Why Are Teachers So Resentful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the "consider your audience" comment, this is my general note of guidance for teachers posting to this website or any other parenting website:

There is a tendency to assume all parents on DCUM are wealthy. We are not.

MANY parents make less than the teachers at their kids' school. My spouse and I included. We are involved, dedicated parents, and also we are extremely middle class and our kid has never had a primary teacher who didn't out-earn us both.

We've also never had a bad teacher! They've been wonderful. I believe they are with the pay they get.

But I quickly weary of the argument that all parents are terrible and entitled and all teachers are underpaid because I'm a college graduate who makes 80k a year in a job that is not easy (social work). I am not the enemy. I really hate when I see teachers just trashing parents and criticizing everything we do and treating us all like a hyper-privileged monolith out to get them. We aren't. Some of us are a whole lot more like you than you seem to understand.

Thank you for posting this, it’s important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the "consider your audience" comment, this is my general note of guidance for teachers posting to this website or any other parenting website:

There is a tendency to assume all parents on DCUM are wealthy. We are not.

MANY parents make less than the teachers at their kids' school. My spouse and I included. We are involved, dedicated parents, and also we are extremely middle class and our kid has never had a primary teacher who didn't out-earn us both.

We've also never had a bad teacher! They've been wonderful. I believe they are with the pay they get.

But I quickly weary of the argument that all parents are terrible and entitled and all teachers are underpaid because I'm a college graduate who makes 80k a year in a job that is not easy (social work). I am not the enemy. I really hate when I see teachers just trashing parents and criticizing everything we do and treating us all like a hyper-privileged monolith out to get them. We aren't. Some of us are a whole lot more like you than you seem to understand.

Most teachers on this site are complaining about workload and administration, not parents. Sure, I see the occasional teacher lashing out after a parent insults the profession. But overall? It’s workload and admin.

We don’t think you’re the enemy. We DO think we are overworked and under-appreciated. Saying that takes nothing from you; it doesn’t mean that you aren’t ALSO overworked and under-appreciated.

But on this site, the second a teacher mentions something frustrating about the profession, it is met with the usual comments: “you get paid summers” (we don’t) or “you get off at 3pm” (just to take 3 hours of work home).

We do understand other professions have similar grievances. But here’s one place teaching differs: those professions are ALLOWED to have grievances. We are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the "consider your audience" comment, this is my general note of guidance for teachers posting to this website or any other parenting website:

There is a tendency to assume all parents on DCUM are wealthy. We are not.

MANY parents make less than the teachers at their kids' school. My spouse and I included. We are involved, dedicated parents, and also we are extremely middle class and our kid has never had a primary teacher who didn't out-earn us both.

We've also never had a bad teacher! They've been wonderful. I believe they are with the pay they get.

But I quickly weary of the argument that all parents are terrible and entitled and all teachers are underpaid because I'm a college graduate who makes 80k a year in a job that is not easy (social work). I am not the enemy. I really hate when I see teachers just trashing parents and criticizing everything we do and treating us all like a hyper-privileged monolith out to get them. We aren't. Some of us are a whole lot more like you than you seem to understand.

Most teachers on this site are complaining about workload and administration, not parents. Sure, I see the occasional teacher lashing out after a parent insults the profession. But overall? It’s workload and admin.

We don’t think you’re the enemy. We DO think we are overworked and under-appreciated. Saying that takes nothing from you; it doesn’t mean that you aren’t ALSO overworked and under-appreciated.

But on this site, the second a teacher mentions something frustrating about the profession, it is met with the usual comments: “you get paid summers” (we don’t) or “you get off at 3pm” (just to take 3 hours of work home).

We do understand other professions have similar grievances. But here’s one place teaching differs: those professions are ALLOWED to have grievances. We are not.

Most public employees are encouraged not to complain on social media/the internet in general. Its not only teachers who need to consider their audience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the "consider your audience" comment, this is my general note of guidance for teachers posting to this website or any other parenting website:

There is a tendency to assume all parents on DCUM are wealthy. We are not.

MANY parents make less than the teachers at their kids' school. My spouse and I included. We are involved, dedicated parents, and also we are extremely middle class and our kid has never had a primary teacher who didn't out-earn us both.

We've also never had a bad teacher! They've been wonderful. I believe they are with the pay they get.

But I quickly weary of the argument that all parents are terrible and entitled and all teachers are underpaid because I'm a college graduate who makes 80k a year in a job that is not easy (social work). I am not the enemy. I really hate when I see teachers just trashing parents and criticizing everything we do and treating us all like a hyper-privileged monolith out to get them. We aren't. Some of us are a whole lot more like you than you seem to understand.

Most teachers on this site are complaining about workload and administration, not parents. Sure, I see the occasional teacher lashing out after a parent insults the profession. But overall? It’s workload and admin.

We don’t think you’re the enemy. We DO think we are overworked and under-appreciated. Saying that takes nothing from you; it doesn’t mean that you aren’t ALSO overworked and under-appreciated.

But on this site, the second a teacher mentions something frustrating about the profession, it is met with the usual comments: “you get paid summers” (we don’t) or “you get off at 3pm” (just to take 3 hours of work home).

We do understand other professions have similar grievances. But here’s one place teaching differs: those professions are ALLOWED to have grievances. We are not.

Most public employees are encouraged not to complain on social media/the internet in general. Its not only teachers who need to consider their audience.

Perhaps the important word is “complain.” I don’t think what teachers often post here are complaints. Acknowledging the challenges of the job is understandable.

There are often threads under “jobs and careers” in which people in other professions post questions/explain their frustrations. I don’t see nearly as many posters interrupting those threads, interjecting and telling other professionals to stop “complaining.” That behavior seems to be reserved primarily for teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the "consider your audience" comment, this is my general note of guidance for teachers posting to this website or any other parenting website:

There is a tendency to assume all parents on DCUM are wealthy. We are not.

MANY parents make less than the teachers at their kids' school. My spouse and I included. We are involved, dedicated parents, and also we are extremely middle class and our kid has never had a primary teacher who didn't out-earn us both.

We've also never had a bad teacher! They've been wonderful. I believe they are with the pay they get.

But I quickly weary of the argument that all parents are terrible and entitled and all teachers are underpaid because I'm a college graduate who makes 80k a year in a job that is not easy (social work). I am not the enemy. I really hate when I see teachers just trashing parents and criticizing everything we do and treating us all like a hyper-privileged monolith out to get them. We aren't. Some of us are a whole lot more like you than you seem to understand.

Most teachers on this site are complaining about workload and administration, not parents. Sure, I see the occasional teacher lashing out after a parent insults the profession. But overall? It’s workload and admin.

We don’t think you’re the enemy. We DO think we are overworked and under-appreciated. Saying that takes nothing from you; it doesn’t mean that you aren’t ALSO overworked and under-appreciated.

But on this site, the second a teacher mentions something frustrating about the profession, it is met with the usual comments: “you get paid summers” (we don’t) or “you get off at 3pm” (just to take 3 hours of work home).

We do understand other professions have similar grievances. But here’s one place teaching differs: those professions are ALLOWED to have grievances. We are not.

Most public employees are encouraged not to complain on social media/the internet in general. Its not only teachers who need to consider their audience.

Perhaps the important word is “complain.” I don’t think what teachers often post here are complaints. Acknowledging the challenges of the job is understandable.

There are often threads under “jobs and careers” in which people in other professions post questions/explain their frustrations. I don’t see nearly as many posters interrupting those threads, interjecting and telling other professionals to stop “complaining.” That behavior seems to be reserved primarily for teachers.

It's because the average parent does not know how to raise and educate their kids so they lash out and blame others when their kids inevitably underachieve or are "successful" only through heavy parental interference. Obesity, lack of empathy, low test scores, racism, etc. These are almost always parental failures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the "consider your audience" comment, this is my general note of guidance for teachers posting to this website or any other parenting website:

There is a tendency to assume all parents on DCUM are wealthy. We are not.

MANY parents make less than the teachers at their kids' school. My spouse and I included. We are involved, dedicated parents, and also we are extremely middle class and our kid has never had a primary teacher who didn't out-earn us both.

We've also never had a bad teacher! They've been wonderful. I believe they are with the pay they get.

But I quickly weary of the argument that all parents are terrible and entitled and all teachers are underpaid because I'm a college graduate who makes 80k a year in a job that is not easy (social work). I am not the enemy. I really hate when I see teachers just trashing parents and criticizing everything we do and treating us all like a hyper-privileged monolith out to get them. We aren't. Some of us are a whole lot more like you than you seem to understand.

Most teachers on this site are complaining about workload and administration, not parents. Sure, I see the occasional teacher lashing out after a parent insults the profession. But overall? It’s workload and admin.

We don’t think you’re the enemy. We DO think we are overworked and under-appreciated. Saying that takes nothing from you; it doesn’t mean that you aren’t ALSO overworked and under-appreciated.

But on this site, the second a teacher mentions something frustrating about the profession, it is met with the usual comments: “you get paid summers” (we don’t) or “you get off at 3pm” (just to take 3 hours of work home).

We do understand other professions have similar grievances. But here’s one place teaching differs: those professions are ALLOWED to have grievances. We are not.

Most public employees are encouraged not to complain on social media/the internet in general. Its not only teachers who need to consider their audience.

Perhaps the important word is “complain.” I don’t think what teachers often post here are complaints. Acknowledging the challenges of the job is understandable.

There are often threads under “jobs and careers” in which people in other professions post questions/explain their frustrations. I don’t see nearly as many posters interrupting those threads, interjecting and telling other professionals to stop “complaining.” That behavior seems to be reserved primarily for teachers.

It's because the average parent does not know how to raise and educate their kids so they lash out and blame others when their kids inevitably underachieve or are "successful" only through heavy parental interference. Obesity, lack of empathy, low test scores, racism, etc. These are almost always parental failures.

I’ll add to this laziness, screen addiction, lack of attention span, lack of exposure to reading/books, parents who let kids run the show. I’d say a typical ES classroom is at least 50% kids like the above. They suck a lot of the teacher’s energy from students who actually are trying to learn and do their work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the "consider your audience" comment, this is my general note of guidance for teachers posting to this website or any other parenting website:

There is a tendency to assume all parents on DCUM are wealthy. We are not.

MANY parents make less than the teachers at their kids' school. My spouse and I included. We are involved, dedicated parents, and also we are extremely middle class and our kid has never had a primary teacher who didn't out-earn us both.

We've also never had a bad teacher! They've been wonderful. I believe they are with the pay they get.

But I quickly weary of the argument that all parents are terrible and entitled and all teachers are underpaid because I'm a college graduate who makes 80k a year in a job that is not easy (social work). I am not the enemy. I really hate when I see teachers just trashing parents and criticizing everything we do and treating us all like a hyper-privileged monolith out to get them. We aren't. Some of us are a whole lot more like you than you seem to understand.

Most teachers on this site are complaining about workload and administration, not parents. Sure, I see the occasional teacher lashing out after a parent insults the profession. But overall? It’s workload and admin.

We don’t think you’re the enemy. We DO think we are overworked and under-appreciated. Saying that takes nothing from you; it doesn’t mean that you aren’t ALSO overworked and under-appreciated.

But on this site, the second a teacher mentions something frustrating about the profession, it is met with the usual comments: “you get paid summers” (we don’t) or “you get off at 3pm” (just to take 3 hours of work home).

We do understand other professions have similar grievances. But here’s one place teaching differs: those professions are ALLOWED to have grievances. We are not.

Most public employees are encouraged not to complain on social media/the internet in general. Its not only teachers who need to consider their audience.

Perhaps the important word is “complain.” I don’t think what teachers often post here are complaints. Acknowledging the challenges of the job is understandable.

There are often threads under “jobs and careers” in which people in other professions post questions/explain their frustrations. I don’t see nearly as many posters interrupting those threads, interjecting and telling other professionals to stop “complaining.” That behavior seems to be reserved primarily for teachers.

Because on a board for parents, most people will deal with teachers in a way most people will not deal with forensic accountants or pathologists. Don’t worry theres still plenty said if a federal
employee has a complaint— there are full threads dedicated to rage at feds.

But if you go onto a parenting board and expect your audience to be all teachers, or expect on DCUM that people will not point out when they think *you* are the problem, you are in the wrong venue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the "consider your audience" comment, this is my general note of guidance for teachers posting to this website or any other parenting website:

There is a tendency to assume all parents on DCUM are wealthy. We are not.

MANY parents make less than the teachers at their kids' school. My spouse and I included. We are involved, dedicated parents, and also we are extremely middle class and our kid has never had a primary teacher who didn't out-earn us both.

We've also never had a bad teacher! They've been wonderful. I believe they are with the pay they get.

But I quickly weary of the argument that all parents are terrible and entitled and all teachers are underpaid because I'm a college graduate who makes 80k a year in a job that is not easy (social work). I am not the enemy. I really hate when I see teachers just trashing parents and criticizing everything we do and treating us all like a hyper-privileged monolith out to get them. We aren't. Some of us are a whole lot more like you than you seem to understand.

Most teachers on this site are complaining about workload and administration, not parents. Sure, I see the occasional teacher lashing out after a parent insults the profession. But overall? It’s workload and admin.

We don’t think you’re the enemy. We DO think we are overworked and under-appreciated. Saying that takes nothing from you; it doesn’t mean that you aren’t ALSO overworked and under-appreciated.

But on this site, the second a teacher mentions something frustrating about the profession, it is met with the usual comments: “you get paid summers” (we don’t) or “you get off at 3pm” (just to take 3 hours of work home).

We do understand other professions have similar grievances. But here’s one place teaching differs: those professions are ALLOWED to have grievances. We are not.

Most public employees are encouraged not to complain on social media/the internet in general. Its not only teachers who need to consider their audience.

Perhaps the important word is “complain.” I don’t think what teachers often post here are complaints. Acknowledging the challenges of the job is understandable.

There are often threads under “jobs and careers” in which people in other professions post questions/explain their frustrations. I don’t see nearly as many posters interrupting those threads, interjecting and telling other professionals to stop “complaining.” That behavior seems to be reserved primarily for teachers.

Because on a board for parents, most people will deal with teachers in a way most people will not deal with forensic accountants or pathologists. Don’t worry theres still plenty said if a federal
employee has a complaint— there are full threads dedicated to rage at feds.

But if you go onto a parenting board and expect your audience to be all teachers, or expect on DCUM that people will not point out when they think *you* are the problem, you are in the wrong venue.

Oh, don’t worry. I’m well aware I’m the problem.

A child uses ChatGPT on an assignment, even though my verbal / written instructions clearly said not to (as did the course documents at the start of the year and the 2 days of instruction about when to use it). I had parents tear me to shreds for holding their child accountable. (How did I know? The child left their prompt to ChatGPT in the cut/paste response.) I was the problem.

An administrator creates a new procedure that’s going to revolutionize education and make all of our students’ scores skyrocket. (The procedure? I wrote my daily plans on the wall in addition to posting them online for families and sending them to admin in advance.) I posted online and sent to admin, but got a poor eval because I abbreviated the plans on my whiteboard. I was told my students wouldn’t know what to learn. I was the problem.

I’d write more, but the lesson is always the same: the teacher is the problem.

[Anonymous]

We work at schools where the administration passively blames student crime on teachers by firing them and building cases on teachers instead of giving students punishments. Teachers get punished for doing our jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the "consider your audience" comment, this is my general note of guidance for teachers posting to this website or any other parenting website:

There is a tendency to assume all parents on DCUM are wealthy. We are not.

MANY parents make less than the teachers at their kids' school. My spouse and I included. We are involved, dedicated parents, and also we are extremely middle class and our kid has never had a primary teacher who didn't out-earn us both.

We've also never had a bad teacher! They've been wonderful. I believe they are with the pay they get.

But I quickly weary of the argument that all parents are terrible and entitled and all teachers are underpaid because I'm a college graduate who makes 80k a year in a job that is not easy (social work). I am not the enemy. I really hate when I see teachers just trashing parents and criticizing everything we do and treating us all like a hyper-privileged monolith out to get them. We aren't. Some of us are a whole lot more like you than you seem to understand.

Most teachers on this site are complaining about workload and administration, not parents. Sure, I see the occasional teacher lashing out after a parent insults the profession. But overall? It’s workload and admin.

We don’t think you’re the enemy. We DO think we are overworked and under-appreciated. Saying that takes nothing from you; it doesn’t mean that you aren’t ALSO overworked and under-appreciated.

But on this site, the second a teacher mentions something frustrating about the profession, it is met with the usual comments: “you get paid summers” (we don’t) or “you get off at 3pm” (just to take 3 hours of work home).

We do understand other professions have similar grievances. But here’s one place teaching differs: those professions are ALLOWED to have grievances. We are not.

I sense a high percentage of resentment from teachers because of school administrators who are forcing teachers to keep have horribly-behaved kids in their classrooms, without consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG! Feds to Eds? Seriously? This is what happens when licensed teachers are driven out. Our students get ex feds who just want a pay check and have no real training, experience, education or passion.

I can’t imagine how thrilled they’ll be to work with you. I’m sure that will do wonders for their morale and consequently retention.

Trust me..they won't last and it will have nothing to do with me. Parents and students will eat them alive.

Yeah, this is definitely a group of people that’s never faced workplace adversity 🙄🙄🙄 remind me the last time, public school teachers worked more than a month unpaid?

Yes, they work many months without pay. It's called "student teaching"

See this is the entitlement that makes these threads need perspective. Entry into plenty of professions requires internships, or fellowships, which are often unpaid. Student teaching, on the other hand, is done for course credit— thats what the payment was.

DP here. A PP was calling out teachers for not understanding what unpaid work is like. Somebody corrected them, saying that student teachers work full-time in school for no pay. (And credit? Please. Student teachers pay full tuition for the privilege of teaching full-time for free.)

So spew your hate at the profession all you want. You’ve proven time and time again in this thread that you are sadly ignorant. And each subsequent post will drive the point home.

If you read the truth as hate, thats really more on you.

And “paying full tuition” may be telling on yourself more than you realize.

You haven’t posted “truth” anywhere on this thread.

Imagine if I went to a thread dedicated to doctors and their frustrations. I then repeatedly post how they are wrong, correcting them about their real experiences while I’ve had none. I also tell them they are entitled and whiny, even though I (once again) have no clue about their profession. I’d come across as ignorant and obnoxious, correct? Well, that’s where we are with your contributions here.

If you read a thread where (some) doctors said they suffered conditions no other professional could endure, and said they were being entitled and whiny, I’d agree with you. And so would those doctors who had any sense of perspective.

There are many teachers on this thread. One teacher wrote one post. Get over it already. Plenty of others have agreed with you that teaching is hard, but not necessarily harder. You selectively ignored ALL of those, presumably because it’s more fun to antagonize hard working teachers. This isn’t an attractive look for you.

(And I STILL wouldn’t ignorantly post on a thread about the challenges of being a doctor. If one actually wrote they have it worse than all other professions, why would I dig in and vehemently disagree? Perhaps they are correct. Or they are writing after a tough, discouraging day… in which case I would offer support. But you and I are different, I suppose.)

And I imagine, as in real life, good teachers are mortified by those who are endlessly calming to be victims, because it makes teachers in general seem entitled and out of touch.

You appear to think being a silent martyr is a qualification for “good teacher.”

Doing a job for which you’ve agreed to the pay and knew the conditions doesn't make you any kind of martyr, silent or otherwise. Taking and doing that job all the while insisting that you suffer in ways no one else could, is entitlement and good teachers rightly call entitlement out.

Another experienced teacher pointed out really early in the thread: if you’re working eighty hours after the first couple years, the problem is between user and keyboard. Others have told you: many professions have unpaid overtime, capricious bosses, and demanding clients.

If your complaints are about things like implementation of special ed in the classroom, political interference in curriculum, yes, those are unique to teaching. But when theres a litany of conditions most other professionals experience diluting the legitimate complaints, it makes teachers appear whiny and entitled. Which? Other teachers dislike and complain to parents and friends about even id you don't believe it.

Its like you went into teaching and all of the complaints are about not being treated like a tech CEO.

PP, you clearly know nothing at all about the teaching profession. We went into teaching to help kids. I know of no job in the tech world where people have their work sabotaged by everyone above them, every day, in every way, and are still held accountable for results.

But this IS so many jobs. SO So many jobs on so many levels. Why do you think it is different elsewhere? I'm a fundraiser for a non-profit. I'm good at it, but oh my gosh! so many people in my org think they are better at it. I have to CONSTANTLY explain how my jobs works, educate them, face constant questioning ,mistakes from consultants. It is all part of the job. Oh - I am supposed to work 35 hours, a week, but lets be real, it is at least 45. so come, on, we all work overtime without pay.

[Anonymous]

Oh there consequences. They write bad reports when they observe chaotic classes. Then they oust teachers who make alot of behavioral reports. Then they lie to unemployment and say you quit.

[Anonymous]

Just curious...what state/county is firing teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious...what state/county is firing teachers?

I'm in Illinois and a colleague without tenure complained about test scores being fudged by the district was let go a few years ago. Btw, the scores are still being fudged.

[Anonymous]

There was violence and chaos in my classroom and admin told me that I didn't understand AA culture. MCPS got sued for millions by an assaulted student shortly later but a lot of new teachers got canned for making an issue of the violence.