Reply to NY times op ed on the teacher crisis

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Some parents constantly email, about every little thing. I don’t need to know why Susie has a band-aid on her knee. Believe me, she’s going to tell the whole class. I don’t care that a week from Tuesday Jose will be leaving early to see his grandparents. Just send him with a note that morning. There’s nothing worse than opening your computer in the morning and having to take time to read and respond. Ask yourself, if this was in your childhood, would your mom have called the teacher on the phone about it? If it’s that important, go ahead and email. Otherwise, let it go. [/quote]

Ok, so if it is not relevant, ignore and move on.  I don’t get why this is such a burden.  [/quote]

I think sometimes in this conversation, we need to make a distinction between "things about teaching that are hard or annoying" and "aspects of education that make teaching intolerable or not worth it."

Now, if you want to talk about parents who harass teachers, try to insert themselves into classroom management, complain about normal things to administration, etc., I get it. A unique thing about teaching is this relationship you have with your students' parents, and while you don't work for them, you still have to deal with them. If they are awful and your administration doesn't back you up, that is a huge issue. Ideally teachers and parents should operate as partners in educating kids -- there should be mutual respect and collaboration.

But complaining about a parent whose like "hey Jimmy cut up his knee pretty badly last night on his bike -- it's bandaged up but just wanted to let you know in case you complains about it or has any issues" is just petty. I get why getting a lot of emails like that would be annoying, because I have my own version of that in my own job. [b]It cannot be the reason people are leaving the profession[/b], and if it is, I think they will discover that almost any other job they get will have annoyances at a similar level.[/quote]

In this thread we have a teacher telling you that's why they're thinking of leaving and a former teacher (who presumably has another job to compare) telling you it was a problem, so why do you think you know better? [/quote]

But if teachers are leaving the profession because of annoying emails from parents, that's just normal attrition from people who just don't like the job. Dealing with annoying emails from parents is part of teaching. It is not something that is going to change. It is not even unique to teaching, as many jobs involve getting annoying emails.

That is different than larger policy issues that make teaching an undesirable job. Things like pay, lack of respect, poor administration or oversight, outdated and even dangerous facilities, lack of adequate funding to do their jobs well, etc.

You have to learn to separate the inherently annoying but inevitable aspects of having a job (all jobs have annoying things) from the systemic or policy-related issues that might actually be addressed and fixed. I am sorry but there is no policy fix for "I don't like responding to sometimes annoying or lengthy emails from parents."[/quote]

I don't know of anyone who is leaving because of annoying emails.  I agree with you.  There are annoying emails or annoying things at every job.  I suspect when people say that this is a big issue, what they really mean is this: The OTHER aspects of the job which are HUGE issues, the ones that demoralize people and endanger them, have so dragged them down to the point that they can no longer distinguish between what is merely annoying and what is a major issue.

It's a straw that broke the camel's back kind of thing.  When a couple gets divorced they might say it was because the wife finally had enough of his dirty socks lying around.  But what she really means is he never helps her and is always going out drinking with his buddies, leaving her to raise the kids on her own while married and the annoying socks?  That was the straw that broke the camel's back and now she's filing for divorce.

Fellow teachers, it is okay to leave if you want to leave. Save yourself.  Seriously.  It is not on you to save the system or even to "save" children.  I don't know what the U.S. is going to do, but it is okay to leave.  I truly feel for all the families and children who are suffering or will suffer due to the shortage.  I hope something works out for everyone.  I think things are going to get much, much worse before they get better.[/quote]

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