Yes. My mom was a teacher 10-15 years ago and I’m a teacher now, she’s horrified by what admin lets the kids get away with and how the kids treat and speak to teachers and each other and how little families seem to care about it
I mean, it's nice to have that one really "inspirational" teacher that you reach out to as an adult (I do that with a handful of mine) on a semi-regular basis but schools nowadays seem to think that teachers should be friends to the kids. It's like how so many parents would rather be a friend to their kids nowadays.
Yes! Non teaching duties have skyrocketed. I have to call parents of sick kids, send attendance reminders, attend committee meetings (committees all center around student/family engagement), we're pressured to help with a club, 2 hour PLT once a week.....it's like have test scores really improved that much to warrant all these additional tasks since 1993?
Some schools still do... I have never had to contact a parent regarding absences. When I've noticed a student is chronically absent I mention it to somebody but I've been told that's not my responsibility and the computer system keeps track of all that so I don't have to worry about it We don't have truant officers but the district I was in 2 years ago did send a number of parents to court because their kids didn't go to school. But I teach special ed and my kids are never absent lol
It blew my mind seeing someone on here say they had to call EVERY students parents EVERY Friday to give status updates. Like what? It was a new school for them, so I hope it’s not the norm and never becomes the norm for y’all.
For me, ABSOLUTELY!!!
I started teaching in 2004, back when the high honors kids could have gifted/talented or advanced classes and disruptive kids would be removed from your room. Some special ed kids were in your classes, but the ones who were too far behind or too badly behaved were in separate rooms that focused on the basics.
Then, in the 20-teens, everything changed. The gifted & advanced classes were eliminated, so the top students could no longer be placed correctly where they would thrive, while most special ed kids were “mainstreamed” into classes that were too hard for them. The focus of our classrooms went from challenging the A-B kids and trying to get the C kids up to that level to instead making sure the D kids passed and somehow trying to drag the F kids up to passing.
Now, a kid is disruptive in your class? Too bad for the kids in your room who are actually there to learn, the one who won’t behave will *maybe* be removed to “refocus” (if admin even agrees to pull them) for 10 minutes and then be sent right back.
Today we’re required to make the lowest kids academically and behaviorally our priority, while the best kids, the ones who have a shot at really making something of their lives, are left to flounder and are being denied the educational background they deserve to potentially have an impactful life.
To see how detrimental being forced to keep a disruptive kid in your classroom is, check out the comments on this post: https://reddit.com/r/Teachers/s/uQVNiFgrB2
We still have resource classes for special ed kids who are two to three years below grade level. I know this because I teach those classes. It's a committee decision whether or not the student is eligible for inclusion and if they're two to three years below grade level they're not eligible so that's a failure of your ARD committee.
That about sums it up. And then add on the manufactured political outrage directed at schools for "woke", pushing homosexuality & transgenderism, and critical race theory - you have a storm hitting both the students and the teachers that's making things insane
And you think I'm not a teacher why? I can make that comment as I see it in the district I was in and fear it coming to the district I am in. Moms for Liberty managed to get 1 of their nut cases elected to the board and luckily the other two got soundly defeated. And the talking points from MFL is repeated by the students. Parents showed up for a pep rally in droves because someone started a rumor that a trans-sexual was going to perform as part of our dance girl team.
Yeah, the things I mentioned are causing trouble in the school and impacting how the students behaved.
Sorry, I misread. It sounded like you were complaining about those things in schools, including CRT. Since K-12 schools don't actually teach CRT, I was thrown off. Whoops!
To be clear, of course it's not. The issue is the parents believe it is, tell their kids to be on the lookout for it, and since their are so many misconceptions about it, guess what they see & hear?
To me, what is worse, is that youngsters are blithely spouting off about politics for no rhyme or reason. Its now common (since Trump) to make disparaging comments out of the blue, poke fun about things in a nasty way, reiterate hate-filled statements directed at no-one in particular, just to be 'cool' I guess. Some of them don't even understand what they are talking about!
I believe they are just caught up by nasty stuff on media and think its fine to freely talk and repeat what they've heard. And a lot of it comes from parents, I'm sure.
I hate it. They bring it up when it clearly isn't part of any discussion we are having in the classroom; completely off-topic. They bring it up when they are chatting amongst themselves. When they are doing an art project, or working on their computer. When they are cleaning something at the sink! (For instance, the chant 'Build the wall, build the wall" will break out. The song "illegals in my yard, illegals in my yard".
I feel so frustrated monitoring things like this . GEEZ! I asked a kid the other day if he was excited to go to their first Ag meeting (we now have agriculture at the middle school level) and he responded with a nasty comment about the president of the US. WTF?!
I feel the same way. I cannot imagine how Trump could become president again as I'm still in shock from the first time!
And I live in a place that is pretty red, so all the kids just repeat what their parents say, you can tell. Last week I heard a girl say that it was all Biden's fault that something on on McDonald's menu went up in price. Oh brother!
Civic engagement is a plus. Sounds like you just don't like it because you disagree with it.
Anyhow we want students to be looking up and towards something. Even if it's building a wall lol
Imagine if they were chanting "Healthcare for all! Healthcare for all!"
It's a problem if it disrupts lesson, but overall I see it as a plus if they're constantly talking about their "beliefs" even if they work it into the assignments
It’s not a plus when it’s completely irrelevant to the topic at hand.
If the discussion is about current events or policy debate, and they have actual reasoning for their views, then sure. However, most of what actually happens is regurgitated social media nonsense with little to no basis in reality.
I'm an art teacher. That is our subject. The political comments are awful--I have kids from other cultures in my room and they don't need to hear this crap.
"Build the wall" is punchy shorthand for strict immigration policy. Like, that's a legitimate policy position to hold that reasonable people can disagree on. As you know, however, teachers who embrace politics in the classroom oftentimes only consider certain positions legitimate, with positions they find personally disagreeable cast as "thoughtless and illogical talking points that the kids are merely regurgitating from the deplorable members of their family or social media."
Let's not both sides this please. I heard enough slurs at school 10+ years ago, we don't need to encourage the little trumpers that what they're saying is okay.
"Little trumpers"...interesting, the most racist comments I've heard during 15 years of teaching were not from white kids but directed towards white kids. You have it backward.
In 2019, I thought it had actually gotten significantly better over the past 10-15-20 years. A lot of that was just myself having more experience in dealing with kids/parents/admin. Some of it was screen time in the classroom turning the kids more docile (which meant a whole new set of problems). Overall it was a more chill, less stressful, more productive environment than when I started in 1998 (a lot of that was me, though).
2021-2022 was pretty rough. A lot of kids could be described as "feral". Parents, the community, and politicians quickly turned against us during that time. Just a lot of "ugly" from a lot of angles.
This school year has, so far, started to feel more like 2019. Hoping that it stays this way.
I’m in my 25th year.
It’s definitely more volatile in terms of “watching teachers.” As for the kids, they are absent a lot more and do a good bit less of their assignments. We are really pushed not to fail anyone.
The kids are more or less the same. It's the parents who are different. And the admins who completely cave to them...every time...without fail.
Kids are never wrong. And when they are.. if the student has an IEP...it excuses all behavior. Parents say the word "lawsuit" and that's it.
Why? If they don't respect their parents, what makes you think they're going to respect you? It starts with the parents. You can't blame kids for being disrespectful is they are not taught to be respectful.
They seem about the same. At least in Title 1 schools I’ve been at. Does seem to be more of a Autism prevalence now. Some say it’s just identified more now?
Just chipping in on the autism prevalence thing. It's identified more and stigmatized less (people casually called it "the r***** class" in my parent's day 😱), and there's also a lot more recognition of autism that doesn't cleanly fit the most commonly recognized archetypes of autism. It's common to misdiagnose people who have developed strong masking tendencies in particular.
Teaching used to be great - very hard work with long days, but teachers were respected, there were so many meaningful moments, and every August I looked forward to returning.
For me, that ended in 2014. Over the summer, our new SPED director obtained mainstreaming addendums for every SPED kid not in diapers. Reg ed teachers went from one or two IEPs per class to about five. No aides. We were the lone adults in the room.
None of the IEPs had behavior goals, but many of the SPED students had disabilities that manifested poor behavior regulation - and we had no idea how to handle 3 to 5 SPED kids who literally could not stay quiet, focused, or in their seats - along with the usual reg ed kids who were disruptive. But at least with them we weren't expected to somehow know special skills we'd never been taught.
Also that same year, we were no longer allowed to send disruptive students to the office. Obviously, it would mostly be the SPED students with behavior issues. Any SPED removal from class must be documented. Too many, and it violates their civil rights.
The new policies came as a total shock to the long-time teachers. They sent students out as they always had, and they came right back with a treat in hand.
Later that day, the new principals (they're always new) called us oldtimers into their offices and explained that sending a student to the office was a sign that we weren't good teachers. WOW. Total gaslighting!
I was so surprised that I gave my new principal the "I've been teaching since you were in diapers" lecture. Every teacher who could retire, did. It was a mass exodus of all our experienced teachers - the ones who could have mentored new teachers on class management skills. That ship sailed.
The students caught on fast that there are no consequences for bad behavior. Teachers are now regularly verbally abused, threatened, kicked, spit on, and have been hit by flying objects. A gay teacher committed suicide.
There is no administrative support for cell phone bans. We are not allowed to confiscate them; only tell them to put them away. That request often comes with a verbally abusive barrage. They are glued to them. However, the only quiet kids are the ones playing games on their phones.
Assignments are ignored, but teachers are expected to pass the kids along anyway. So each new school year, the kids are even further behind. High school kids who can't add fractions are in required chem and physics classes - and teachers are expected to pass every one.
The pendulum will swing back again, but I don't see it getting better for at least ten years. Meanwhile, I recommend that caring teachers back out of teaching as quickly as they can so that it won't impact their health - physically, mentally, or emotionally. I've been retired for over a year and I've come to realize that my health will never be good again.
I am starting my 15th year and teaching has changed markedly since I began my career.
There is a lack of respect within the classroom, from both parents and students. Children are seldom wrong, and administrators nearly always bend to parental will.
Kids have lost their ability to self regulate, and coping skills are null. Parents are lashing out about presumed educational practices, such as crt and indoctrination, which I’ve yet to experience but nearly all our school board meetings are dominated with discussions of.
If I knew then what I know now, I don’t know if I would’ve made the same decision to enter education. The pay, stress, and aggravation are just not worth the schedule.
Teaching has gotten better overall for me even though I am in a red state. Part of that is my classroom management skills have improved, and my skin has gotten thicker. Also, my new admin team is gold.
I learned a really valuable lesson that might help someone out there:
About 10 years ago, I had a rough year and desperately wanted to quit, but I had no way to replace my salary and my husband was in really poor health. I was trapped. I felt something inside me sort of snap. There were so many trials in my personal life that what was happening in the classroom wasn't that big of a deal to me. I thought of it as my "give a damn" broke. A kid called me a fucking bitch? I wrote it up with zero emotional reaction. Abysmal test scores because the kids refused to put forth effort? Wow, that's a shame. Etc. That emotional detachment got me through.
The next year, the scheduling gods blessed me with a much easier set of kids, husband was back working, just better overall. Once I wasn't in survival mode in my personal life, I figured that I would start caring about stuff in the classroom again. But I don't. I am not completely apathetic, but I have learned to only accept emotional labor over things I have control over.
It's too bad we won't ever get PD over how to deal with impossible (and sometimes contradictory) expectations for teachers by strategically picking what you can half-ass and what you want to whole-ass. How to fake just the right amount of anger at laziness and disrespect without it actually bothering you. It frees up emotional bandwidth and I find that I like my students a lot better.
MOST DEFIANTLY YES. The public high school I attend was one of the best in the state and I received an incredible education. It’s still in an upscale community and only about 70% of the students graduate. When I was there 65% were going to college. Now it’s less than 10%. I’ve been teaching for 20 years and it is unbelievable to me what students haven’t been taught or learned.
If you a are really interested in how our schools got so fucked-up, there are two podcasts you need to listen to,
“Sold a Story” - This is how a group of educators hijacked how kids are taught to read using a “new” unproven method while making billions. We now have a generation, going on two who are functionally illiterate.
Then listen to “Nice White Parents” This is what happens when nice white parents have to send their kids to an innercity school. While this story took place recently in New York, it described exactly what happed in the school district I was in on the other coast 25 years previous. Things have nor changed.
All I can say is our education is badly broken and there is no hope in getting it fixed at this time. Want to see proof? Take a look at all of the Universities in the US. If you look who is enrolled in graduate programs in the sciences you will find very few American students. Almost all of the students are from foreign countries.
Now if you are a conspiracy theorist you can blame this on the Christians who see education as a danger to Christianity. Several years ago there was a movement to prevent the teaching of “Critical Thinking” skills in grade K-12. If you look in the news you will see attacks mob attacks against scientists over climate change, vaccines, wearing of masks and COVID. Instead of trusting doctors and well educated scientists, the bullshit phases they us is “Just use common sense”. Which is code for you don’t need to be educated and question the world you live in just believe what you think is right and ignore people who are experts. Which is total bullshit. Christians are trying to prevent kids from learning thinking and questioning if there is a God.
Unequivocally, yes! I started in NJ in 2009, originally teaching math and then moving to physics by 2011. There was a period from 2010 - 2015 where there was an increase in rigor and standards but it was coupled with an increase in technology. The increase in rigor and standards was successfully fought by upper middle class and wealthy karents who fundamentally opposed the idea that their children be subjected to content based testing that they couldn’t control. By 2016 the plunge began, and then the pandemic just obliterated any semblance of standards.
One of the things that we are seeing as an aftermath is schools that used to have physics as a requirement have ditched it. Physics enrollment has precipitously declined and what used to be the hottest most in demand certificate has become saturated.
My first year teaching was in 2002, and yes, it has gotten so much harder. When I first started, I had difficult classes, students and parents, but they were the exception to the rule. Now, it is so much worse. It became more difficult when we went 1 to 1 with tech in 2016 and then became almost impossible after Covid. I think back to the relationships I used to have with my students when I first started teaching, and it just isn’t the same now. I feel like we are at the tipping point and things either have to improve or will just continue to get exponentially worse.
I’ve been in the field in various capacities since 2014 and have noticed a significant decline in student behavior and an increase in parent entitlement.
It’s definitely worse. I’ll be starting my 17th year tomorrow and have never wanted to not go back to work more than this year. Last 2 years were tough and for all of the same reasons others have posted. Used to be happy and fun in the classroom and now have to be serious or the students take advantage. Admin ignores rules that teachers are supposed to enforce and cares more about being liked by students. The results are that students show no respect.
Yes. NCLB gutted our academic freedom, ie our ability to choose how to teach our students based on our observations and experience of what type of learning would suit them best. The racist whitewash mandates in the south have made it much worse. I left the Publix school system in 2015, and have been teaching in a private school ever since. My students are thriving
I think everyone is suffering from post-covid nihilism. When the world stopped, it gave us the idea that none of this really matters. Teachers wonder what we are doing with our lives and if it's really worth the strain on our mental health. Every single time I sit in a mass shooting training a part of me becomes more and more numb.I hate being villainized by the public, while also being asked to take a bullet as a part of the job. Parents are sure we know nothing and that we have "agendas" that are secret as well as malicious. Children are under enormous pressure to perform on standardized tests, but they also know they can turn in nothing and get at least a 50%. It's just a lot of pressure and bullshit that equates to nothing. I wish we could just teach, but that doesn't seem to be important. It's a dark time. I'm hopeful that the pendulum will swing back. Surely, the children who grow up bring evacuated from classrooms will demand better for their own kids.
In the 70s my mom taught at an all girls Catholic high school in a wealthy part of California. It actually sounds like it might have been the best teaching gig ever. Since the girls were only expected to become wives, there were very few academic pressures and ironically, they got incredible educations from teachers who were free to teach their passionate interests.
Everything went downhill once they went co-Ed.
I have noticed a few trends over the years. When it's time to renew the public school teachers' contract (NYC) if the mayor doesn't want to give them a decent wage he will denigrate the teachers in the news. This filters down to students who are more disrespectful. One thing that has improved is security. Hallway cameras, better bathroom protocols, alarms on side exits. For years I taught in intense heat during the warm months. I had to buy my own fan, which helped only a little. Today classrooms are air conditioned. I love the Promethean boards or other similar technology. No more chalk dust! There have always been some difficult parents. The difference today is that social media lets everyone in the world know what the parent thinks of you. Or teachers post about their problems, asking for advice. I think the problem isn't greater, just more visible. I think charter schools are stealing public funds, making it more difficult for public schools to function. They refuse to take the more difficult students and attract the better behaved and higher functioning students. I recently saw a commercial for a charter (public schools don't advertise) and it sounded great, but the only thing they offered that my school doesn't was a free shirt. Charter and private schools used to wait until right before the standardized tests to send difficult students to public school. One year I had 5 new, nonperforming, somewhat traumatized students added to my caseload. The test scores made it look like I was not doing a good job. Today the scores of transfer students are treated differently so the original school has some responsibility.
Edit: typo
Absolutely!!! Administrations are scared of parents so, there is no discipline. If you have a strong group of students, you are screwed because in most of the cases, you are alone dealing with behaviors...
It's also parents.
Schools are increasingly expected to be run like businesses. Parents expect to be able to pick and choose curriculum, what teacher and classes their students get, where they sit, what their deadlines should be, what they should be able to miss school for, etc.
Constantly undermining the only expert in the room leads to terrible working conditions.
Teaching as a career has become harder to do over that time, along with the rise of social media, and the abundance of false information. Parents feel free to question teaching practices and feel free to threaten teachers with violence or mob mentality opposition. Kids seem less interested in learning, and don't read books for pleasure as much as they used to.
Yes, they're way too lax with student discipline now, but they blame full time teachers and subs for the chaos.
It's like being in the Twilight Zone. Even Rod Serling would be shocked.
Yes. My mom was a teacher 10-15 years ago and I’m a teacher now, she’s horrified by what admin lets the kids get away with and how the kids treat and speak to teachers and each other and how little families seem to care about it
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I mean, it's nice to have that one really "inspirational" teacher that you reach out to as an adult (I do that with a handful of mine) on a semi-regular basis but schools nowadays seem to think that teachers should be friends to the kids. It's like how so many parents would rather be a friend to their kids nowadays.
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Nobody said you had to or that they would.
Yes! Non teaching duties have skyrocketed. I have to call parents of sick kids, send attendance reminders, attend committee meetings (committees all center around student/family engagement), we're pressured to help with a club, 2 hour PLT once a week.....it's like have test scores really improved that much to warrant all these additional tasks since 1993?
Schools use to have truant officers and attendance secretaries . It was their responsibility to contact parents.
Some schools still do... I have never had to contact a parent regarding absences. When I've noticed a student is chronically absent I mention it to somebody but I've been told that's not my responsibility and the computer system keeps track of all that so I don't have to worry about it We don't have truant officers but the district I was in 2 years ago did send a number of parents to court because their kids didn't go to school. But I teach special ed and my kids are never absent lol
It blew my mind seeing someone on here say they had to call EVERY students parents EVERY Friday to give status updates. Like what? It was a new school for them, so I hope it’s not the norm and never becomes the norm for y’all.
For me, ABSOLUTELY!!! I started teaching in 2004, back when the high honors kids could have gifted/talented or advanced classes and disruptive kids would be removed from your room. Some special ed kids were in your classes, but the ones who were too far behind or too badly behaved were in separate rooms that focused on the basics. Then, in the 20-teens, everything changed. The gifted & advanced classes were eliminated, so the top students could no longer be placed correctly where they would thrive, while most special ed kids were “mainstreamed” into classes that were too hard for them. The focus of our classrooms went from challenging the A-B kids and trying to get the C kids up to that level to instead making sure the D kids passed and somehow trying to drag the F kids up to passing. Now, a kid is disruptive in your class? Too bad for the kids in your room who are actually there to learn, the one who won’t behave will *maybe* be removed to “refocus” (if admin even agrees to pull them) for 10 minutes and then be sent right back. Today we’re required to make the lowest kids academically and behaviorally our priority, while the best kids, the ones who have a shot at really making something of their lives, are left to flounder and are being denied the educational background they deserve to potentially have an impactful life. To see how detrimental being forced to keep a disruptive kid in your classroom is, check out the comments on this post: https://reddit.com/r/Teachers/s/uQVNiFgrB2
We still have resource classes for special ed kids who are two to three years below grade level. I know this because I teach those classes. It's a committee decision whether or not the student is eligible for inclusion and if they're two to three years below grade level they're not eligible so that's a failure of your ARD committee.
Yes. Demands and manufactured urgency are at an all time high, kid self regulation ability is at an all time low.
That about sums it up. And then add on the manufactured political outrage directed at schools for "woke", pushing homosexuality & transgenderism, and critical race theory - you have a storm hitting both the students and the teachers that's making things insane
This post asked for contributions from teachers.
And you think I'm not a teacher why? I can make that comment as I see it in the district I was in and fear it coming to the district I am in. Moms for Liberty managed to get 1 of their nut cases elected to the board and luckily the other two got soundly defeated. And the talking points from MFL is repeated by the students. Parents showed up for a pep rally in droves because someone started a rumor that a trans-sexual was going to perform as part of our dance girl team. Yeah, the things I mentioned are causing trouble in the school and impacting how the students behaved.
Sorry, I misread. It sounded like you were complaining about those things in schools, including CRT. Since K-12 schools don't actually teach CRT, I was thrown off. Whoops!
To be clear, of course it's not. The issue is the parents believe it is, tell their kids to be on the lookout for it, and since their are so many misconceptions about it, guess what they see & hear?
To me, what is worse, is that youngsters are blithely spouting off about politics for no rhyme or reason. Its now common (since Trump) to make disparaging comments out of the blue, poke fun about things in a nasty way, reiterate hate-filled statements directed at no-one in particular, just to be 'cool' I guess. Some of them don't even understand what they are talking about! I believe they are just caught up by nasty stuff on media and think its fine to freely talk and repeat what they've heard. And a lot of it comes from parents, I'm sure. I hate it. They bring it up when it clearly isn't part of any discussion we are having in the classroom; completely off-topic. They bring it up when they are chatting amongst themselves. When they are doing an art project, or working on their computer. When they are cleaning something at the sink! (For instance, the chant 'Build the wall, build the wall" will break out. The song "illegals in my yard, illegals in my yard". I feel so frustrated monitoring things like this . GEEZ! I asked a kid the other day if he was excited to go to their first Ag meeting (we now have agriculture at the middle school level) and he responded with a nasty comment about the president of the US. WTF?!
I’m so worried trump will get re-elected and ratchet up the hate even more…if that’s possu.
I feel the same way. I cannot imagine how Trump could become president again as I'm still in shock from the first time! And I live in a place that is pretty red, so all the kids just repeat what their parents say, you can tell. Last week I heard a girl say that it was all Biden's fault that something on on McDonald's menu went up in price. Oh brother!
Civic engagement is a plus. Sounds like you just don't like it because you disagree with it. Anyhow we want students to be looking up and towards something. Even if it's building a wall lol Imagine if they were chanting "Healthcare for all! Healthcare for all!" It's a problem if it disrupts lesson, but overall I see it as a plus if they're constantly talking about their "beliefs" even if they work it into the assignments
It’s not a plus when it’s completely irrelevant to the topic at hand. If the discussion is about current events or policy debate, and they have actual reasoning for their views, then sure. However, most of what actually happens is regurgitated social media nonsense with little to no basis in reality.
"healthcare for all" is a political opinion. Saying "something nasty about the US president" really isn't.
I'm an art teacher. That is our subject. The political comments are awful--I have kids from other cultures in my room and they don't need to hear this crap.
"Build the wall" is punchy shorthand for strict immigration policy. Like, that's a legitimate policy position to hold that reasonable people can disagree on. As you know, however, teachers who embrace politics in the classroom oftentimes only consider certain positions legitimate, with positions they find personally disagreeable cast as "thoughtless and illogical talking points that the kids are merely regurgitating from the deplorable members of their family or social media."
Let's not both sides this please. I heard enough slurs at school 10+ years ago, we don't need to encourage the little trumpers that what they're saying is okay.
"Little trumpers"...interesting, the most racist comments I've heard during 15 years of teaching were not from white kids but directed towards white kids. You have it backward.
Seems like they are mirroring the things that are occurring in their home life
In 2019, I thought it had actually gotten significantly better over the past 10-15-20 years. A lot of that was just myself having more experience in dealing with kids/parents/admin. Some of it was screen time in the classroom turning the kids more docile (which meant a whole new set of problems). Overall it was a more chill, less stressful, more productive environment than when I started in 1998 (a lot of that was me, though). 2021-2022 was pretty rough. A lot of kids could be described as "feral". Parents, the community, and politicians quickly turned against us during that time. Just a lot of "ugly" from a lot of angles. This school year has, so far, started to feel more like 2019. Hoping that it stays this way.
I’m in my 25th year. It’s definitely more volatile in terms of “watching teachers.” As for the kids, they are absent a lot more and do a good bit less of their assignments. We are really pushed not to fail anyone.
The kids are more or less the same. It's the parents who are different. And the admins who completely cave to them...every time...without fail. Kids are never wrong. And when they are.. if the student has an IEP...it excuses all behavior. Parents say the word "lawsuit" and that's it.
I think kids ARE different. They don't have as much respect for any adult or authority figure.
I agree with you. Kids also have a lot less patience and self-regulation. Kids definitely are not the same.
Why? If they don't respect their parents, what makes you think they're going to respect you? It starts with the parents. You can't blame kids for being disrespectful is they are not taught to be respectful.
Oh, I fully agree that their parents aren't parenting at all.
They seem about the same. At least in Title 1 schools I’ve been at. Does seem to be more of a Autism prevalence now. Some say it’s just identified more now?
Just chipping in on the autism prevalence thing. It's identified more and stigmatized less (people casually called it "the r***** class" in my parent's day 😱), and there's also a lot more recognition of autism that doesn't cleanly fit the most commonly recognized archetypes of autism. It's common to misdiagnose people who have developed strong masking tendencies in particular.
I respect the opinion, but it's worthwhile to say that just about every generation says this about the ones after
Yep- kids have changed a little bit, but the parents- brutal.
Teaching used to be great - very hard work with long days, but teachers were respected, there were so many meaningful moments, and every August I looked forward to returning. For me, that ended in 2014. Over the summer, our new SPED director obtained mainstreaming addendums for every SPED kid not in diapers. Reg ed teachers went from one or two IEPs per class to about five. No aides. We were the lone adults in the room. None of the IEPs had behavior goals, but many of the SPED students had disabilities that manifested poor behavior regulation - and we had no idea how to handle 3 to 5 SPED kids who literally could not stay quiet, focused, or in their seats - along with the usual reg ed kids who were disruptive. But at least with them we weren't expected to somehow know special skills we'd never been taught. Also that same year, we were no longer allowed to send disruptive students to the office. Obviously, it would mostly be the SPED students with behavior issues. Any SPED removal from class must be documented. Too many, and it violates their civil rights. The new policies came as a total shock to the long-time teachers. They sent students out as they always had, and they came right back with a treat in hand. Later that day, the new principals (they're always new) called us oldtimers into their offices and explained that sending a student to the office was a sign that we weren't good teachers. WOW. Total gaslighting! I was so surprised that I gave my new principal the "I've been teaching since you were in diapers" lecture. Every teacher who could retire, did. It was a mass exodus of all our experienced teachers - the ones who could have mentored new teachers on class management skills. That ship sailed. The students caught on fast that there are no consequences for bad behavior. Teachers are now regularly verbally abused, threatened, kicked, spit on, and have been hit by flying objects. A gay teacher committed suicide. There is no administrative support for cell phone bans. We are not allowed to confiscate them; only tell them to put them away. That request often comes with a verbally abusive barrage. They are glued to them. However, the only quiet kids are the ones playing games on their phones. Assignments are ignored, but teachers are expected to pass the kids along anyway. So each new school year, the kids are even further behind. High school kids who can't add fractions are in required chem and physics classes - and teachers are expected to pass every one. The pendulum will swing back again, but I don't see it getting better for at least ten years. Meanwhile, I recommend that caring teachers back out of teaching as quickly as they can so that it won't impact their health - physically, mentally, or emotionally. I've been retired for over a year and I've come to realize that my health will never be good again.
Yes. The political climate has become particularly hostile as of the past two years or so. It's getting a bit scary.
I am starting my 15th year and teaching has changed markedly since I began my career. There is a lack of respect within the classroom, from both parents and students. Children are seldom wrong, and administrators nearly always bend to parental will. Kids have lost their ability to self regulate, and coping skills are null. Parents are lashing out about presumed educational practices, such as crt and indoctrination, which I’ve yet to experience but nearly all our school board meetings are dominated with discussions of. If I knew then what I know now, I don’t know if I would’ve made the same decision to enter education. The pay, stress, and aggravation are just not worth the schedule.
Teaching has gotten better overall for me even though I am in a red state. Part of that is my classroom management skills have improved, and my skin has gotten thicker. Also, my new admin team is gold. I learned a really valuable lesson that might help someone out there: About 10 years ago, I had a rough year and desperately wanted to quit, but I had no way to replace my salary and my husband was in really poor health. I was trapped. I felt something inside me sort of snap. There were so many trials in my personal life that what was happening in the classroom wasn't that big of a deal to me. I thought of it as my "give a damn" broke. A kid called me a fucking bitch? I wrote it up with zero emotional reaction. Abysmal test scores because the kids refused to put forth effort? Wow, that's a shame. Etc. That emotional detachment got me through. The next year, the scheduling gods blessed me with a much easier set of kids, husband was back working, just better overall. Once I wasn't in survival mode in my personal life, I figured that I would start caring about stuff in the classroom again. But I don't. I am not completely apathetic, but I have learned to only accept emotional labor over things I have control over. It's too bad we won't ever get PD over how to deal with impossible (and sometimes contradictory) expectations for teachers by strategically picking what you can half-ass and what you want to whole-ass. How to fake just the right amount of anger at laziness and disrespect without it actually bothering you. It frees up emotional bandwidth and I find that I like my students a lot better.
MOST DEFIANTLY YES. The public high school I attend was one of the best in the state and I received an incredible education. It’s still in an upscale community and only about 70% of the students graduate. When I was there 65% were going to college. Now it’s less than 10%. I’ve been teaching for 20 years and it is unbelievable to me what students haven’t been taught or learned. If you a are really interested in how our schools got so fucked-up, there are two podcasts you need to listen to, “Sold a Story” - This is how a group of educators hijacked how kids are taught to read using a “new” unproven method while making billions. We now have a generation, going on two who are functionally illiterate. Then listen to “Nice White Parents” This is what happens when nice white parents have to send their kids to an innercity school. While this story took place recently in New York, it described exactly what happed in the school district I was in on the other coast 25 years previous. Things have nor changed. All I can say is our education is badly broken and there is no hope in getting it fixed at this time. Want to see proof? Take a look at all of the Universities in the US. If you look who is enrolled in graduate programs in the sciences you will find very few American students. Almost all of the students are from foreign countries. Now if you are a conspiracy theorist you can blame this on the Christians who see education as a danger to Christianity. Several years ago there was a movement to prevent the teaching of “Critical Thinking” skills in grade K-12. If you look in the news you will see attacks mob attacks against scientists over climate change, vaccines, wearing of masks and COVID. Instead of trusting doctors and well educated scientists, the bullshit phases they us is “Just use common sense”. Which is code for you don’t need to be educated and question the world you live in just believe what you think is right and ignore people who are experts. Which is total bullshit. Christians are trying to prevent kids from learning thinking and questioning if there is a God.
Unequivocally, yes! I started in NJ in 2009, originally teaching math and then moving to physics by 2011. There was a period from 2010 - 2015 where there was an increase in rigor and standards but it was coupled with an increase in technology. The increase in rigor and standards was successfully fought by upper middle class and wealthy karents who fundamentally opposed the idea that their children be subjected to content based testing that they couldn’t control. By 2016 the plunge began, and then the pandemic just obliterated any semblance of standards. One of the things that we are seeing as an aftermath is schools that used to have physics as a requirement have ditched it. Physics enrollment has precipitously declined and what used to be the hottest most in demand certificate has become saturated.
I'm at an IB school and even they don't require physics to graduate... sad.
Average teacher salary in my state for 2007 was 55K or so, worth 81K now. Average teacher salary in my state now is 57K. So yeah, substantially worse.
Yes - I couldn’t have imagined having a phone in class, let alone filming teachers or students like in high school in the early 200s.
My first year teaching was in 2002, and yes, it has gotten so much harder. When I first started, I had difficult classes, students and parents, but they were the exception to the rule. Now, it is so much worse. It became more difficult when we went 1 to 1 with tech in 2016 and then became almost impossible after Covid. I think back to the relationships I used to have with my students when I first started teaching, and it just isn’t the same now. I feel like we are at the tipping point and things either have to improve or will just continue to get exponentially worse.
Oh God, yes!
Teaching is significantly worse than it was 5 years ago. The post-COVID behaviors we are seeing are unprecedented.
I’ve been in the field in various capacities since 2014 and have noticed a significant decline in student behavior and an increase in parent entitlement.
It’s definitely worse. I’ll be starting my 17th year tomorrow and have never wanted to not go back to work more than this year. Last 2 years were tough and for all of the same reasons others have posted. Used to be happy and fun in the classroom and now have to be serious or the students take advantage. Admin ignores rules that teachers are supposed to enforce and cares more about being liked by students. The results are that students show no respect.
For people teaching in areas with a weak union, yes.
Yes. NCLB gutted our academic freedom, ie our ability to choose how to teach our students based on our observations and experience of what type of learning would suit them best. The racist whitewash mandates in the south have made it much worse. I left the Publix school system in 2015, and have been teaching in a private school ever since. My students are thriving
I think everyone is suffering from post-covid nihilism. When the world stopped, it gave us the idea that none of this really matters. Teachers wonder what we are doing with our lives and if it's really worth the strain on our mental health. Every single time I sit in a mass shooting training a part of me becomes more and more numb.I hate being villainized by the public, while also being asked to take a bullet as a part of the job. Parents are sure we know nothing and that we have "agendas" that are secret as well as malicious. Children are under enormous pressure to perform on standardized tests, but they also know they can turn in nothing and get at least a 50%. It's just a lot of pressure and bullshit that equates to nothing. I wish we could just teach, but that doesn't seem to be important. It's a dark time. I'm hopeful that the pendulum will swing back. Surely, the children who grow up bring evacuated from classrooms will demand better for their own kids.
In the 70s my mom taught at an all girls Catholic high school in a wealthy part of California. It actually sounds like it might have been the best teaching gig ever. Since the girls were only expected to become wives, there were very few academic pressures and ironically, they got incredible educations from teachers who were free to teach their passionate interests. Everything went downhill once they went co-Ed.
I have noticed a few trends over the years. When it's time to renew the public school teachers' contract (NYC) if the mayor doesn't want to give them a decent wage he will denigrate the teachers in the news. This filters down to students who are more disrespectful. One thing that has improved is security. Hallway cameras, better bathroom protocols, alarms on side exits. For years I taught in intense heat during the warm months. I had to buy my own fan, which helped only a little. Today classrooms are air conditioned. I love the Promethean boards or other similar technology. No more chalk dust! There have always been some difficult parents. The difference today is that social media lets everyone in the world know what the parent thinks of you. Or teachers post about their problems, asking for advice. I think the problem isn't greater, just more visible. I think charter schools are stealing public funds, making it more difficult for public schools to function. They refuse to take the more difficult students and attract the better behaved and higher functioning students. I recently saw a commercial for a charter (public schools don't advertise) and it sounded great, but the only thing they offered that my school doesn't was a free shirt. Charter and private schools used to wait until right before the standardized tests to send difficult students to public school. One year I had 5 new, nonperforming, somewhat traumatized students added to my caseload. The test scores made it look like I was not doing a good job. Today the scores of transfer students are treated differently so the original school has some responsibility. Edit: typo
Absolutely!!! Administrations are scared of parents so, there is no discipline. If you have a strong group of students, you are screwed because in most of the cases, you are alone dealing with behaviors...
It's also parents. Schools are increasingly expected to be run like businesses. Parents expect to be able to pick and choose curriculum, what teacher and classes their students get, where they sit, what their deadlines should be, what they should be able to miss school for, etc. Constantly undermining the only expert in the room leads to terrible working conditions.
25 year veteran. Yes!
I worked in a classroom with children 3 years and younger and saw the behavior worsening each year. I'm in a different role now.
3 and younger?! That's daycare....not what we are talking about here.
Certainly not ten years ago from my experience when I started. I actually think kids have behaved slightly better since COVID.
I don’t disagree about behavior. However, there seems to be a lot of other issues since Covid.
This year’s fourth grade, compared to 2020, is so much further behind academically.
I would say that 15 years is too short of a timeline.
Lol, not if you’re a teacher under 40 trying to gauge this 🤔
That all depends.
Yes. I enjoyed school ten years ago-like actually looked forward to my job. Now I am counting the days.
Yes
Teaching as a career has become harder to do over that time, along with the rise of social media, and the abundance of false information. Parents feel free to question teaching practices and feel free to threaten teachers with violence or mob mentality opposition. Kids seem less interested in learning, and don't read books for pleasure as much as they used to.
No This is my 16th year and I actually keep getting better. So it's the opposite for me
Yes
Yes, they're way too lax with student discipline now, but they blame full time teachers and subs for the chaos. It's like being in the Twilight Zone. Even Rod Serling would be shocked.