So you may have noticed since the pandemic, that so much has changed. Many of us have gotten back to our “pre-pandemic” hobbies and habits, but like it or not there are just some things that will never be the same. For some, they continue with their jobs, school, and families and prefer to not think about all that has changed. For others, they are embracing the changes; maybe now working from home and having meals and groceries delivered regularly has become the new normal. However, if you are a teacher, especially one in a public school setting, it is impossible to not notice the shift in our job duties, and especially the public’s attitude toward teachers. Many educators are fed up and have decided to leave their much loved job as a teacher.

For me, it was a subtle change at first. When we first shut down in March of 2020, I just rolled with it. I instantly took all that ed-tech training that I had under my belt and went to work figuring out how to teach to a screen of little faces looking back at me. I turned my son’s old bedroom into my new classroom, using an existing desk we had to hold my laptop, document camera, and an additional screen that I had purchased into a workable set up. I anxiously watched the news only to realize that I may be teaching in this new way for quite a while. I loved the stories that showed how teachers nationally were stepping up to reach every student, completely overhauling the way we taught to be the most effective for every learner. At that point, teachers were considered heroes, and I was proud of myself for stepping up to the challenge.

As the next school year started, and my district continued with distance learning, I started to notice the public opinion of teachers changing. Within a few months, we went from being worshipped to hated, labeled as lazy and inconsiderate of the fact that parents needed schools open to house their children while they worked. No consideration was given to our safety, or the health of our possibly immunocompromised loved ones. My self esteem as an educator took a hit. I no longer felt that we had the respect of the public, but were only wanted as babysitters.

We all know how this story played out. Eventually we all went back to the classroom and schools were reopened. That first year back was a miserable scene of testing and quarantining constantly after every outbreak of Covid. Even though we were in our classrooms, we had a revolving door of students with as many as 6, 8, or more absences every other day. Again, teachers and schools were criticized for the new illness policies, and parents schemed to send sick children to school, trying to get around the guidelines in place, by medicating their children so they didn’t appear too sickly. I might be exaggerating slightly, as I know that many parents actually did try to adhere to the policies, and were concerned about the children and teachers staying healthy, but honestly it was a nightmarish school year.

Fast forward a few years, and yes Covid is still around, but we have learned to deal with it similarly to how we deal with outbreaks of the flu. Teachers are working hard in their classes to address both the academic and social/emotional toll the pandemic years has had on students. But I ask again, what has changed that is driving so many teachers from the profession in droves?

I, for one, have not forgotten how disrespected teachers were, and although we don’t see as much criticism publicly displayed on the news these days, there is still that occasional comment on a social media post about teachers that accuses us of having an easy job, or how it must be nice to have holidays and summers off (I won’t even go into that on this post). These comments are a constant reminder of how some politicians and “Let our Kids Breathe!” anti-maskers tore into teachers every chance they got as we were coming out of the pandemic.

It is also alarming how some district administrators chose to approach the reopening of schools. Even though we had shields up in between the desks in our classrooms, had to practice social distancing, and had a pretty strict testing and quarantine procedure in place, it was as though this didn’t matter and it was business as usual. There was a constant stream of meetings and professional development on newly adopted curriculum. Our social emotional well being wasn’t given a second thought as we struggled with students that were in crisis and didn’t know how to behave in classroom, or interact with their peers.

At first I stupidly thought that some teachers were being over dramatic. I thought, as often is the case in education, that the tides would change as eventually things settled down and the new normal would be acceptable. I’m not sure why, but that just hasn’t happened. Each successive school year just seems to get more challenging. If I could put my finger on it and figure out why, then maybe I could see myself easily teaching for 5, 6 or 7 more years. However, for the first time in 21 years of teaching, I have actually considered if it would be worth it to retire early and start a second career. I have made no definite decisions at this point, and maybe this is just a phase of discontent. I will continue to remember my “why” of teaching and push forward. Maybe others will have some insight to help me understand what specifically has changed. I wonder if that would keep me from having a change of heart?