There’s no question that teachers have one of the hardest jobs in the world. Many seem to agree that the job gets even more difficult towards the end of the school year, when students can feel summer coming.
We’ve reached that point in the year when kids are eagerly anticipating months off from school, but some teachers feel like there’s something different in the air this year. One took to Reddit to ask if other educators noticed that it felt like something was distinctly off with the entire public school system.
The teacher believes that education as we know it is starting to ‘disintegrate.’
In their post on the r/Teachers subreddit, they asked if they were just feeling the normal May blues that come with teaching, or if something deeper was going on. “Is it just May … or … is everyone else feeling like we are finally watching the public school system disintegrate faster than any year prior?” they questioned.
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The teacher continued, “My school is cutting everyone and everything it can. It feels like the ladder is getting cut below me as I’m climbing.”
One Reddit user said in a comment that climbing a ladder isn’t really a good metaphor for teaching in the same way that it is for the corporate world, so the teacher clarified what they meant by that. “I think I mean more like it feels like when I try to stand there is no solid ground mentally,” they explained.
Other teachers were split in their opinions on what was happening to public schools, but most agreed that something felt different.
One teacher insisted that while things may feel rough, it’s not really all that different from what the education system faces at this time every single year. “It’s May,” they argued. “Every year.”
Others said they were also noticing serious cuts in their own schools, which kept the system from running smoothly. “The cuts are brutal,” one said. “I have been asked about cuts and if that makes the classes smaller. After I finished laughing hysterically, I just [said] no, those positions aren’t replaced and now we have fewer resources because music, library, art, counselors, and nurses have all been cut or put on some type of [itinerant] schedule.”
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Several pointed out the behavior issues in students that are leading to serious violence, from an assistant principal getting punched in the face to a student being pinned to the ground by a bully.
And still, others insisted that what these teachers were seeing was not unique to their profession, but rather a sign of bigger problems in society. As one person said, “To be fair, I don’t think it is limited to schools. It feels more like American society itself is disintegrating.”
There seems to be a confluence of factors that have created the perfect storm for an education crisis.
As for the cuts districts are facing, it’s pretty well-known by now that the Trump administration is slashing funding for education, which is leaving districts unsure of how they’ll pay for all of the employees and programs they need. Last year, the administration tried to divert $12 billion in education funding and took the first steps to shut down the Department of Education.
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These cuts are just making the ways that students are falling behind academically and acting out in school even worse. Teachers have noted that having smaller classes or more staff would be beneficial, but administrators’ hands are tied with the limited funds they have access to.
The public school system is facing serious challenges right now, and it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say they feel more acute than they have in the past. However, the whole world does seem to be at some kind of tipping point. Every industry and aspect of life seems to be in disarray, and people just don’t have more energy than to keep their own heads above water.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
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