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Teaching the “Toughest Kids” is the Finest Place To Be Right Now
Pay attention, because this matters to you and your kids, too
The National Education Association (NEA) released a poll citing information we’ve all become drearily accustomed to hearing: educators are fleeing the profession in huge numbers and planning to leave as soon as this year ends at alarming rates.
They’re leaving because of old issues we’ve been hearing for decades: low pay, lack of administrative support, behavior issues, and burnout.
But they’re also now leaving because of all the student absences due to COVID, the staff shortages and lack of substitute teachers, the parents attacking them over blatantly false political issues and ideologies that, even if they were true, teachers would have little to no control over.
I’ve seen all of this firsthand as an academic coach working with English learners in newcomer programs in middle and high schools, some of the hardest to fill positions there are. This year, I have spent more than half of my time subbing, with the majority of all of the teachers and students contracting COVID at least once.
There is no continuity in the education of these students, and most of them are failing most, if not all, of their core classes, which means they…
