra paid leave when each of my children was born and shared my wifes 12m leave between us for our 2nd as the law changed to allow it
My friend thinks he is so valuable that he refuses to get 2 new knees he desperately needs. He says he promised his boss 5 years. Says he will get his new knees in 5 years! They are bone on bone. There is no talking to him. Insane.
I’m retiring at the end of June with 22 years teaching in public schools. I really wanted to hang on longer but my well being and physical health is deteriorating as a result. I’m an elementary art teacher and everyone says how fun but the other teachers know and are jealous. I have over 500 students in two schools and I’ve been on the cart multiple years! I can’t keep up with the school displays, grading, staying late after school to clean up and prep, student behavior, staff members who treat me like a baby sitter , administrators, parents, etc. It’s sad because I’m very good at my job, I love teaching art but I’m burnt.😢
Being able to collect a pension after 22 years is pretty good though. Once you are done and are enjoying your retirement, maybe you’ll look back and think it was worth it.
Well said. Same here....I started noticing my health decline as well. High blood pressure, insomnia, anxiety/depression. I was heading down a deadly path.
I'm right there with you. I taught elem. art, primarily, for 30 years with ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia and a host of other illnesses. One year I was split between four schools each week, sometimes 10-11 classes per day. A nightmare. And, as you well know, agues who bought most of the supplies? I swear if I hear "You taught art?! Oh, how fun!!" It could have been if the students would participate appropriately, if I had enough materials for everyone, if I wasn't the dog's body for everyone in the school and district. My doctor wanted me to retire a long time ago ("The job is killing you!") but I was stuck, desperately needing my pension and SSA to be at the highest I could get and good medical insurance. I still have nightmares about school, waking up in a cold sweat. Kids, parents, PTA, admin, "fellow" teachers all out to mess my day up because they didn't consider what I did was valuable. And planning for a sub - argh!! (If I was lucky enough to get a sub...) This week is my 5th anniversary of getting away - and alive, too. Don't miss it one iota. Burned to a crisp.
I was married to a teacher for years and I honestly don't see how anyone does that job. A mother came into a meeting with my wife absolutely furious that her two daughters were failing her class. My wife pointed out that girls had only made it to class three times out of the last 9 weeks. The woman responded that none of the other teachers were failing them for that. My wife replied that she should be mad at those other teachers for not doing their job. I understand why this was happening. The administration took a dim view of failing students for any reason because it made their numbers look bad.
Sad that so many good teachers are quitting due to poor decisions by people in power, and people in general - totally understandable though - there is no point pissing into the wind, as the saying goes.
@@Christoph-sd3zi You clearly don't know any actual teachers and you probably spend all your time listening to right-wing propaganda. My wife had a Masters degree and made less than half of what I did with a Bachelors. The school year is more like two thirds of the year and they are required to spend the rest of the year on continuing education. A little continuing education would do you good.
@@Christoph-sd3ziwhere I’m from they get crap pay, crap benefits, and summer break is only about 2.5 months. They usually do it for personal reasons, not cause it’s a good job.
I am a custodian for Brooklyn center schools in Minnesota, when our students fight, there is zero repercussions. This year we had a student fighting another student and a teacher got in the middle and she hot punched in the face and got a black eye. The student that accidentally punched her was back in her class the next day. We are a consequence free school, its an injustice to students to not have consequences for poor behavior. Additionally, we are ranked 437 out of 478 schools which goes to show what a lack of discipline gets you.
Demographics is the reason for fights, violence and low test scores. Not funding or discipline. After teaching so long why are we all afraid to say what’s painfully apparent.
Kids running the show in schools is the root of the problem. Districts are on egg shells to avoid law suits from parents and students for the craziest things. We live in a society where so many parents think their kid is always a victim and never the problem. The behavioral issues you described started, at home, many years ago before those kids ever attended school. Teachers are so underappreciated for sure.
I agree I've told both my boys who have since graduated they will toe the line at school or you will be delt with but never had to the teachers loved having them in their classes.
@@mariocooldude9092 brother I'm not even gonna lie to you, you are 100 correct. I'm black myself, and I can't tell you the amount of times where the black kids at my school are the most loud, ghetto ass people in the world. Throughout ALL of my school life, it was always the black kids that caused the most problems and started shit. It was mostly the black girls, but the guys are also in the mix as well. The black girls being all fucking loud and shit trying to act like they own the school, and then would wear shit that is so provocative. And then the black guys fucking sagging and acting tough saying they would beat your ass and stupid shit like that. It's just crazy because those are the same people that wonder why they are the ones that get in trouble more and then say "oh it's because im black!" No, you are acting like a complete dumbass and no one wants to deal with you. And then, I would get told I act white because I never acted like them. I did my work and was respectful, and black kids were the ONLY kids that would tell me "you act white." Ofc it's not all of us that act this way, but there is no denying that most of us do and it's say. I agree with you 100 brother, as much as people don't wanna hear it, it truly is mostly the black kids.
Kids bark and meow in class and get told they dont have to stop if it helps their anxiety. You can really do anything if your parent says its for mental health.
Well, it’s not like these parents are going to win the lawsuit when there’s going to be a lot of evidence and blame on the student not behaving and following directions like they’re supposed to. That’s why I’m kind of surprised that the school administration is afraid.
Very true. I spend most of the class session asking students to put away their phones. They can barely retain anything because they are constantly on their phones. So sad.
Have rules posted in your classroom. Don’t tolerate any crap from the kids & be consistent. What you should’ve done is taken the phones away, put them in an envelope with the name & ID on it. Send it to the AP or principal. The kids get the message afterwards when mom/dad need to pick up phone in the principal’s office and the lecture they’ll receive.
My daughter is in 6th grade and she was having trouble in ELA. In the parent teacher conference we found this out. The surprise on the teacher's face when I asked what I could do to help was shocking. I then did what needed to be done. Simple as that. I am thankful for teachers. More so maybe since the Pandemic. Thank you for your service and your honesty.
Absolute worst career move, and life decision was moving to Texas in January 2016, getting certified to teach; I resigned after one semester. I experienced every reason you gave! I had no support, I was a first year teacher in my 40s! The kids were in charge and if your principal and department didn’t like you, it will be impossible to succeed.
The hours and workload are unbelievable, and I never had children of my own to deal with at home. I lasted 34 years. Teaching has never been never easy, but right now, it's never been harder.
I’m feeling triggered just listening to you! I taught high school for 20 years. I was planning on making it to 25, but for all the reasons you describe plus the post-Covid behavior (talk about the monkeys running the zoo!) took me to a place where I no longer believed I was the right person for the students. They needed a drill sergeant and that is just not who I am, nor who I want to be. I retired early. I thought I would sub, but I get sick to my stomach when I think of going back into a classroom. Thank you for sharing.
I had bad dreams for 3-4 years after leaving. Crazy stuff. Like during bathroom/lunch they would move my classroom (I taught art!). Or I'd enter the room and all the desks and chairs were gone but I still had an observation anyway. 10 years on I don't have nightmares.
My wife knows what you went through-especially in her J-H days of educating the kids. The thought of being a sub makes her feel an instant tension in her skin. Sounds like your students didn't need a drill sergeant-they needed a zookeeper.
I could have written your comment! 25 years. Total monkeys. Totally not worth my precious time on the planet. Makes me stomach flip at the thought of ever returning. Would rather work at McDonald's, it's THAT horrible.
wizard said he was 40 something and that mrs wizard was a little older... some people only have one job there whole life.. and start very young on there career.. and retire young.. i think she started teaching at age of 18 if not wrong 18+26 and you'll get her age..
@@joshuagibson2520Brusselpicker is saying she looks amazing for her age and you're trying to pick on him for the complement. I don't think they're the problem here.
I'm 62 years old. I grew up in a small farming town near the Mexican border in California. At 23, I found myself, quite by accident, teaching middle school math in the same district where I was raised. It was a terrible seven year experience compared to my time there as a kid. When I was a kid, teachers had real authority. If you didn't get good grades, you didn't pass from one grade to the next. Students were placed in classes based on test scores; those with lower scores were given additional help from teacher’s aides. Most importantly, if you got in trouble at school, you were in big trouble when you got home. When I resigned seven years later, I discovered that the district was, essentially, nothing more than a baby sitting operation. I was 30 years old, young enough to make a good career change. Today, I would not recommend education or law enforcement to anyone. Thanks for reading.
I eventually ended up working in Adult Education from 1990 until 2010 in the California State Prison System. It was actually quite excellent. But starting in 2010 things began to get "loose" in the state prison system much like had done in the public school. Chaos eventually found it's way into adult education and I retired from education in 2015. Today I work construction and plumbing and set my own hours. We have leased out our farm ground and things are good. @@kristenturner1222
Spot on!!! As a retired teacher from Florida, I am happy to see someone speaking up about issues teachers are facing. Every point you made for quitting is identical to my reasons for retiring in 2020. Covid had nothing to do with my retirement, but cell phones, leadership, hours, discipline, unions, and everything else you mentioned did. I guess I had it better off than many other teachers because I also have a military retirement. After 23 years in the military and 19 years teaching high school science, I had had enough of the bureaucracy and headaches of teaching. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved teaching, but when students are distracted by cell phones and simply do not want to learn, my time was up.
coming from my child, it isn't so much not wanting to learn, it is teachers are unable or unwilling to teach in an approachable and entertaining way for all 30 students (as I explained to her) they can't even if they wanted to, Because each student has some specific way to grab their interest, but there are far too many students and not enough teachers per classroom for those individual approaches to work. So, kids and adults alike would rather learn from a way that interests them and is entertaining, aka RUclips and other forms of possible entertaining educational content.
@@JohnKennedy-ok9io My niece just graduated a couple of years ago with a 4 year biology degree, she's working at a Toyota plant. And teaching herself Python and C+, using the internet......
I can tell you something America going with of system of education in China no phones are allowed in class and TikTok is educational any media is about how wonderful is the country. You know happens the next era they want to fight so hard for this country and the United States student hate their own country 😢
Teachers have skills that employers love. My daughter left after two years and is now happily in a position she enjoys. I came across a statistic once on how in the 1950"s ninety cents of every budget dollar made it to the classroom, by the 80's it was only ten cents! Education really should be funded from the classroom up, that would get rid of a number of the meddling administrators.
The funding should be taken away from the government. Their near monopoly is a big part of the problem. Make them compete for the students, and the money.
My wife makes 3 times what she did as a teacher and is much happier. When parents and teachers stopped being partners in education, this was inevitable.
I’m a middle school math teacher in my 60’s. I love helping the majority of my students achieve success. The problem students, their parents, and sometimes an odd lot of administrators, and excessive expectations often make me want to just walk away. I am very good at what I do, my students do well in academic growth - yet I would say it’s a 50/50 chance that I will not make it to the end of the year. School administrators get nervous when I say that I am looking forward to next year. The problem as I see it is that it is basically impossible to do my job properly - there is not enough time in a day to meet all expectations and requirements. Student misconduct wrecks about half my classes every day - and then I have to take time away from all my other duties and waste classroom time documenting the events of the day and contacting parents. It’s maddening, and I feel sad for the good students who can’t get more of my time.
@@mph5896 The most ridicuolous thing is if you properly fact check claimed "evidence-based" it often isn't if you research deepr in detail. The universities themselves are so corrupted.
My Mom was a school teacher for about the same amount of time you taught and she had a really great principal that she was a long time friend with who when he retired was replaced by a " progressive " young woman who insisted on having to teach the kids aboout all the new age crap that has been coming out for the last couple of decades. My Mom told her she would be more than happy to do that just as soon as all of her students could read and write at a seventh grade level. ( She taught grade seven). The new principal didn't like what she said and put in a formal complaint to the school board. What she didn't know was the school board superintendent had specifically insisted that his granddaughter was placed in my Mom's class three years previously! I still chuckle when I think about how that backfired in her face! BTW, when my Mom died almost 20 years after she retired many of her former students attended her funeral and a couple of them even wrote eulogies about what a difference my mother made in their lives!
The good teachers to make so much difference. One of my teachers really stood out kind and fun and she used to let me and a friend chill in her classroom during lunch.
The younger teachers and principals are often the worst. They try to bully you, especially the ones who think they know everything and they all fall flat on their face when they learn the hard way. Sometimes, I see why hazing used to be a thing.
Your post made me cry. It sounds like your Mom was a true blessing to her students! I’ve been teaching for 28 years. I love teaching and have always brought enthusiasm and joy to the classroom. However, the work load and the challenging behaviors of some students are taking such a toll on teachers all over the country. The struggle is real! Thank you for sharing your mom’s story.
I was a Special Ed teaching assistant for about 7 years. I can totally relate to everything you say about why you left teaching. I left the schools for many of the same reasons. TBH, student behavior has gotten so out of hand that I don't know how anyone could even consider becoming a teacher these days. Teachers should be drawing hazardous duty pay!
One commenter said they think today's school kids need a drill instructor. I believe that time is actually upon us. If that's what it will take to make kids ready for the world, then do it.
Great video. Reminds me of my "retirement". 23 years in corporate America. Treated like garbage, passed over for promotions, watched others with less experience progress. When I retired my direct manager said, " you can't quit. We need you." Offered me a promotion and huge bump in salary. Another person higher than him told me the truth. I was too good at what I did. They deliberately held me back. Glad you and Mr wizard were able to see it was time to retire. Keep up the good videos. Thanks
I have been teaching for just over eight years (beginning college students with an age range of 18 and up). While I don't plan to quit, I can relate to what you're saying here...especially the unreasonable and unrealistic emotional demands from students. I haven't had anything come up with changing pronouns and names from day to day, but I do get a lot of out of line emotional demands. Students feel entitled to be kept happy, entertained, and completely pleased with everything about themselves at all times. I get, "It's your job to make sure I feel good about coming to class. It's your job to make sure I feel confident and happy in class." And well...no...actually..it's not. It's my job to teach you and to support you in your learning. You gain comfort with the subject matter and confidence as you learn, as your own skills grow. This is school. This is not the Mall of America, the New York State Fair, or the Vegas strip....and I am not in guest services.
The education is beyond broken . It's no longer about preparing the kids to move ahead in the world . Politics and poor parenting are just some of the things that have taken education and twisted it to the horror show it is today .
....you forgot to mention garbage teachers who don't belong within 1000 yards of a school building too. Bad teachers need to be held accountable just as much as bad parents.
Don't forget about the administrative bloat at schools and districts. The professional types that eat up resources and complicate everything. They help no one but themselves. They come up with some great new program, enact it, then run off to a bigger and better job before the results come in. And what's the district's response, hire someone to come up with a new program to replace the last. And round and round we go. The kids, teachers and taxpayers are all worse off, but yet these positions are growing for some reason.
My wife was a teacher in Olathe, KS for 12 years, and she quit for many of the same reasons that you described here. When you breakdown the hours worked relative to the pay, it gets ridiculous. Parents all think their kids are angels and any behavioral and/or academic problems must be the Teacher's fault. The state funding cuts around 2016 were the last straw. Teachers deserve better.
Taught special Ed for 12 years so most of my kids were already on their last chance at education. Lots of fights, emotional problems, substance abuse and violent behavior. The last day I walked out of that HS felt like the greatest weight lifted off my shoulders ever. I got a nasty gram as well and framed it and it’s on my wall to remind me of my correct decision.
@@absolutelynonameslef oh, it was so petty. Since I failed to return my parking pass and ID, I would be charged $150.00 for fines and replacement cost because, as we know, high school parking lot spots are a hot commodity in the summer. Our building didn’t even have an electronic lock so my ID was basically a picture of me with the schools name on it. The vice principal and I didn’t really see eye to eye on her job performance.
I retired after 26 years of being 'that guy' teaching elementary school. I had hoped to make it to 30 years because I loved my job, but I knew it was my time to go. Covid, distance learning, new admins, crazy parents, and disrespectful kids were taking the joy from the job, so I figured that I would go out on a high note instead of getting to the point where I dreaded getting up and going to work every day.
@@harrisonclark4382 In Alabama, retirement can be collected after 25 years for us old folks under the Tier 1 retirement plan, regardless of age. I had enough sick days saved up for just over another year, so I am getting retirement income based off a little over 27 years. The more years that you work, the more you get, but my time had come and there was a shiny and bright new kid right out of college that came in and became that teacher that I used to be.
@@harrisonclark4382 I responded to you earlier, but for some reason, youtube didn't post it. So, I'll try again :) In Alabama, us old folks under the Tier 1 retirement plan can start collecting benefits after 25 years, no matter what age. The more years that you have in the system, the more you get at retirement. There is a weird formula they use that calculates monthly benefits based on the number of years worked, average salary over the past X number of years, and a percentage. Because of all of my saved up sick days, I got credit for just over twenty-seven years of service and the retirement difference between 27 years and 30 years was not that much. I figured my sanity was worth more than an extra few dollars per month. The folks that got hired during the era of "Tier 2 retirement" got hosed. They can retire after twenty-five years, but can't start collecting retirement benefits until age 62.
I taught for 10 years. I got married and got pregnant with twins last school year. Almost immediately, I put in my resignation for the following year. It’s hard with one spouse working, but I’m so grateful I’m no longer teaching for nearly all by the reasons you stated in your video!
@AgentQQ8 You can't blame the kids for that though. Society is not only condoning that behavior, but also encouraging it. The kids are exploiting it, because we let them!
I taught elementary school for 33 years and retired June, 2021. I was not really ready to retire, still loved teaching the children who behaved and wanted to learn but there were enough children each year who misbehaved, disrupted the classroom and had no interest in learning. The lack of support from administration at the school board level and school level, along with lack of parental support caused the students to know they could get away with about anything - so they did. I could have, of course, listed everything you did but thank you for doing it for me!❤
The local funding model of American public education is largely responsible for your frustration. If I were in charge, teachers would be properly paid, brat kids would be removed and their parents sanctioned, and the Air Force would be forced to have a bake sale to purchase a new bomber-
My wifes aunt taught for nearly 40 years, retiring 12 years ago, almost exclusively 2nd grade. She didn't want to retire at that point. But the stress of the school administrations paperwork load AND lack of support weighed down upon her, along with the disintegration of the family unit, all allowing kids to run wild. Discipline had become such a challenge that towards the end, she said she'd rather just sit at her desk for 6 hours, and as long as the kids didn't burn down the school, well, ok. This was at a school that is country-ish that started bussing kids in from a run-down urban area that is economically challenged. The rules all had to be modified or changed to suit those kids, really causing problems for the teachers on the "front lines." My wifes aunt threw in the towel and left. The burden was tossed aside, and she was so relieved.
@@2006gtobob OK. But how does that answer the question that I asked? By the way, I taught for three years, and later when I had a chance to further pursue that career, I decided not to. On a further side note, I decided not to pursue that career the second time around for pretty much the same reasons that are listed here and by others, and that was 27 years ago. And the first and only go around lasted for 3 years and that started 37 years ago. And in the 37 years since then, it has only gotten worse.
35 years in public education. It takes a special person to teach. I found that the most important part of my work with students was to develop relationships. Not like you would with a friend, but being the type of person that your students can trust have their best interests in mind. Remember, it's about educating kids to equip them with tools to be successful in life. Don't make school "easy". My class was the hardest class in the building, yet i was blessed with a high level of respect with most of my students and their parents. It was a pleasure to serve the people of that community. Honestly, I don't miss the job, but I do miss opportunities that influenced the life of young people.
This is great. You sound exactly like my wife. She just retired after 30 years at 54. She could not take any more. Every single one of these reasons that drove you to quit, were reasons my wife quit as well. The only thing she never complained about was the pay. This is was because she knew the pay when she went into teaching. She could have gone into something else. The HOURS overwhelmed her, however. And no amount of pay could make up for it. She was depressed and stressed to the max.
Those summer, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring and Easter breaks along with many other various day offs for holidays and "Teacher institutes" must be a real killer😂
Wow. So close to 30. My wife has 2 yrs left here in GA I dont think she can make it This year she was forced into teaching AP Physics. She told them she is not qualified to teach it They still put it on her. Couple of weeks ago they had the audacity to pull her in the principals office to tell her they think she could do a better job teaching it! She looked at them with wide eyes and just told her bosses that she told them she was not qualified, and she got up and walked out, I told her to go in the next two years sit down at her desk and hand out worksheets and don’t do another thing… she loved teaching back in the day. It’s been the last 5 to 10 years that have been absolutely impossible for teachers to try and do an efficient job with high moral. Impossible. Mrs wizard. I hope you can at least draw some of your pension Great video!
YOU ARE SPOT ON!! I also quit after 26 years. I "retired" and can afford not to work due to my husband's death, however, I consider it quitting. I had to walk away because I just couldn't do it anymore for many of the same reasons. I felt that I couldn't give the kids what they needed; instead I was told to use some 'new fangled' idea that added to my work load. My pain -I miss the kids and my colleagues and feel I let them down. I know I need to do things for myself and feel good about that! I sub and volunteer to get my kid-fix. And that works for now. LOVE your site and will check out your art! Blessings!
Mrs. Wizard, please remember that we love and adore you and appreciate what you bring to the channel!! You and wizard make an incredible and strong team and good things are gonna to you both!! I appreciate everything you bring to the channel. Keep looking forward and never look backwards and you and Wizard will create something phenomenal!!
I retired from public elementary education after 30 years this past June. I couldn't stand another day after all that time, despite the huge increase my pension would had gotten if I entered the drop program. Things had changed so much my last year seemed like a marathon. Teaching is not healthy for well-meaning competent people. They are expected to pick up the slack for the inept. Despite that, you are often still treated like a child. Leaving was the best decision I made and I am very happy now.
#5: call all students by last name only. They aren't likely to change the last name. DISCIPLINE is the biggest thing these days. You can't touch them and they KNOW it. Our state (Illinois) puts SO many unfunded mandates, it is obscene. On top of that, the legislature just allowed a good program to sunset that allowed people to donate to a program that gave private school students to have tuition assistance. It did NOT come out of school funding. It allowed a tax write off to the individuals donating of 75% of their donation amount. Teachers union wanted it killed so it died without coming to a vote. We had the program for 5 years. The local public school district scores are SO far below the state (which itself is terrible) it isn't funny. The whole system needs to change drastically. The parochial schools do much better with half the $ and the scores prove it. My wife taught part time at the community college for 17 years. When she left over ten years ago (her full time job changed hours) many of the students coming in had NO reason to be there>>functionally illiterate. These kids were too stupid to know which end of a shovel to dig with and they are the FUTURE!
I didnt have any discipline problems teaching middle school for 30 years. The students thought that I was crazy anyway. One student told me, "You cant hit us, you are a teacher". I said, "Actually I can hit you, I'm not supposed to." She didnt give me any attitude for the rest of the year and she became o e of my favorites.
You work 7hrs a day. You get off a week for Thanksgiving, 2 weeks for winter break and a week for spring break. Then you are off 10+ weeks during summertime. You get healthcare, dental, vision and retirement. Cushie job! Right! No! 1000 times no! Only met one teacher who worked to the contract. He refused after activities because he wouldn’t work for free. He handed out a lot of worksheets made by the textbook manufacturer. Graded them while the next class did their worksheets. The tests always came from the textbook manufacturer and had a key. He did the same 8th grade and curriculum every year for 40 years. He did get to work 15 minutes early most days, but drank coffee and socialized with staff on “his time.”
@@kenyonbissett3512 they video addresses your point.. good teachers avarage 60-80 hours a week.. you need a system that pushes out bad teachers and rewards good ones.. that doesnt exsist.. There's a lot of nepotism in education and politics and greed
@@bedoy34 true but there are so few male teachers and they are desperately needed that they can get away with things administration would not tolerate female teachers doing.
Very interesting video. I'm a Motor Mechanic by trade and a K-12 teacher by profession. So much of what you said resonates with me. I'm still teaching (23 years now) and also still do some mechanical work as well (38 years). I love both jobs but the issue that is the same in both of them is people (specifically adults). Kids are kids and will try to test teachers at every opportunity they get. The problem for me, and you touch on this, is lack of support from adults. I've taught Special Ed (IM and ED) as well as Mainstream. I left my ED class because the adult who was supposed to help was a hindrance rather than a help. These were kids who were extremely volatile but it was an adult that was a problem. I have come to the conclusion that when I grow up I want to be a hermit.
Being a hermit is a great profession. I work a couple days a week and the rest of the time is mine to be a hermit and do as I please. The other 2 days in the week are challenging.
Thank you for doing your job. I have 2 kids in elementary school and have nothing but respect for anyone who works in the building to help make the kids lives better no matter the task.
Fellow Kansas teacher here (30+ years), married to a Kansas teacher. I've witnessed EXACTLY the things that ran you off, even if I just don't care enough about all that to quit just yet (and I can still get away with being pretty old school), but it is taking a terrible toll on my wife. She's taught for 10 years, and has high standards and takes her job quite seriously. We watched your video together and the exact things you were talking about are the EXACT things that are making it hard for her to stay in it. She was just beginning to think that the problems are confined to her school and to her district. After watching your video, and reading some comments, it seems like it is the same all over. Thank you for giving voice to my wife's problems.
Lots of companies these days are hiring temp outside consultants for short presentations on whatever the urgent topic is. She with her teach experience may want to look into working for 1 of these companies. Short stays, different places to present in, and no work to take home may make this worthwhile for your wife.
Hard to have high standards when students can take the same test as many as 3 times and then the students gets the best grade. Or, the new scoring of 50%-100%. Looks like this 50-59 E, 60-69 D, and on up. No 0-49 anymore, just throw those out. Unfair to those students who actually do the work and study.
@@mohnnadmercedes8246 No, that's not the case nor is it the cause nor A cause that is real/actual. I teach in a district that has always seemed "proud" of being a little bit socially "behind", and it is pretty much the same as it has been, so your talk of an agenda doesn't hold water there. Besides, topics and ideas "pouring into kids (sic) minds" is what education is - no matter the agenda. It seems to me that not understanding that that is what education is about is what is "very difficult and challenging" for some adults. Forget the talk of "agendas", it's not an easy job, and mainly for the reasons that Mrs. Wizard outlined so well in her video.
Not "all over", plenty of public schools that don't have fighting problems. That is a mark of an urban school, with hood rat students. Oh there, I said it. Dog whistle warning.
I spent 33 years as an K-12 Administrator and 4 years as an instructor in the Graduate Program at a university. I agree with your perceptions as a teacher. 1. We called the paradigm shift - "flavor of the month". 2. Behavior is actually a society problem with the lack of respect shown to adults in a supervisory role. 3. Students do not want to learn - they want to be entertained. 4. Parents do not take responsibility for their child's actions.
I was let go from my teaching job in May 2020. It was the best decision that was ever made for me. I’m still trying to find my way, but it’s so much better than teaching (again, for me).
My wife served as PTA chair in each of the schools my children attended from K thru 12th grade. A few years ago, she began working for our school district in a support (not teaching) position at an elementary school for a few years before she retires... soon. It does not help that she started in this role at the onset of the COVID19 pandemic which proved stressful for EVERYONE. Her greatest frustration by far has been the failure of PARENTS to shoulder the responsibility for their own children's preparedness and responsibilities. Where is your lunch... Why don't you have a jacket today... Where is your homework assignment.... Who is supposed to pick you up this afternoon... yada yada yada. Mrs. Wizard... We understand. God Bless you for caring.
It's easy to slough off blame to the parents and what you're saying points to a lack of parenting time. Maybe the question you should be asking is: what happened in this country where we now need both parents to work full time to just barely stay out of poverty? GDP and corporate profits are at record levels but workers' salaries have not kept pace.
@@gunkulator1Not a valid argument when the kids walk in with $6 worth off donuts and a Stanley cup every morning. I was a single mother with 3 kids. I worked my tail off. My kids were prepared. They went to bed on time, ate dinner at home, had clean clothes and lived in a clean home. Was it tough? Yes, but I patented my children!
I retired after 30 years as a music teacher. Along the way, I also taught a reading class for 3 years. I hung in there, but it took 4 jobs; 2 in districts and 2 in PSA's. Pros and cons to both. Kids were the least of my troubles. Administrators became administrators because they can't stand the classroom. At least, for most of them. Loking for the big bucks, but not really doing a great job. They even more helpless than their teachers.
I recently gave up teaching mainly due to the constant changing requirements, huge workload and poor management. I applied for and got another great job that I really enjoy and that gives me a great work life balance. More teachers need to realise that they have transferrable skills and need to give themselves a chance to do something else. When I left I was not replaced and those I left behind are suffering as a consequence which makes me very sad but it was not my doing. Just more poor management.
Schools are constantly advertising for new teachers every school year. They think teachers are interchangeable, and the revolving door policy is acceptable. It hurts the students' education.
Mrs. Wizard you are 100% spot on with your reasons and comments. It is not about the money. Here in Canada teachers start at $64K and go up to north of 100K after 10 years. The teachers here are leaving in record numbers because of the same reasons. I was PTA Chairman for 23 years, talked with 100's of teachers and parents. I had to endure wild PTA meetings on various topics, and all your points played into those events. Enjoy your retirement, take care, be strong
As a Canadian, I have so many friends that quit teaching in their 30s and 40s because of the behaviour, parents and lack of support and increased responsibilities are not sustainable. Teachers are fleeing the profession like mad!!
@@bngr_bngr Yes, California is an outlier. Perhaps 120k is the equivalent of 60k in the inland West when adjusted for the terrific cost of living in California.
@@malcolmmarzo2461 keep in mind that when a person retires they can move to a lower cost state or overseas. Plus most teachers will have their homes paid off by that time.
I also retired in May from 26 years in public school at the elementary level. I agree with everything. We need a GI Bill for teachers to increase pay to a living wage. In my district market forces and the shortage of teachers forced the district to raise pay up to $60,500 for a new teacher without a masters degree which was a big jump but the veterans like me with a masters were only making about $12,000 more after 26 years. Most teachers do not do it for the money but many are the heads of households and pay the bills and must send their kids to university as well. We need a GI Bill that will provide low interest housing loans and free community college or reduced rates at the big state universities for teachers' kids. Teachers also do not want to retire on welfare. Discipline and lack of support from the admin and parents is crazy. We had kids in our school who would curse out the teacher, destroy school property, and even act out violently against the teachers or students and were never suspended. Some might end up in the office but would be returned to class within 30 minutes. Parents also must see that their kids attend school. We had kids in our school that missed many weeks and were never held back. Parents also need to know what their students are working on and help them. I had many parents who were more than able to help with homework and reading but were never involved with their kid's learning. We must also teach the 3Rs again and have a grading system that is easy for the teacher to do, easy for the parents and students to understand, and reflects the kid's true ability level. Grade inflation was becoming very fashionable in my last years. The teachers did not want to do it but admin looked at failures as your fault not that of lazy kids and parents. Further, retaining was strongly frowned upon. I myself am not for retaining everyone but if the kid cannot read, write, and do math at grade level you should hold them back early in grades K,1st, and 2nd. These are the formative years. Things must change in US schooling and teachers must be treated with respect and paid more. Please look at East Asian countries as a model. MA East Asian Studies Chinese, Fulbright Scholar Japan 2003, Fulbright Scholar China 2005.
I worked 30 years building Subarus in Indiana and its funny how many of your reasons fit right in with most any job...im now retired and I don't miss it and I'm certain they don't miss me.
@@FlowerPower-r8h no he isn't Not to say working in a factory isn't hard work it is ! But , Based on your ignorance you must me Trolling , but okay I'll play . It ISN'T just dealing with kids LOL!! . It's STUDENTS TERRIBLE BEHAVIOR with NO consequences ruining everything ( or their parents will be angry ) , PARENTS who BLAME US for just about everything,. It's ADMINISTRATION , HORRIBLE pay for ALL of the UNPAID time we work when we're NOT in the classroom. There is a REASON our country will soon be in need of over 1/2 a Million Teachers.
Yep, I agree with everything you've said. I'm in my 22nd year of teaching. I just hope I can stand it 8 more years to make it to 30. Public Education is a mess (much like the culture of the US). One wonders how long it can last.
I also quit after 26 years. Wow now that is coincidence. It has been almost 5 years and now I make twice as much with my new business. I simply did not feel appreciated and the behavior of the students got worse every year.
Hallo Teacher, I want you to know that millions of people like me appreciate you and your service. Teaching is the most noble and respected profession in my view. You contribute so much to building the society. I remember you guys always
If your state is like the state I work in you put in the required years. While I have the years I don’t have the age. They have tiered the pension so the age is even higher. It is like the system is set up so one can’t make it to the end with all the benefits. I completely understand your points. My favorite is when a new staff member comes in saying that they wanted a job that doesn’t have stress and need less hours. They don’t make it most of the time. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
As a parent, you should feel free to call or email a good teacher to have a normal conversation with them to find out how they feel. Teachers don't hold back; they will tell you everything you want to know and more.
Mrs. Wizard, I have been a teacher for 35 yrs. New York, New Haven, Waterbury... The only fights I broke up in Waterbury were between girls. One VP had to tackle one of the girls from a running start. Once in a Jewish school there was a lay teacher who complained about my classes being too noisy. This woman was not a team player and I now saw why my predecessor left. Today, after being a successful musician, salesman, and teacher, I substitute teach in my town for the good parts of education. There are good points...When the teacher also learns from the experience, and furthers his or her knowledge, it is like no other lesson.
I knew a few teachers that became private tutors during the lock downs. They were anxious for leaving the system but have done extremely well for themselves anyway. Glad to hear you are doing well also!
I retired after 28 years of teaching and got a job in the private sector. I couldn't believe how stressful teaching was compared to what I exprrienced in the private sector. There was no comparson.
I feel great compassion for all the truly good teachers out there today who are having to deal with all the incredibly destructive policies that are being implemented in schools today. Also, having to deal with so many students today who present great discipline problems, and the lack of of administrative help in dealing with them. I can readily understand why so many good teachers who have dedicated their lives to educating children and youth are quitting. I know it was a tough decision for you to quit. I wish you great success in the future. You and The Wizard make a great team, and better yet, a good couple.
So many administrators are gullible for "the latest innovation in teaching." I taught 32 years, a big city I will not name, now retired. Actually most administrators I knew were not academic/intellectual minded. But street-smart to intimidate you, yes. I 'm a guy and I took the fight to all the toughs, even administration. I have little good to say about them.
I don't blame you for leaving. I'm a police officer in Washington DC and have been on the job for 27 years. I can leave now and I'm planning on going in 1 to 2 years. I'm dealing with it while my youngest daughter is in college and then I'm outta there! We share some of the same types of frustrations you've mentioned and police like teachers are quitting in droves. The dept has lost quite a few people this year.
I hear you on the union protecting bad employees. I've been a member of two different unions and the stories I could tell you about watching the union go to bat for people who really didn't deserve to be employed considering the stunts they pulled on a regular basis would make you want to tear your hair out. At one place, there was a guy who was a barely functional alcoholic who would show up steaming drunk almost every day and proceede to spend most of his shift sleeping in the breakroom, but because he was friendly with the president of our local nothing was done. At the other place, there was a guy who was infamous for his violent temper who deliberately provoked a fist fight with another employee who ended up in the hospital, but because he was friends with someone on the union board he was protected and the guy who was laying in intensive care at the hospital got hung out to dry.
Bullseye 🎯. I was a high school English teacher for 32 years. I loved teaching, but the changes and lack of consequences is disastrous. I made 100k as my final pay and my DB pension is good. I feel for the new educators. I retired at 57! Your reasons are sound and are things which I experienced. ✨️ I had over 200 days of sick leave. We accumulate 15 per year.
I got out of teaching over 20 years ago, and I've never been happier. I now have my own family including two children which would have not been possible had I kept the stressful job of teaching. My special education training did come in handy as one of my children has special needs. I also found the time to become a rabbi as I delved more and more into religion after leaving public school teaching. I now use my teaching skills to teach scripture to four people online. Using my teaching skills to serve the Creator has allowed me to fulfill my purpose in life.
I have a sister that’s a teacher (6th grade I believe) back in NJ. She’s pretty close to retirement (maybe another 3 years)- not sure she’ll make it vs just walking away, which I understand. When I was in high school (now back in the 1980’s and a Jesuit HS), we were expected to act like responsible students and we had to comply, otherwise there would be consequences. These days, with social media, people recording everything, and the complete distraction of the smartphone, I can completely understand a teacher just walking away. Anyone can burn out under those very adverse conditions (all 6 reasons you indicated), so I agree that walking away was the best decision. When you’ve planned well and can leave (from a financial standpoint) it makes it much sweeter to leave. It’s sad as I’m sure you worked very hard to teach the students well (the future ‘leaders’ of the country) and I worry about the future of the country.
How about, instead of giving up, we demand that the students leave their phones in their locker during class time? Oh, that would be too cruel, I suppose, eh? We all agree phones and social media are a terrible influence and distraction, then freak'n outlow them on school property! As a licensed concealed carry permit holder, I'm not allowed to have a firearm on school property (very stupid rule, IMO), but yet the students are free to carry devices that we know are doing harm every day. Schools need to get their priorities straight.
As a 2nd career educator now teaching my 11th year, I am so ready to quit at the end of this year, but may try to stick it out another year when I reach full retirement age. Much of the education system is broken and each passing year brings more students with behavior issues and SpEd students with significant disabilities that are mainstreamed. ISS is meaningless to these kids, as they remain as just defiant when they return. Kids have also lost so much ground in their math & ELA skills since returning from virtual learning and schools just don't retain or even remediate to bring up their deficient skills. We simply push them out of HS, lacking the skills required by business and apparently nobody in education or government wants to recognize this problem. The school where I teach use to have zero turnover and now each year it loses 4-5 experienced teachers that are replaced with fast-tracked paraprofessionals.
I'm not a teacher nor have I ever wanted to be one, but I completely understand why you quit teaching. I gradiated in 2006 and school these days seems a lot different than when it was back then. Being from Washington state, our school system/s have been gradually going down hill and I can't imagine being a kid in the sustem these days. The "no kid left behind" perogitive did indeed leave a lot of kids behind, including me. I had to drop out half way through 11th grade because they not only wanted me to be held back, but they wanted me to go all the way back to the beginning of 10th grade. That was a big "SCREW THIS" and that's when I called it quits. Went to job corpse which was not just my only choice but my best choice. I don't regret it! Got my GED and HS diploma along with learning a trade. The school system these days needs a complete overhall or else MANY more children will fail and be left behind.
I did that in the early 90s, never made it past 9th grade, but passed my GED in 7hrs (you had to write a full page essay😮, on the spot, back then too) basic math, and reading skills go a long way 😂
I should have been sent to, or given the option to go to the job corpse but apparently my high school counselor didn't care to inform me. I didn't know, I was too busy skipping classes, going to class stoned, and they gave me a free pass for a worthless diploma. The teachers could have cared less. Class 74.
@@gnomiefirst9201 exactly. Nowdays the systems as they currently are, are so far broken that it might as well be torn down and built anew. They care more about alphabet rainbow cult indoctrination and making themselves look good than actually educating students. They eliminated most if not all of the special classes like wood working, home economics, financial literacy, etc. It's a real friggin joke. I could go on and on because I have a pile of grievances 5 miles high lol
@@alanmoncus2331 well my brother and two of my cousins went to Job Corps(different centers) and I was one of only two of us that graduated. I barely made it through. Spent 13 months at the Springdale center in the Columbia River gorge. I made so many good memories and learned far more than the public school system could ever offer.
My brother dropped out in 10th grade. Later he took his GED test and scored so well he got top colleges sending him letters inviting him to apply. Public schools failed him totally.
Mrs. Wizard, I feel your pain. My wife retired just a couple of years ago after 23 years as a Special Ed teacher (started teaching in her early 30s after divorcing her 1st husband). She misses the kids but not the paperwork, IEPs, goals, assessments, parent meetings and phone calls, planning and prep, classroom setup and takedown, STUPID parents, politics, classrooms without AC, commuting... I once started that the public schools could be saved, but for the unions, but I've lost that faith. Something drastic is going to have to change, because what we have now is not sustainable.
I think teaching is a bigger skill than just in a school setting. I have never been to college or had any training for teaching, however I have decent skills in teaching people how to do things and explain things. The ability to teach can be an asset in all type of industries.
Everything you said is so true. When I was done I was done. All the great new ideas! Woohoo. So much BS. 33 years. Lack of respect. Tired of being humiliated. Sleazy principals, yes. Lack of leadership. Letting the students run the campus. Major discipline problems out for a few weeks and they’re back in class again. Staff wandering in at the last minute and out at immediately after the last bell, not monitoring the hallways. Liability insurance is essential. Students who believe that they can say and do anything they want to an adult, and are expecting to be privileged to have or do or say whatever they think.
I don't what to do otherwise though. I'm 20 years in, and so TIRED of not getting the necessary support to teach ALL of my students with fidelity. I'm TIRED of being micromanaged by principals who are unfairly being blamed for the failures of the legislature.
Thank You Mrs Wizard for your dedication and professionalism as a teacher, dealing with current conditions in the classroom and all the other factors involved with teaching, I don't blame you one bit and hope they provided you with a decsent severance package.
I taught for 16 years in the inner city in Los Angeles. My reasons for quitting (in 2020) were: 1. Mainstreaming special ed kids into the classroom. A couple, I could handle, but once my classrooms were 15 sped kids and 15 general... I just couldn't. They were at all different levels... it was basically a one-room schoolhouse circa 1885 in my room. I had ONE sped teacher to help, and she spent most of the time shopping online in the back of the room. 2. Discipline: Kids and their cellphones. I couldn't compete, I didn't dare confiscate them (if one got stolen or broken, I'd be held liable), there was just nothing I could do. If a kid refused to comply, nothing happened to them. Indeed, if a kid hit a teacher, nothing happened to them. I never got hit, but I was aware of the danger every minute, and when your students are ages 14-18, they were often bigger than me. 3. Pressure to pass every kid even if they never showed up to class or never did anything. 4. Busywork from admin that, if complied with, added two-three hours of meaningless work to my day... That's actually it. The pay never bothered me. I've been poor all my life, and my tastes are simple. But the stress, the stress, the stress. The minute I turned 55, I ran like hell and never looked back. I loved some of those kids, and I loved teaching classic literature, but.... it's a madhouse now. And half the kids can't read.
My Wife was an Elementary school teacher's assistant for 3 years, she is currently a PCP's MA for 5 years and Counting She said that the Elementary School Job was More Stressful than her Current Job working at a Dr's Office
I showed your video to my nephew who’s also a teacher reaching retirement time. He was laughing and nodding along, saying “yup, yup, yup… so true, so true. 😅
This generation is so far gone I think it’s to late I drove a school bus for awhile after 4 years I said same thing I’m done I’m done it’s sad when administration doesn’t help you parents are horrible not worth it at all
Mrs Wizard. Thank you so much for pointing out some of the major issues in the teaching industry!! I have been a teacher for 20 yrs now. I have 5 yrs left and counting down every single day, hour, min. I can’t wait to be done with all the stress of being an underapritiated teacher for so many years!
I retired from teaching at the end of the 20-21 school year, after 33 years in the classroom. I worked in 4 completely different school districts, including teaching in a juvenile correctional facility (for A and B juvenile felons) for 4 years. What you said about the lack of leadership is a big part of it. In addition, I’d like to add that school boards are a real problem, also. SB’s aren’t paid, but get called, texted, emailed, and called out on social media by parents when things aren’t going the parents’ (or students’) way. Then, it becomes the “Sh!t rolls down hill” paradox: SB’s fear parents, Superintendents fear the the SB, Building Administrators fear the Superintendents, teachers fear the building administrators AND the kids AND the parents, and the kids fear no one. I know that not everyone in the education industry is as pure as the driven snow, but most in the business like the kids, want them to learn to the best of their ability, and want them to be successful. Unfortunately, all the other stuff interfere’s with the good teacher’s ability to help kids be successful. Why did I retire in my first year of retirement eligibility? Because you can’t do the job you were hired to do. Because you spend so much of your time having to “backfill” gaps: student education level gaps (reteaching necessary fundamentals because students don’t know it or weren’t taught it), personnel gaps (because there aren’t enough subs, you frequently get asked to give up your planning period to cover for absent teachers), and because I saw SB’s destroy Superintendents. I saw SB’s destroy Building Administrators. I saw SB’s go after teachers, coaches, etc., thus setting school districts back by destroying morale, forcing good Superintendents, Building Administrators, Teachers, Coach’s, and support staff out, and making good parents take their kids to other school districts, private schools, or home schools. We, as professional educators, are allowing the people we serve dictate the policies and procedures, and are then forced out because we didn’t do it to the people whom we serves liking. Then, when education fails, who do we blame? The very system that has tried to adapt to the whims of the people we serve.
Fantastic clip. Your honesty and kindness are impressive. I'm a semi retired Australian teacher after 40 years of teaching , now doing Casual Relief and it's fabulous though with some drawbacks. Your experience matches Australia as well and very nearly that in Asia too as its society changes. I've got so much free time now and little stress until I walk into a shitty class. The kids treat you differently and you're effectively just a babysitter because they basically ignore you. But the bigger picture is not this moribund system. What interests me is the fate of traditional teaching and schools. Obviously the present system is collapsing and I see radical changes occurring in education. Accountability and responsibility and common sense must prevail to meet both standards and budgetary demands. Basically I see autonomous mini schools evolving. They'll be run by a team of teachers who'll have the freedom to create curricula and scheduling that is based on the students' needs which should provide engagement and success. Holistic approaches to "subjects" using team teaching should make learning more efficient and successful. It'll provide social and emotional support through continuity much like Elementary classes, all of which will hopefully radically alter disciplinary problems. Many requirements for salaries based on old rules will have to disappear to enable cost savings and administrative burdens will have to be radically streamlined to ease the burden on teachers. To enact these reforms there has to be a public discourse with all the stakeholders in youth issues to offer insights and cooperative initiatives. The private sector has to be more involved in to bridge the transition from school to modern workplaces in the form of work experiences, training and mentoring. The old adage of, "it takes a village to raise a child " has never been more obvious. From my extremely wide experience across Australia and overseas, there are many remarkable people out there who are amazing teachers and they must be given the autonomy to adapt education to the huge changes occurring in modern society. I know you're one of those people who suit this future vision, but don't suit the old system. Trust me, it can be done.
You seem like such a passionate person with a huge heart. I'm so sorry this happened to you. It frustrates me how so many passionate hardworking teachers are leaving the classroom and the students deserve more than this. I wish you the best of luck on your new journey and hope for the best for you!
My mom is a teacher just outside of Detroit and she's going theough everything you went through. I keep telling her she needs to teach at a nicer school but now it doesnt seem like there are any better schools. She doesnt want to leave because shed been there for 10 years. So sad. Our country is really taking a turn for the worst
My aunt subs in the Detroit metro area. She said it's a zoo 🤣. Only group she has any luck in is the Indian population since they actually value learning as a culture.
My sister became so burnt out on middle school that she tried HS and then community college. Only when she earned her PhD. in MusEd and obtained tenure at U of Windsor was she truly happy teaching. BTW, most of her students loved her and she inspired several to major in Music-John in Texas
The biggest problem with kids today is they are never disciplined at home and there are no consequences for there actions. They don't know what the word no means. It all starts at home.
This is so... amazing...so true worldwide, I'm teacher in Spain, I've been teaching for the past 16 years and we feel the same way, two cultures apart, two educational systems apart and yet the same problems and feelings...thank you so much for telling this. That's how millions of teachers feel around the world and it's the reason why so many are leaving the profession. Good luck with your new life and best wishes.
I've been teaching for 25 years and I've dealt with all of these issues. You have to be patient as hell. You have to be ready for change all the time - social changes, political changes, and changes in the education business, which is very, very trendy. Five preps? Forget taking a day off unless it's a serious emergency. Teachers drop out all the time, but it sucks when the best, most effective, most dedicated teachers hit the wall and drop off.
When anyone asks the best class I had in college, I don't even have to think about it. NMSU had this thing called "pre-teaching", before they allowed you to start taking teaching classes, they said you needed to go back to one of your old schools, and sit in on the grade you thought you wanted to teach for a week. You didn't need to DO anything, just sit there. They said "even if you're thinking HIgh School and it's only been two years, you don't really remember." So, I'm sitting in a Civics class in my old High School, thinking this was going to be a big waste of time during summer break. What's the point? Middle of Monday morning, day one, I'm thinking "oh my god, what was I thinking, this is awful". I went back to school that fall and changed majors. Best class EVAR. Oddly, I had one programming course in college, Fortran. I hated it, hated, Hated, HATED it. When I turned in the final project, which I'm not sure even compiled, I walked out the door thinking "that's something I'll never do for a living". I've been programming for twenty-five years.
I had a math teacher who would throw expo markers at you if you weren’t paying attention. And if you looked bored he would ask you to teach the concept to the class. It was a really fun 7th hour.
my mom has worked as a kindergarden teacher for 40 years and she cant wait to finally take her retirerment. and the reasons are pretty similar. the reason she has stuck around for so long is because she has the since of duty to the kids. she want them to become independent well rounded young people. she is right now dealing with a day dreaming durg addict principal and her drinking buddies.
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Superintendent and school boards should be required to be on a rotating schedule where they alternate between teaching and administration so they can feel the effects of their own policies.
Absolutely! Administrators are destroying education (on all levels)!
In my state, Washington, there isn't any qualification to be on the School Board, other then getting enough votes. Education is not required. Unbelievable.
Agreed!
This could be applied to many fields outside of teaching as well. I'm a librarian of 28 years and the things she say's about admin ring very true...
If I could give this 100 thumbs up, I would. I believe in Japan, that actually happens.
Parents now always side with thier kids even when they are wrong. This wasn't the case when I was in school.
True. When I was in school, you were on time, you didn't talk out of turn, you had your supplies, you did your work, you went home, and you learned everything that the teacher taught. It was a very straightforward and successful process.
pepper spray
Very true.
The schools were dismissive of all parent rights during Covid. Unfortunately the administrators created a use vs them when it comes to parents rights and schools that will not end anytime soon. Family doctor Issued waiver from mask program, school said “we know best”. Administration closed schools to protect teacher, no regard for effect on children. 8 could go on, but this teacher is a victim if the administrations mistakes
When I was in school teachers and principals could paddle for serious misbehavior.
When you worry about "how will they make it without me..." remember the 6 month rule. While you are working there and you're SO CRITICAL that you cant even get time off for a vacation, keep in mind that 6 months after you leave, you'll call back for something and they'll say, "Who are you again???"
I'm hoping that when I leave, the 6 month rule is 6 minutes. I've worked in the steel producing world since 1998 as a maintenance and repair electrician the entire time. I really like what I do, and I have the attitude of gratitude (well, most of the time). The money and benefits have been really good for me and my wife. It's allowed us to have multiple homes, cars, and travel, and the BS you had to experience as a teacher was something I never had to tolerate. But, it's soon time to go, move on, and move forward.
I also understand your reasons. I can not believe what teachers have to go through, no matter what your pay is. The kids, politics, bs, stress, entitlements, lack of leadership, and the stomping down of those that attempt to display leadership. With the federal government in full control of schools with the carrots (money) they dangle in front of administration, it's nearly impossible to be good anymore. So, I'm glad you left.
Stay happy, stay grateful and know the source of it all! Give praises and a loud Hallelujah to God that you have had such a good life!
Sad but true.
I had the opposite experience. I quit and they could never replace me. They simply added my responsibilities to someone that worked in an adjacent department.
US employment standards are rubish in the uk you get unlimited sick days, 12 months off for a baby, and nearly 6 weeks of paid leave and even with that teachers are leaving due to burn out and stress, I worked for IT support in schools for 9 years when I gave in my notice it was my last day as had 6 weeks of leave, if we worked past our hours it was credited as holiday normaly had 8 or 9 weeks off a year, so they had to pay me overtime to do my hand over for 1 week. Also as a man got 4 weeks off extra paid leave when each of my children was born and shared my wifes 12m leave between us for our 2nd as the law changed to allow it
My friend thinks he is so valuable that he refuses to get 2 new knees he desperately needs. He says he promised his boss 5 years. Says he will get his new knees in 5 years! They are bone on bone. There is no talking to him. Insane.
I’m retiring at the end of June with 22 years teaching in public schools. I really wanted to hang on longer but my well being and physical health is deteriorating as a result. I’m an elementary art teacher and everyone says how fun but the other teachers know and are jealous. I have over 500 students in two schools and I’ve been on the cart multiple years! I can’t keep up with the school displays, grading, staying late after school to clean up and prep, student behavior, staff members who treat me like a baby sitter , administrators, parents, etc. It’s sad because I’m very good at my job, I love teaching art but I’m burnt.😢
It’s not worth staying if your health is suffering. I taught 35 years and now my body is having issues. Enjoy your retirement!
I'm burnt out and done after 26 years. I'm gonna do 1-2 more and then I'm out. 2 months of summers off is not worth 10 months of dread and depression.
Being able to collect a pension after 22 years is pretty good though. Once you are done and are enjoying your retirement, maybe you’ll look back and think it was worth it.
Well said. Same here....I started noticing my health decline as well. High blood pressure, insomnia, anxiety/depression. I was heading down a deadly path.
I'm right there with you. I taught elem. art, primarily, for 30 years with ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia and a host of other illnesses. One year I was split between four schools each week, sometimes 10-11 classes per day. A nightmare. And, as you well know, agues who bought most of the supplies? I swear if I hear "You taught art?! Oh, how fun!!" It could have been if the students would participate appropriately, if I had enough materials for everyone, if I wasn't the dog's body for everyone in the school and district. My doctor wanted me to retire a long time ago ("The job is killing you!") but I was stuck, desperately needing my pension and SSA to be at the highest I could get and good medical insurance. I still have nightmares about school, waking up in a cold sweat. Kids, parents, PTA, admin, "fellow" teachers all out to mess my day up because they didn't consider what I did was valuable. And planning for a sub - argh!! (If I was lucky enough to get a sub...) This week is my 5th anniversary of getting away - and alive, too. Don't miss it one iota. Burned to a crisp.
I was married to a teacher for years and I honestly don't see how anyone does that job. A mother came into a meeting with my wife absolutely furious that her two daughters were failing her class. My wife pointed out that girls had only made it to class three times out of the last 9 weeks. The woman responded that none of the other teachers were failing them for that. My wife replied that she should be mad at those other teachers for not doing their job. I understand why this was happening. The administration took a dim view of failing students for any reason because it made their numbers look bad.
And odds are extremely high, not a Dad in sight.
Sad that so many good teachers are quitting due to poor decisions by people in power, and people in general - totally understandable though - there is no point pissing into the wind, as the saying goes.
They do it because they get good pay, benefits and a pension and only work half the year.
@@Christoph-sd3zi You clearly don't know any actual teachers and you probably spend all your time listening to right-wing propaganda. My wife had a Masters degree and made less than half of what I did with a Bachelors. The school year is more like two thirds of the year and they are required to spend the rest of the year on continuing education. A little continuing education would do you good.
@@Christoph-sd3ziwhere I’m from they get crap pay, crap benefits, and summer break is only about 2.5 months. They usually do it for personal reasons, not cause it’s a good job.
I am a custodian for Brooklyn center schools in Minnesota, when our students fight, there is zero repercussions. This year we had a student fighting another student and a teacher got in the middle and she hot punched in the face and got a black eye. The student that accidentally punched her was back in her class the next day. We are a consequence free school, its an injustice to students to not have consequences for poor behavior. Additionally, we are ranked 437 out of 478 schools which goes to show what a lack of discipline gets you.
why did you not stop the fight with your mop?
@@CEWIII9873Fair enough but when that happens just call admin and et them get a group of deans to stop them.
Demographics is the reason for fights, violence and low test scores. Not funding or discipline. After teaching so long why are we all afraid to say what’s painfully apparent.
@@CEWIII9873 Litigation
@@CEWIII9873 Litigation. Nobody gets involved because parents sue.
Kids running the show in schools is the root of the problem. Districts are on egg shells to avoid law suits from parents and students for the craziest things. We live in a society where so many parents think their kid is always a victim and never the problem. The behavioral issues you described started, at home, many years ago before those kids ever attended school. Teachers are so underappreciated for sure.
I agree I've told both my boys who have since graduated they will toe the line at school or you will be delt with but never had to the teachers loved having them in their classes.
Not kids ...black kids
@@mariocooldude9092 brother I'm not even gonna lie to you, you are 100 correct. I'm black myself, and I can't tell you the amount of times where the black kids at my school are the most loud, ghetto ass people in the world. Throughout ALL of my school life, it was always the black kids that caused the most problems and started shit. It was mostly the black girls, but the guys are also in the mix as well. The black girls being all fucking loud and shit trying to act like they own the school, and then would wear shit that is so provocative. And then the black guys fucking sagging and acting tough saying they would beat your ass and stupid shit like that. It's just crazy because those are the same people that wonder why they are the ones that get in trouble more and then say "oh it's because im black!" No, you are acting like a complete dumbass and no one wants to deal with you. And then, I would get told I act white because I never acted like them. I did my work and was respectful, and black kids were the ONLY kids that would tell me "you act white." Ofc it's not all of us that act this way, but there is no denying that most of us do and it's say. I agree with you 100 brother, as much as people don't wanna hear it, it truly is mostly the black kids.
Kids bark and meow in class and get told they dont have to stop if it helps their anxiety. You can really do anything if your parent says its for mental health.
Well, it’s not like these parents are going to win the lawsuit when there’s going to be a lot of evidence and blame on the student not behaving and following directions like they’re supposed to. That’s why I’m kind of surprised that the school administration is afraid.
"Put your phone away" 20 times a day? Try 20 times an hour - I've just retired early - what a relief.
CANADA is BANNING PHONES in classrooms as of SEPT. 2024. Sanest school policy I'e heard in years. The U.S> should do the same thing NOW!
Very true. I spend most of the class session asking students to put away their phones. They can barely retain anything because they are constantly on their phones. So sad.
The cell phone 📱 was a huge issue when I retired! I did 26 years as well.
Have rules posted in your classroom. Don’t tolerate any crap from the kids & be consistent. What you should’ve done is taken the phones away, put them in an envelope with the name & ID on it. Send it to the AP or principal. The kids get the message afterwards when mom/dad need to pick up phone in the principal’s office and the lecture they’ll receive.
@@jaimepimienta233 Love to know where it is you teach that lets you do that.
My daughter is in 6th grade and she was having trouble in ELA. In the parent teacher conference we found this out. The surprise on the teacher's face when I asked what I could do to help was shocking. I then did what needed to be done. Simple as that. I am thankful for teachers. More so maybe since the Pandemic. Thank you for your service and your honesty.
Don't blame the pandemic. The pandemic only exposed how little parents are involved in their children's lives.
Absolute worst career move, and life decision was moving to Texas in January 2016, getting certified to teach; I resigned after one semester. I experienced every reason you gave! I had no support, I was a first year teacher in my 40s! The kids were in charge and if your principal and department didn’t like you, it will be impossible to succeed.
Same here. But now I'm trying to break into tech sales. What did you end up pursuing as an alternative?
The hours and workload are unbelievable, and I never had children of my own to deal with at home. I lasted 34 years. Teaching has never been never easy, but right now, it's never been harder.
34 years! QUEEN!
I’m feeling triggered just listening to you! I taught high school for 20 years. I was planning on making it to 25, but for all the reasons you describe plus the post-Covid behavior (talk about the monkeys running the zoo!) took me to a place where I no longer believed I was the right person for the students. They needed a drill sergeant and that is just not who I am, nor who I want to be. I retired early. I thought I would sub, but I get sick to my stomach when I think of going back into a classroom. Thank you for sharing.
I had bad dreams for 3-4 years after leaving. Crazy stuff. Like during bathroom/lunch they would move my classroom (I taught art!). Or I'd enter the room and all the desks and chairs were gone but I still had an observation anyway. 10 years on I don't have nightmares.
LOL "triggered" 🤣
I have fond memories of my senior English teacher 😉
My wife knows what you went through-especially in her J-H days of educating the kids. The thought of being a sub makes her feel an instant tension in her skin. Sounds like your students didn't need a drill sergeant-they needed a zookeeper.
I could have written your comment! 25 years. Total monkeys. Totally not worth my precious time on the planet. Makes me stomach flip at the thought of ever returning. Would rather work at McDonald's, it's THAT horrible.
Can I just say that Mrs Wizard certainly does not look old enough to have been teaching for 26 years.
Are you high?
wizard said he was 40 something and that mrs wizard was a little older... some people only have one job there whole life.. and start very young on there career.. and retire young.. i think she started teaching at age of 18 if not wrong 18+26 and you'll get her age..
She started teaching when she was 12 :-)
@@joshuagibson2520Brusselpicker is saying she looks amazing for her age and you're trying to pick on him for the complement. I don't think they're the problem here.
@@JOHNJ0HN9111 I'm guessing she had to go to Uni first, so 21 or 22+26. (Unless you've heard something in a video that I missed.)
I'm 62 years old. I grew up in a small farming town near the Mexican border in California. At 23, I found myself, quite by accident, teaching middle school math in the same district where I was raised. It was a terrible seven year experience compared to my time there as a kid. When I was a kid, teachers had real authority. If you didn't get good grades, you didn't pass from one grade to the next. Students were placed in classes based on test scores; those with lower scores were given additional help from teacher’s aides. Most importantly, if you got in trouble at school, you were in big trouble when you got home. When I resigned seven years later, I discovered that the district was, essentially, nothing more than a baby sitting operation. I was 30 years old, young enough to make a good career change. Today, I would not recommend education or law enforcement to anyone. Thanks for reading.
What did you end up doing for a career?
I eventually ended up working in Adult Education from 1990 until 2010 in the California State Prison System. It was actually quite excellent. But starting in 2010 things began to get "loose" in the state prison system much like had done in the public school. Chaos eventually found it's way into adult education and I retired from education in 2015. Today I work construction and plumbing and set my own hours. We have leased out our farm ground and things are good. @@kristenturner1222
Spot on!!! As a retired teacher from Florida, I am happy to see someone speaking up about issues teachers are facing. Every point you made for quitting is identical to my reasons for retiring in 2020. Covid had nothing to do with my retirement, but cell phones, leadership, hours, discipline, unions, and everything else you mentioned did. I guess I had it better off than many other teachers because I also have a military retirement. After 23 years in the military and 19 years teaching high school science, I had had enough of the bureaucracy and headaches of teaching. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved teaching, but when students are distracted by cell phones and simply do not want to learn, my time was up.
coming from my child, it isn't so much not wanting to learn, it is teachers are unable or unwilling to teach in an approachable and entertaining way for all 30 students (as I explained to her) they can't even if they wanted to, Because each student has some specific way to grab their interest, but there are far too many students and not enough teachers per classroom for those individual approaches to work. So, kids and adults alike would rather learn from a way that interests them and is entertaining, aka RUclips and other forms of possible entertaining educational content.
Sir, your writing is superb. Thank you for your service.
Any current day student will tell you they don’t have to learn anything. If they need to know something they will look it up on their phone.
@@JohnKennedy-ok9io My niece just graduated a couple of years ago with a 4 year biology degree, she's working at a Toyota plant. And teaching herself Python and C+, using the internet......
I can tell you something America going with of system of education in China no phones are allowed in class and TikTok is educational any media is about how wonderful is the country. You know happens the next era they want to fight so hard for this country and the United States student hate their own country 😢
I’m so sorry. Teacher tired is REAL!! I pray you are finding peace and happiness outside the classroom ❤️
My wife just quit teaching. She now home-schools out kids. She is much happier. GREAT VIDEO!
...so she quit teaching... to take up teaching? 😂
Teaching "chosen" pupils HER way...or else.
Discipline instilled; years of knowledge instilled and distilled.....
@@jasono2139
@@jasono2139Accurate description.....
@@jasono2139.. to homeschool her own children.. using her skills for a much greater purpose.. umm. Yeah no brainer.
@@lalalaleah7431 wow, thanks Captain Obvious!!
What would we have done if you didn't restate the obvious irony?!
🦸♂️
Teachers have skills that employers love. My daughter left after two years and is now happily in a position she enjoys. I came across a statistic once on how in the 1950"s ninety cents of every budget dollar made it to the classroom, by the 80's it was only ten cents! Education really should be funded from the classroom up, that would get rid of a number of the meddling administrators.
The funding should be taken away from the government. Their near monopoly is a big part of the problem. Make them compete for the students, and the money.
My wife makes 3 times what she did as a teacher and is much happier. When parents and teachers stopped being partners in education, this was inevitable.
@@richardmarshall6751 That's a ridiculous, horrible idea. You clearly have never taught.
@@richardmarshall6751 Should we make the military for-profit too? LOL. And yes, this HAS been tried before!
@@richardmarshall6751 We have a for-profit medical system in America. How's that been working out for everyone?
I’m a middle school math teacher in my 60’s. I love helping the majority of my students achieve success. The problem students, their parents, and sometimes an odd lot of administrators, and excessive expectations often make me want to just walk away. I am very good at what I do, my students do well in academic growth - yet I would say it’s a 50/50 chance that I will not make it to the end of the year. School administrators get nervous when I say that I am looking forward to next year. The problem as I see it is that it is basically impossible to do my job properly - there is not enough time in a day to meet all expectations and requirements. Student misconduct wrecks about half my classes every day - and then I have to take time away from all my other duties and waste classroom time documenting the events of the day and contacting parents. It’s maddening, and I feel sad for the good students who can’t get more of my time.
Bingo!
That is everything!
As a nurse, the words "evidence-based practice" are my nemesis. I agree with you that change is not always the best option.
That is a phrase used to show power and shut down an open debate. Cherry picking articles for the information they want is "evidence based".
@@mph5896 so true! I never thought about it like that!
@@mph5896 The most ridicuolous thing is if you properly fact check claimed "evidence-based" it often isn't if you research deepr in detail. The universities themselves are so corrupted.
My Mom was a school teacher for about the same amount of time you taught and she had a really great principal that she was a long time friend with who when he retired was replaced by a " progressive " young woman who insisted on having to teach the kids aboout all the new age crap that has been coming out for the last couple of decades. My Mom told her she would be more than happy to do that just as soon as all of her students could read and write at a seventh grade level. ( She taught grade seven). The new principal didn't like what she said and put in a formal complaint to the school board. What she didn't know was the school board superintendent had specifically insisted that his granddaughter was placed in my Mom's class three years previously! I still chuckle when I think about how that backfired in her face! BTW, when my Mom died almost 20 years after she retired many of her former students attended her funeral and a couple of them even wrote eulogies about what a difference my mother made in their lives!
GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR MOTHER, teachers should get attorneys pay, maybe more
The good teachers to make so much difference. One of my teachers really stood out kind and fun and she used to let me and a friend chill in her classroom during lunch.
Oh, you poor thing , you are a whinger kids need to test the boundaries to learn what is right and what is wrong.
The younger teachers and principals are often the worst. They try to bully you, especially the ones who think they know everything and they all fall flat on their face when they learn the hard way. Sometimes, I see why hazing used to be a thing.
Your post made me cry. It sounds like your Mom was a true blessing to her students! I’ve been teaching for 28 years. I love teaching and have always brought enthusiasm and joy to the classroom. However, the work load and the challenging behaviors of some students are taking such a toll on teachers all over the country. The struggle is real! Thank you for sharing your mom’s story.
I was a Special Ed teaching assistant for about 7 years. I can totally relate to everything you say about why you left teaching. I left the schools for many of the same reasons. TBH, student behavior has gotten so out of hand that I don't know how anyone could even consider becoming a teacher these days. Teachers should be drawing hazardous duty pay!
Special Ed teaching assistant. God bless you. When I was a SHORT-LIVED substitute teacher, you guys were godsends and rarely appreciated.
One commenter said they think today's school kids need a drill instructor. I believe that time is actually upon us. If that's what it will take to make kids ready for the world, then do it.
Great video. Reminds me of my "retirement". 23 years in corporate America. Treated like garbage, passed over for promotions, watched others with less experience progress. When I retired my direct manager said, " you can't quit. We need you." Offered me a promotion and huge bump in salary. Another person higher than him told me the truth. I was too good at what I did. They deliberately held me back. Glad you and Mr wizard were able to see it was time to retire. Keep up the good videos. Thanks
I have been teaching for just over eight years (beginning college students with an age range of 18 and up). While I don't plan to quit, I can relate to what you're saying here...especially the unreasonable and unrealistic emotional demands from students. I haven't had anything come up with changing pronouns and names from day to day, but I do get a lot of out of line emotional demands. Students feel entitled to be kept happy, entertained, and completely pleased with everything about themselves at all times. I get, "It's your job to make sure I feel good about coming to class. It's your job to make sure I feel confident and happy in class." And well...no...actually..it's not. It's my job to teach you and to support you in your learning. You gain comfort with the subject matter and confidence as you learn, as your own skills grow. This is school. This is not the Mall of America, the New York State Fair, or the Vegas strip....and I am not in guest services.
Have you actually told them that ? If so, that's a good start.
entitled is the key word .
The education is beyond broken . It's no longer about preparing the kids to move ahead in the world . Politics and poor parenting are just some of the things that have taken education and twisted it to the horror show it is today .
....you forgot to mention garbage teachers who don't belong within 1000 yards of a school building too.
Bad teachers need to be held accountable just as much as bad parents.
Don't forget about the administrative bloat at schools and districts. The professional types that eat up resources and complicate everything. They help no one but themselves. They come up with some great new program, enact it, then run off to a bigger and better job before the results come in. And what's the district's response, hire someone to come up with a new program to replace the last. And round and round we go. The kids, teachers and taxpayers are all worse off, but yet these positions are growing for some reason.
The whole western world is broken.......just hard to understand that people have been ignoring it for 30 years.
Education can't compete with social media for use of brain power.
Administrative Bloat - YES! (And it occurs bc of corruption)
My wife was a teacher in Olathe, KS for 12 years, and she quit for many of the same reasons that you described here. When you breakdown the hours worked relative to the pay, it gets ridiculous. Parents all think their kids are angels and any behavioral and/or academic problems must be the Teacher's fault. The state funding cuts around 2016 were the last straw. Teachers deserve better.
Taught special Ed for 12 years so most of my kids were already on their last chance at education. Lots of fights, emotional problems, substance abuse and violent behavior. The last day I walked out of that HS felt like the greatest weight lifted off my shoulders ever. I got a nasty gram as well and framed it and it’s on my wall to remind me of my correct decision.
Wow. What did the nastygram say?
@@absolutelynonameslef oh, it was so petty. Since I failed to return my parking pass and ID, I would be charged $150.00 for fines and replacement cost because, as we know, high school parking lot spots are a hot commodity in the summer. Our building didn’t even have an electronic lock so my ID was basically a picture of me with the schools name on it. The vice principal and I didn’t really see eye to eye on her job performance.
I retired after 26 years of being 'that guy' teaching elementary school. I had hoped to make it to 30 years because I loved my job, but I knew it was my time to go. Covid, distance learning, new admins, crazy parents, and disrespectful kids were taking the joy from the job, so I figured that I would go out on a high note instead of getting to the point where I dreaded getting up and going to work every day.
But didn’t you lose out on your pension? In Florida we have to go 30 years to get a good pension.
@@harrisonclark4382 In Alabama, retirement can be collected after 25 years for us old folks under the Tier 1 retirement plan, regardless of age. I had enough sick days saved up for just over another year, so I am getting retirement income based off a little over 27 years. The more years that you work, the more you get, but my time had come and there was a shiny and bright new kid right out of college that came in and became that teacher that I used to be.
@@harrisonclark4382 I responded to you earlier, but for some reason, youtube didn't post it. So, I'll try again :)
In Alabama, us old folks under the Tier 1 retirement plan can start collecting benefits after 25 years, no matter what age. The more years that you have in the system, the more you get at retirement. There is a weird formula they use that calculates monthly benefits based on the number of years worked, average salary over the past X number of years, and a percentage. Because of all of my saved up sick days, I got credit for just over twenty-seven years of service and the retirement difference between 27 years and 30 years was not that much. I figured my sanity was worth more than an extra few dollars per month.
The folks that got hired during the era of "Tier 2 retirement" got hosed. They can retire after twenty-five years, but can't start collecting retirement benefits until age 62.
I taught for 10 years. I got married and got pregnant with twins last school year. Almost immediately, I put in my resignation for the following year. It’s hard with one spouse working, but I’m so grateful I’m no longer teaching for nearly all by the reasons you stated in your video!
“I had students go by several different names in the course of a day.”
LoL. Good luck trying to pull that shit when you’re trying to get paid.
@AgentQQ8 You can't blame the kids for that though. Society is not only condoning that behavior, but also encouraging it. The kids are exploiting it, because we let them!
I taught elementary school for 33 years and retired June, 2021. I was not really ready to retire, still loved teaching the children who behaved and wanted to learn but there were enough children each year who misbehaved, disrupted the classroom and had no interest in learning. The lack of support from administration at the school board level and school level, along with lack of parental support caused the students to know they could get away with about anything - so they did. I could have, of course, listed everything you did but thank you for doing it for me!❤
The local funding model of American public education is largely responsible for your frustration. If I were in charge, teachers would be properly paid, brat kids would be removed and their parents sanctioned, and the Air Force would be forced to have a bake sale to purchase a new bomber-
@@Flies2FLL OK, but what happened to the old bomber?
My wifes aunt taught for nearly 40 years, retiring 12 years ago, almost exclusively 2nd grade. She didn't want to retire at that point. But the stress of the school administrations paperwork load AND lack of support weighed down upon her, along with the disintegration of the family unit, all allowing kids to run wild. Discipline had become such a challenge that towards the end, she said she'd rather just sit at her desk for 6 hours, and as long as the kids didn't burn down the school, well, ok. This was at a school that is country-ish that started bussing kids in from a run-down urban area that is economically challenged. The rules all had to be modified or changed to suit those kids, really causing problems for the teachers on the "front lines."
My wifes aunt threw in the towel and left. The burden was tossed aside, and she was so relieved.
@@2006gtobob OK. But how does that answer the question that I asked?
By the way, I taught for three years, and later when I had a chance to further pursue that career, I decided not to. On a further side note, I decided not to pursue that career the second time around for pretty much the same reasons that are listed here and by others, and that was 27 years ago. And the first and only go around lasted for 3 years and that started 37 years ago. And in the 37 years since then, it has only gotten worse.
@@RWebster325 I wasn't replying to you.
35 years in public education. It takes a special person to teach. I found that the most important part of my work with students was to develop relationships. Not like you would with a friend, but being the type of person that your students can trust have their best interests in mind. Remember, it's about educating kids to equip them with tools to be successful in life. Don't make school "easy". My class was the hardest class in the building, yet i was blessed with a high level of respect with most of my students and their parents. It was a pleasure to serve the people of that community. Honestly, I don't miss the job, but I do miss opportunities that influenced the life of young people.
This is great. You sound exactly like my wife. She just retired after 30 years at 54. She could not take any more. Every single one of these reasons that drove you to quit, were reasons my wife quit as well. The only thing she never complained about was the pay. This is was because she knew the pay when she went into teaching. She could have gone into something else. The HOURS overwhelmed her, however. And no amount of pay could make up for it. She was depressed and stressed to the max.
Those summer, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring and Easter breaks along with many other various day offs for holidays and "Teacher institutes" must be a real killer😂
You are a product of your own idiocy...
@@Christoph-sd3zi
Wow. So close to 30. My wife has 2 yrs left here in GA I dont think she can make it This year she was forced into teaching AP Physics. She told them she is not qualified to teach it They still put it on her. Couple of weeks ago they had the audacity to pull her in the principals office to tell her they think she could do a better job teaching it! She looked at them with wide eyes and just told her bosses that she told them she was not qualified, and she got up and walked out, I told her to go in the next two years sit down at her desk and hand out worksheets and don’t do another thing… she loved teaching back in the day. It’s been the last 5 to 10 years that have been absolutely impossible for teachers to try and do an efficient job with high moral. Impossible. Mrs wizard. I hope you can at least draw some of your pension Great video!
YOU ARE SPOT ON!! I also quit after 26 years. I "retired" and can afford not to work due to my husband's death, however, I consider it quitting. I had to walk away because I just couldn't do it anymore for many of the same reasons. I felt that I couldn't give the kids what they needed; instead I was told to use some 'new fangled' idea that added to my work load. My pain -I miss the kids and my colleagues and feel I let them down. I know I need to do things for myself and feel good about that! I sub and volunteer to get my kid-fix. And that works for now. LOVE your site and will check out your art! Blessings!
Mrs. Wizard, please remember that we love and adore you and appreciate what you bring to the channel!! You and wizard make an incredible and strong team and good things are gonna to you both!! I appreciate everything you bring to the channel. Keep looking forward and never look backwards and you and Wizard will create something phenomenal!!
I retired from public elementary education after 30 years this past June. I couldn't stand another day after all that time, despite the huge increase my pension would had gotten if I entered the drop program. Things had changed so much my last year seemed like a marathon. Teaching is not healthy for well-meaning competent people. They are expected to pick up the slack for the inept. Despite that, you are often still treated like a child. Leaving was the best decision I made and I am very happy now.
#5: call all students by last name only. They aren't likely to change the last name. DISCIPLINE is the biggest thing these days. You can't touch them and they KNOW it.
Our state (Illinois) puts SO many unfunded mandates, it is obscene. On top of that, the legislature just allowed a good program to sunset that allowed people to donate to a program that gave private school students to have tuition assistance. It did NOT come out of school funding. It allowed a tax write off to the individuals donating of 75% of their donation amount. Teachers union wanted it killed so it died without coming to a vote. We had the program for 5 years. The local public school district scores are SO far below the state (which itself is terrible) it isn't funny. The whole system needs to change drastically. The parochial schools do much better with half the $ and the scores prove it.
My wife taught part time at the community college for 17 years. When she left over ten years ago (her full time job changed hours) many of the students coming in had NO reason to be there>>functionally illiterate. These kids were too stupid to know which end of a shovel to dig with and they are the FUTURE!
I didnt have any discipline problems teaching middle school for 30 years. The students thought that I was crazy anyway. One student told me, "You cant hit us, you are a teacher". I said, "Actually I can hit you, I'm not supposed to." She didnt give me any attitude for the rest of the year and she became o e of my favorites.
Hearing how much teachers actually do for their students motivates me to do more for teachers
thanks for sharing, as a teacher i think people fail to realize the insane level of work and passion for learning it takes to be a good teacher
You work 7hrs a day. You get off a week for Thanksgiving, 2 weeks for winter break and a week for spring break. Then you are off 10+ weeks during summertime. You get healthcare, dental, vision and retirement. Cushie job! Right! No! 1000 times no!
Only met one teacher who worked to the contract. He refused after activities because he wouldn’t work for free. He handed out a lot of worksheets made by the textbook manufacturer. Graded them while the next class did their worksheets. The tests always came from the textbook manufacturer and had a key. He did the same 8th grade and curriculum every year for 40 years. He did get to work 15 minutes early most days, but drank coffee and socialized with staff on “his time.”
@@kenyonbissett3512 they video addresses your point.. good teachers avarage 60-80 hours a week.. you need a system that pushes out bad teachers and rewards good ones.. that doesnt exsist.. There's a lot of nepotism in education and politics and greed
@@bedoy34 true but there are so few male teachers and they are desperately needed that they can get away with things administration would not tolerate female teachers doing.
No. Exploited, abused, stressed out, and overworked teachers work 60+ hours a week. @@bedoy34
Very interesting video. I'm a Motor Mechanic by trade and a K-12 teacher by profession. So much of what you said resonates with me. I'm still teaching (23 years now) and also still do some mechanical work as well (38 years). I love both jobs but the issue that is the same in both of them is people (specifically adults). Kids are kids and will try to test teachers at every opportunity they get. The problem for me, and you touch on this, is lack of support from adults. I've taught Special Ed (IM and ED) as well as Mainstream. I left my ED class because the adult who was supposed to help was a hindrance rather than a help. These were kids who were extremely volatile but it was an adult that was a problem. I have come to the conclusion that when I grow up I want to be a hermit.
Same
Being a hermit is a great profession. I work a couple days a week and the rest of the time is mine to be a hermit and do as I please. The other 2 days in the week are challenging.
I’m a custodian in my districts and I completely understand what you went through.
Thank you for doing your job. I have 2 kids in elementary school and have nothing but respect for anyone who works in the building to help make the kids lives better no matter the task.
Same here going on 3 yrs.
Thank you for all your work. The custodial staff are the backbone of schools.
Carl?
LOL @@Mr.Canuck! 😆
Fellow Kansas teacher here (30+ years), married to a Kansas teacher. I've witnessed EXACTLY the things that ran you off, even if I just don't care enough about all that to quit just yet (and I can still get away with being pretty old school), but it is taking a terrible toll on my wife. She's taught for 10 years, and has high standards and takes her job quite seriously. We watched your video together and the exact things you were talking about are the EXACT things that are making it hard for her to stay in it. She was just beginning to think that the problems are confined to her school and to her district. After watching your video, and reading some comments, it seems like it is the same all over. Thank you for giving voice to my wife's problems.
Lots of companies these days are hiring temp outside consultants for short presentations on whatever the urgent topic is. She with her teach experience may want to look into working for 1 of these companies. Short stays, different places to present in, and no work to take home may make this worthwhile for your wife.
Hard to have high standards when students can take the same test as many as 3 times and then the students gets the best grade. Or, the new scoring of 50%-100%. Looks like this 50-59 E, 60-69 D, and on up. No 0-49 anymore, just throw those out. Unfair to those students who actually do the work and study.
Especially during this time were too much left agendas are pouring into kids minds
Its very difficult and challenging
@@mohnnadmercedes8246 No, that's not the case nor is it the cause nor A cause that is real/actual. I teach in a district that has always seemed "proud" of being a little bit socially "behind", and it is pretty much the same as it has been, so your talk of an agenda doesn't hold water there. Besides, topics and ideas "pouring into kids (sic) minds" is what education is - no matter the agenda. It seems to me that not understanding that that is what education is about is what is "very difficult and challenging" for some adults. Forget the talk of "agendas", it's not an easy job, and mainly for the reasons that Mrs. Wizard outlined so well in her video.
Not "all over", plenty of public schools that don't have fighting problems. That is a mark of an urban school, with hood rat students. Oh there, I said it. Dog whistle warning.
My wife recently stopped teaching for many of the same reasons. I can’t imagine who wants to go into the teaching profession now.
I spent 33 years as an K-12 Administrator and 4 years as an instructor in the Graduate Program at a university. I agree with your perceptions as a teacher. 1. We called the paradigm shift - "flavor of the month". 2. Behavior is actually a society problem with the lack of respect shown to adults in a supervisory role. 3. Students do not want to learn - they want to be entertained. 4. Parents do not take responsibility for their child's actions.
You couldn't have summed it up more perfectly! It's not the educator's fault, it's the parent's
fault, but what do they care!
Did yoi think administration was worth it for you?
I was let go from my teaching job in May 2020. It was the best decision that was ever made for me. I’m still trying to find my way, but it’s so much better than teaching (again, for me).
did they find your OF page?
@@CEWIII9873 Excuse me?
My wife served as PTA chair in each of the schools my children attended from K thru 12th grade. A few years ago, she began working for our school district in a support (not teaching) position at an elementary school for a few years before she retires... soon. It does not help that she started in this role at the onset of the COVID19 pandemic which proved stressful for EVERYONE. Her greatest frustration by far has been the failure of PARENTS to shoulder the responsibility for their own children's preparedness and responsibilities. Where is your lunch... Why don't you have a jacket today... Where is your homework assignment.... Who is supposed to pick you up this afternoon... yada yada yada. Mrs. Wizard... We understand. God Bless you for caring.
It's easy to slough off blame to the parents and what you're saying points to a lack of parenting time. Maybe the question you should be asking is: what happened in this country where we now need both parents to work full time to just barely stay out of poverty? GDP and corporate profits are at record levels but workers' salaries have not kept pace.
@@gunkulator1Not a valid argument when the kids walk in with $6 worth off donuts and a Stanley cup every morning. I was a single mother with 3 kids. I worked my tail off. My kids were prepared. They went to bed on time, ate dinner at home, had clean clothes and lived in a clean home. Was it tough? Yes, but I patented my children!
@@gunkulator1 Nothing but a lazy excuse. Suck it up and make the time instead of pushing parental responsibility onto teachers.
@@gunkulator1single parents.
I retired after 30 years as a music teacher. Along the way, I also taught a reading class for 3 years. I hung in there, but it took 4 jobs; 2 in districts and 2 in PSA's. Pros and cons to both. Kids were the least of my troubles. Administrators became administrators because they can't stand the classroom. At least, for most of them. Loking for the big bucks, but not really doing a great job. They even more helpless than their teachers.
In to many cases that’s true.
I recently gave up teaching mainly due to the constant changing requirements, huge workload and poor management. I applied for and got another great job that I really enjoy and that gives me a great work life balance. More teachers need to realise that they have transferrable skills and need to give themselves a chance to do something else. When I left I was not replaced and those I left behind are suffering as a consequence which makes me very sad but it was not my doing. Just more poor management.
Schools are constantly advertising for new teachers every school year. They think teachers are interchangeable, and the revolving door policy is acceptable. It hurts the students' education.
Mrs. Wizard you are 100% spot on with your reasons and comments. It is not about the money. Here in Canada teachers start at $64K and go up to north of 100K after 10 years. The teachers here are leaving in record numbers because of the same reasons. I was PTA Chairman for 23 years, talked with 100's of teachers and parents. I had to endure wild PTA meetings on various topics, and all your points played into those events. Enjoy your retirement, take care, be strong
In the U.S. West teachers end up with $54, 000 after 26 years and a Masters degree.
As a Canadian, I have so many friends that quit teaching in their 30s and 40s because of the behaviour, parents and lack of support and increased responsibilities are not sustainable. Teachers are fleeing the profession like mad!!
@@malcolmmarzo2461in California it’s over $120k.
@@bngr_bngr Yes, California is an outlier. Perhaps 120k is the equivalent of 60k in the inland West when adjusted for the terrific cost of living in California.
@@malcolmmarzo2461 keep in mind that when a person retires they can move to a lower cost state or overseas. Plus most teachers will have their homes paid off by that time.
I also retired in May from 26 years in public school at the elementary level. I agree with everything. We need a GI Bill for teachers to increase pay to a living wage. In my district market forces and the shortage of teachers forced the district to raise pay up to $60,500 for a new teacher without a masters degree which was a big jump but the veterans like me with a masters were only making about $12,000 more after 26 years. Most teachers do not do it for the money but many are the heads of households and pay the bills and must send their kids to university as well. We need a GI Bill that will provide low interest housing loans and free community college or reduced rates at the big state universities for teachers' kids. Teachers also do not want to retire on welfare.
Discipline and lack of support from the admin and parents is crazy. We had kids in our school who would curse out the teacher, destroy school property, and even act out violently against the teachers or students and were never suspended. Some might end up in the office but would be returned to class within 30 minutes. Parents also must see that their kids attend school. We had kids in our school that missed many weeks and were never held back. Parents also need to know what their students are working on and help them. I had many parents who were more than able to help with homework and reading but were never involved with their kid's learning.
We must also teach the 3Rs again and have a grading system that is easy for the teacher to do, easy for the parents and students to understand, and reflects the kid's true ability level. Grade inflation was becoming very fashionable in my last years. The teachers did not want to do it but admin looked at failures as your fault not that of lazy kids and parents. Further, retaining was strongly frowned upon. I myself am not for retaining everyone but if the kid cannot read, write, and do math at grade level you should hold them back early in grades K,1st, and 2nd. These are the formative years.
Things must change in US schooling and teachers must be treated with respect and paid more. Please look at East Asian countries as a model. MA East Asian Studies Chinese, Fulbright Scholar Japan 2003, Fulbright Scholar China 2005.
I worked 30 years building Subarus in Indiana and its funny how many of your reasons fit right in with most any job...im now retired and I don't miss it and I'm certain they don't miss me.
Nope. Not even close.
@@BarryBrandon-mz7gb yes, he is. The only difference is you deal with kids. It isn't easy anywhere now.
@@FlowerPower-r8h no he isn't Not to say working in a factory isn't hard work it is ! But , Based on your ignorance you must me Trolling , but okay I'll play . It ISN'T just dealing with kids LOL!! . It's STUDENTS TERRIBLE BEHAVIOR with NO consequences ruining everything ( or their parents will be angry ) , PARENTS who BLAME US for just about everything,. It's ADMINISTRATION , HORRIBLE pay for ALL of the UNPAID time we work when we're NOT in the classroom. There is a REASON our country will soon be in need of over 1/2 a Million Teachers.
Yep, I agree with everything you've said. I'm in my 22nd year of teaching. I just hope I can stand it 8 more years to make it to 30. Public Education is a mess (much like the culture of the US). One wonders how long it can last.
I have 21 years and doubt I can make it to 30
I also quit after 26 years. Wow now that is coincidence. It has been almost 5 years and now I make twice as much with my new business. I simply did not feel appreciated and the behavior of the students got worse every year.
Hallo Teacher, I want you to know that millions of people like me appreciate you and your service. Teaching is the most noble and respected profession in my view. You contribute so much to building the society. I remember you guys always
If your state is like the state I work in you put in the required years. While I have the years I don’t have the age. They have tiered the pension so the age is even higher. It is like the system is set up so one can’t make it to the end with all the benefits. I completely understand your points. My favorite is when a new staff member comes in saying that they wanted a job that doesn’t have stress and need less hours. They don’t make it most of the time. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
My kids are in elementary, I've always wondered how a good teacher REALLY feels. Thank you for sharing your feelings.
As a parent, you should feel free to call or email a good teacher to have a normal conversation with them to find out how they feel. Teachers don't hold back; they will tell you everything you want to know and more.
Mrs. Wizard, I have been a teacher for 35 yrs. New York, New Haven, Waterbury... The only fights I broke up in Waterbury were between girls. One VP had to tackle one of the girls from a running start. Once in a Jewish school there was a lay teacher who complained about my classes being too noisy. This woman was not a team player and I now saw why my predecessor left. Today, after being a successful musician, salesman, and teacher, I substitute teach in my town for the good parts of education. There are good points...When the teacher also learns from the experience, and furthers his or her knowledge, it is like no other lesson.
I knew a few teachers that became private tutors during the lock downs. They were anxious for leaving the system but have done extremely well for themselves anyway. Glad to hear you are doing well also!
Full-time private tutors?
I retired after 28 years of teaching and got a job in the private sector. I couldn't believe how stressful teaching was compared to what I exprrienced in the private sector. There was no comparson.
I feel great compassion for all the truly good teachers out there today who are having to deal with all the incredibly destructive policies that are being implemented in schools today. Also, having to deal with so many students today who present great discipline problems, and the lack of of administrative help in dealing with them. I can readily understand why so many good teachers who have dedicated their lives to educating children and youth are quitting. I know it was a tough decision for you to quit. I wish you great success in the future. You and The Wizard make a great team, and better yet, a good couple.
So many administrators are gullible for "the latest innovation in teaching." I taught 32 years, a big city I will not name, now retired. Actually most administrators I knew were not academic/intellectual minded. But street-smart to intimidate you, yes. I 'm a guy and I took the fight to all the toughs, even administration. I have little good to say about them.
I am enjoying these glimpses into Mrs Wizard's world. Thanks for posting for us
I don't blame you for leaving. I'm a police officer in Washington DC and have been on the job for 27 years. I can leave now and I'm planning on going in 1 to 2 years. I'm dealing with it while my youngest daughter is in college and then I'm outta there! We share some of the same types of frustrations you've mentioned and police like teachers are quitting in droves. The dept has lost quite a few people this year.
I hear you on the union protecting bad employees.
I've been a member of two different unions and the stories I could tell you about watching the union go to bat for people who really didn't deserve to be employed considering the stunts they pulled on a regular basis would make you want to tear your hair out.
At one place, there was a guy who was a barely functional alcoholic who would show up steaming drunk almost every day and proceede to spend most of his shift sleeping in the breakroom, but because he was friendly with the president of our local nothing was done.
At the other place, there was a guy who was infamous for his violent temper who deliberately provoked a fist fight with another employee who ended up in the hospital, but because he was friends with someone on the union board he was protected and the guy who was laying in intensive care at the hospital got hung out to dry.
Bullseye 🎯. I was a high school English teacher for 32 years. I loved teaching, but the changes and lack of consequences is disastrous. I made 100k as my final pay and my DB pension is good. I feel for the new educators. I retired at 57! Your reasons are sound and are things which I experienced. ✨️ I had over 200 days of sick leave. We accumulate 15 per year.
I’ve had my daughter, granddaughter, and numerous friends quit for those same reasons. Their main reason that these things happen is NO RESPECT .
Teachers are whiny.
@@Christoph-sd3zi Trolls are pathetic Poor freak
I got out of teaching over 20 years ago, and I've never been happier. I now have my own family including two children which would have not been possible had I kept the stressful job of teaching. My special education training did come in handy as one of my children has special needs. I also found the time to become a rabbi as I delved more and more into religion after leaving public school teaching. I now use my teaching skills to teach scripture to four people online.
Using my teaching skills to serve the Creator has allowed me to fulfill my purpose in life.
I have a sister that’s a teacher (6th grade I believe) back in NJ. She’s pretty close to retirement (maybe another 3 years)- not sure she’ll make it vs just walking away, which I understand. When I was in high school (now back in the 1980’s and a Jesuit HS), we were expected to act like responsible students and we had to comply, otherwise there would be consequences. These days, with social media, people recording everything, and the complete distraction of the smartphone, I can completely understand a teacher just walking away. Anyone can burn out under those very adverse conditions (all 6 reasons you indicated), so I agree that walking away was the best decision. When you’ve planned well and can leave (from a financial standpoint) it makes it much sweeter to leave. It’s sad as I’m sure you worked very hard to teach the students well (the future ‘leaders’ of the country) and I worry about the future of the country.
How about, instead of giving up, we demand that the students leave their phones in their locker during class time? Oh, that would be too cruel, I suppose, eh? We all agree phones and social media are a terrible influence and distraction, then freak'n outlow them on school property! As a licensed concealed carry permit holder, I'm not allowed to have a firearm on school property (very stupid rule, IMO), but yet the students are free to carry devices that we know are doing harm every day. Schools need to get their priorities straight.
As a 2nd career educator now teaching my 11th year, I am so ready to quit at the end of this year, but may try to stick it out another year when I reach full retirement age.
Much of the education system is broken and each passing year brings more students with behavior issues and SpEd students with significant disabilities that are mainstreamed. ISS is meaningless to these kids, as they remain as just defiant when they return. Kids have also lost so much ground in their math & ELA skills since returning from virtual learning and schools just don't retain or even remediate to bring up their deficient skills. We simply push them out of HS, lacking the skills required by business and apparently nobody in education or government wants to recognize this problem.
The school where I teach use to have zero turnover and now each year it loses 4-5 experienced teachers that are replaced with fast-tracked paraprofessionals.
They don't want to recognize it because they don't want to change it. Uneducated adults are easier to control or incarcerate.
I'm not a teacher nor have I ever wanted to be one, but I completely understand why you quit teaching. I gradiated in 2006 and school these days seems a lot different than when it was back then. Being from Washington state, our school system/s have been gradually going down hill and I can't imagine being a kid in the sustem these days. The "no kid left behind" perogitive did indeed leave a lot of kids behind, including me. I had to drop out half way through 11th grade because they not only wanted me to be held back, but they wanted me to go all the way back to the beginning of 10th grade. That was a big "SCREW THIS" and that's when I called it quits. Went to job corpse which was not just my only choice but my best choice. I don't regret it! Got my GED and HS diploma along with learning a trade. The school system these days needs a complete overhall or else MANY more children will fail and be left behind.
I did that in the early 90s, never made it past 9th grade, but passed my GED in 7hrs (you had to write a full page essay😮, on the spot, back then too) basic math, and reading skills go a long way 😂
I should have been sent to, or given the option to go to the job corpse but apparently my high school counselor didn't care to inform me. I didn't know, I was too busy skipping classes, going to class stoned, and they gave me a free pass for a worthless diploma. The teachers could have cared less. Class 74.
@@gnomiefirst9201 exactly. Nowdays the systems as they currently are, are so far broken that it might as well be torn down and built anew. They care more about alphabet rainbow cult indoctrination and making themselves look good than actually educating students. They eliminated most if not all of the special classes like wood working, home economics, financial literacy, etc. It's a real friggin joke. I could go on and on because I have a pile of grievances 5 miles high lol
@@alanmoncus2331 well my brother and two of my cousins went to Job Corps(different centers) and I was one of only two of us that graduated. I barely made it through. Spent 13 months at the Springdale center in the Columbia River gorge. I made so many good memories and learned far more than the public school system could ever offer.
My brother dropped out in 10th grade. Later he took his GED test and scored so well he got top colleges sending him letters inviting him to apply. Public schools failed him totally.
Mrs. Wizard, I feel your pain. My wife retired just a couple of years ago after 23 years as a Special Ed teacher (started teaching in her early 30s after divorcing her 1st husband). She misses the kids but not the paperwork, IEPs, goals, assessments, parent meetings and phone calls, planning and prep, classroom setup and takedown, STUPID parents, politics, classrooms without AC, commuting...
I once started that the public schools could be saved, but for the unions, but I've lost that faith. Something drastic is going to have to change, because what we have now is not sustainable.
I think teaching is a bigger skill than just in a school setting. I have never been to college or had any training for teaching, however I have decent skills in teaching people how to do things and explain things. The ability to teach can be an asset in all type of industries.
Wow society is really going down the drain. I had no idea it was that bad.
Everything you said is so true. When I was done I was done. All the great new ideas! Woohoo. So much BS. 33 years. Lack of respect. Tired of being humiliated. Sleazy principals, yes. Lack of leadership. Letting the students run the campus. Major discipline problems out for a few weeks and they’re back in class again. Staff wandering in at the last minute and out at immediately after the last bell, not monitoring the hallways. Liability insurance is essential. Students who believe that they can say and do anything they want to an adult, and are expecting to be privileged to have or do or say whatever they think.
Liberalism has destroyed our country and the schools.
I don't what to do otherwise though. I'm 20 years in, and so TIRED of not getting the necessary support to teach ALL of my students with fidelity. I'm TIRED of being micromanaged by principals who are unfairly being blamed for the failures of the legislature.
I’m burnt out as well but what are some solutions other than quitting
Coworkers that left, what are they doing now? Nothing is changing, deal with it or find a way to move on.
Thank You Mrs Wizard for your dedication and professionalism as a teacher, dealing with current conditions in the classroom and all the other factors involved with teaching, I don't blame you one bit and hope they provided you with a decsent severance package.
A severance package for any teacher leaving for any reason, much less voluntarily quitting? Only in your dreams!
I taught for 16 years in the inner city in Los Angeles. My reasons for quitting (in 2020) were:
1. Mainstreaming special ed kids into the classroom. A couple, I could handle, but once my classrooms were 15 sped kids and 15 general... I just couldn't. They were at all different levels... it was basically a one-room schoolhouse circa 1885 in my room. I had ONE sped teacher to help, and she spent most of the time shopping online in the back of the room.
2. Discipline: Kids and their cellphones. I couldn't compete, I didn't dare confiscate them (if one got stolen or broken, I'd be held liable), there was just nothing I could do. If a kid refused to comply, nothing happened to them. Indeed, if a kid hit a teacher, nothing happened to them. I never got hit, but I was aware of the danger every minute, and when your students are ages 14-18, they were often bigger than me.
3. Pressure to pass every kid even if they never showed up to class or never did anything.
4. Busywork from admin that, if complied with, added two-three hours of meaningless work to my day...
That's actually it. The pay never bothered me. I've been poor all my life, and my tastes are simple. But the stress, the stress, the stress. The minute I turned 55, I ran like hell and never looked back. I loved some of those kids, and I loved teaching classic literature, but.... it's a madhouse now. And half the kids can't read.
My Wife was an Elementary school teacher's assistant for 3 years, she is currently a PCP's MA for 5 years and Counting
She said that the Elementary School Job was More Stressful than her Current Job working at a Dr's Office
Teachers should get together and start their own schools with their own rules.
I showed your video to my nephew who’s also a teacher reaching retirement time. He was laughing and nodding along, saying “yup, yup, yup… so true, so true. 😅
This generation is so far gone I think it’s to late I drove a school bus for awhile after 4 years I said same thing I’m done I’m done it’s sad when administration doesn’t help you parents are horrible not worth it at all
Valuing your life and wanting to be around for those that love you is reason enough to not want to teach in today’s world.
Mrs Wizard. Thank you so much for pointing out some of the major issues in the teaching industry!! I have been a teacher for 20 yrs now. I have 5 yrs left and counting down every single day, hour, min. I can’t wait to be done with all the stress of being an underapritiated teacher for so many years!
1000000000%
For sure. Teachers are so underpaid in about 40 states that most wouldn't do it if they didn't have a husband working.
I retired from teaching at the end of the 20-21 school year, after 33 years in the classroom. I worked in 4 completely different school districts, including teaching in a juvenile correctional facility (for A and B juvenile felons) for 4 years. What you said about the lack of leadership is a big part of it. In addition, I’d like to add that school boards are a real problem, also. SB’s aren’t paid, but get called, texted, emailed, and called out on social media by parents when things aren’t going the parents’ (or students’) way. Then, it becomes the “Sh!t rolls down hill” paradox: SB’s fear parents, Superintendents fear the the SB, Building Administrators fear the Superintendents, teachers fear the building administrators AND the kids AND the parents, and the kids fear no one. I know that not everyone in the education industry is as pure as the driven snow, but most in the business like the kids, want them to learn to the best of their ability, and want them to be successful.
Unfortunately, all the other stuff interfere’s with the good teacher’s ability to help kids be successful.
Why did I retire in my first year of retirement eligibility? Because you can’t do the job you were hired to do. Because you spend so much of your time having to “backfill” gaps: student education level gaps (reteaching necessary fundamentals because students don’t know it or weren’t taught it), personnel gaps (because there aren’t enough subs, you frequently get asked to give up your planning period to cover for absent teachers), and because I saw SB’s destroy Superintendents. I saw SB’s destroy Building Administrators. I saw SB’s go after teachers, coaches, etc., thus setting school districts back by destroying morale, forcing good Superintendents, Building Administrators, Teachers, Coach’s, and support staff out, and making good parents take their kids to other school districts, private schools, or home schools.
We, as professional educators, are allowing the people we serve dictate the policies and procedures, and are then forced out because we didn’t do it to the people whom we serves liking. Then, when education fails, who do we blame? The very system that has tried to adapt to the whims of the people we serve.
Thanks for sharing! It's just nice to know I am not alone.
Congrats! Best wishes!
Fantastic clip. Your honesty and kindness are impressive. I'm a semi retired Australian teacher after 40 years of teaching , now doing Casual Relief and it's fabulous though with some drawbacks. Your experience matches Australia as well and very nearly that in Asia too as its society changes. I've got so much free time now and little stress until I walk into a shitty class. The kids treat you differently and you're effectively just a babysitter because they basically ignore you. But the bigger picture is not this moribund system. What interests me is the fate of traditional teaching and schools. Obviously the present system is collapsing and I see radical changes occurring in education. Accountability and responsibility and common sense must prevail to meet both standards and budgetary demands. Basically I see autonomous mini schools evolving. They'll be run by a team of teachers who'll have the freedom to create curricula and scheduling that is based on the students' needs which should provide engagement and success. Holistic approaches to "subjects" using team teaching should make learning more efficient and successful. It'll provide social and emotional support through continuity much like Elementary classes, all of which will hopefully radically alter disciplinary problems. Many requirements for salaries based on old rules will have to disappear to enable cost savings and administrative burdens will have to be radically streamlined to ease the burden on teachers. To enact these reforms there has to be a public discourse with all the stakeholders in youth issues to offer insights and cooperative initiatives. The private sector has to be more involved in to bridge the transition from school to modern workplaces in the form of work experiences, training and mentoring. The old adage of, "it takes a village to raise a child " has never been more obvious. From my extremely wide experience across Australia and overseas, there are many remarkable people out there who are amazing teachers and they must be given the autonomy to adapt education to the huge changes occurring in modern society. I know you're one of those people who suit this future vision, but don't suit the old system. Trust me, it can be done.
You seem like such a passionate person with a huge heart. I'm so sorry this happened to you. It frustrates me how so many passionate hardworking teachers are leaving the classroom and the students deserve more than this. I wish you the best of luck on your new journey and hope for the best for you!
My mom is a teacher just outside of Detroit and she's going theough everything you went through. I keep telling her she needs to teach at a nicer school but now it doesnt seem like there are any better schools. She doesnt want to leave because shed been there for 10 years. So sad. Our country is really taking a turn for the worst
My aunt subs in the Detroit metro area. She said it's a zoo 🤣. Only group she has any luck in is the Indian population since they actually value learning as a culture.
My sister became so burnt out on middle school that she tried HS and then community college. Only when she earned her PhD. in MusEd and obtained tenure at U of Windsor was she truly happy teaching. BTW, most of her students loved her and she inspired several to major in Music-John in Texas
The biggest problem with kids today is they are never disciplined at home and there are no consequences for there actions. They don't know what the word no means. It all starts at home.
This is so... amazing...so true worldwide, I'm teacher in Spain, I've been teaching for the past 16 years and we feel the same way, two cultures apart, two educational systems apart and yet the same problems and feelings...thank you so much for telling this. That's how millions of teachers feel around the world and it's the reason why so many are leaving the profession. Good luck with your new life and best wishes.
I have only done it for a year and I am already looking elsewhere... but I just don't know what I would want to do to make money instead.
Thank you so much for your service!
It just seems so complicated now.
We need to step back and make some serious changes for everyone involved.
I’m 27 that’s crazy’s you’ve been teaching for almost as long as I been alive.
I've been teaching for 25 years and I've dealt with all of these issues. You have to be patient as hell. You have to be ready for change all the time - social changes, political changes, and changes in the education business, which is very, very trendy. Five preps? Forget taking a day off unless it's a serious emergency. Teachers drop out all the time, but it sucks when the best, most effective, most dedicated teachers hit the wall and drop off.
When anyone asks the best class I had in college, I don't even have to think about it. NMSU had this thing called "pre-teaching", before they allowed you to start taking teaching classes, they said you needed to go back to one of your old schools, and sit in on the grade you thought you wanted to teach for a week. You didn't need to DO anything, just sit there. They said "even if you're thinking HIgh School and it's only been two years, you don't really remember." So, I'm sitting in a Civics class in my old High School, thinking this was going to be a big waste of time during summer break. What's the point? Middle of Monday morning, day one, I'm thinking "oh my god, what was I thinking, this is awful". I went back to school that fall and changed majors. Best class EVAR.
Oddly, I had one programming course in college, Fortran. I hated it, hated, Hated, HATED it. When I turned in the final project, which I'm not sure even compiled, I walked out the door thinking "that's something I'll never do for a living". I've been programming for twenty-five years.
You did the right thing! Congratulations on your new path!
Good teachers make good students. We all have our favorite teachers that we won't forget what they've taught us.
I had a math teacher who would throw expo markers at you if you weren’t paying attention. And if you looked bored he would ask you to teach the concept to the class. It was a really fun 7th hour.
my mom has worked as a kindergarden teacher for 40 years and she cant wait to finally take her retirerment. and the reasons are pretty similar. the reason she has stuck around for so long is because she has the since of duty to the kids. she want them to become independent well rounded young people. she is right now dealing with a day dreaming durg addict principal and her drinking buddies.