The Invisible Struggle Pushing Teachers Out of the Classroom
By: Ximena Mandujano
Being the teacher’s daughter comes with many rewards, but also it gives you access into behind the scenes of what it takes to be a teacher. Summer 2024, unknowingly, was the last summer I would help set up my mother’s classroom, or maybe even the last time. In recent years something that has become very visible to me is my mothers mental health. In the past decade, my mother has expressed her concerns about the education system and how it's not only affecting students, but also teachers and other school administrators alike. There are many factors that contribute to her mental health deteriorating, one was when she was assigned to teach kindergarten. Around 10 years ago, class numbers jumped from 20 to 25+ and scheduling changed, with kindergartners going all day instead of splitting half day. This year's class had many behavioral issues and needed neurodivergent support, which the school lacked. With neurodivergent students not getting any aid and students with behavioral issues not receiving the adequate support, all of this fell on the teacher. Between teaching larger class sizes and managing the students' needs and behaviors, she was spread thin and was pushed to take a medical leave of absence. My mother has expressed the toll it took on her to make that decision, feeling that she was abandoning the students and her concerns with the “what ifs” “what will people say”. At the end of the day, however, she wanted to better herself, and be the teacher that the students deserve.
Fast forward to more recent years after the pandemic, everything was great but she felt like she needed something new. She applied for a new position as a literacy specialist; she thought that with this job she would really be able to help students with their reading and writing, but also alleviate the classroom pressure. She would be with smaller groups, working with K-6 grade, and not having to deal with behavioral issues and parents everyday. Being a teacher was still taking a toll, and eventually she got sick and was hospitalized for a week.The doctors told her that she needed to take another medical leave of absence. When she came back, she was stressed out because she was not doing classroom training, teachers were not testing their students, and she felt that she was behind compared to her other coworkers. In the Spring she decided to resign from the position and give the classroom another try.
As the school year began, my mother needed help moving everything from her 20 year old kindergarten classroom to her new 4th grade classroom. She went out of her way to purchase new things, and decorate the classroom for a better learning and inviting environment. My mother needed a whole army to help her set up because teachers are expected to do all of that by themselves. My partner even helped us out because moving classrooms is too much for one person and then reorganizing/decorating the new classroom was going to take a lot of work. Teachers come back a week before for training and classroom set up, but in reality they only have two days for set up. My partner being a new recruit for the yearly classroom setup, he mentioned that he did not realize how much work is put into a classroom, he was just used to showing up. But seeing behind the scenes made him appreciate his teachers’ work: how much labor that goes into the classroom and the out of pocket money spent because it's the teachers job to create a safe and inviting space for learning.
I think the constant pressure from the work environment started getting to her. My mom said that she didn’t have time to be a wife, mother, and daughter because work was consuming every single part of her. She realized that she needed to take a step back to live a healthy life. I hope one day she gets to do what she loves, in a better system with better resources for students and teachers alike.