Chapter 1: The Decision to Leave

As the new school year approaches, millions of students and educators are gearing up for the classroom. However, this year marks a significant shift for me; after nine years, I will not be returning. I made the decision to leave teaching at the end of last year. While the profession has always posed challenges, I had envisioned a lifelong career in education. Unfortunately, various well-meaning yet detrimental policy changes have shifted my role from educating to merely managing tasks, stripping away the joy of teaching.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was widely acknowledged that students faced significant setbacks. Yet, many—including myself—held onto hope that this crisis could lead to a transformative reevaluation of education. Initially, teachers believed that eventually, the system would revert to its previous state. The 2020-2021 academic year saw low expectations as schools operated under hybrid models. Behavioral issues surged, attendance plummeted, and students returned with heightened anxiety and depression. I vividly recall our school social worker's distress as she struggled to find a psychiatric bed for a suicidal student in New York City. Despite these challenges, there was still a glimmer of optimism that conditions would improve.

However, my conviction has shifted over the past year; I now believe that the situation has fundamentally deteriorated. Policies have created a cycle that reinforces a sterile, unengaging educational environment.

During the pandemic, schools employed incentives and disincentives—like grades and attendance policies—to motivate students to complete assignments that often felt trivial. Yet, many students faced challenges such as lack of internet access, the responsibility of caring for siblings, and the trauma of loss, causing their educational responsibilities to take a back seat. As a result, schools opted to promote students regardless of their completed work or class attendance.

Instead of seizing the opportunity to foster compassionate and intrinsically motivating classrooms post-pandemic, policymakers returned to old methods of compliance through rewards and punishments. Alarmingly, schools have neither made educational experiences more engaging nor retained the incentives that once encouraged student participation.

During the remote learning phase, schools that struggled with student attendance transitioned to asynchronous work. Even after reopening, many of the same policies persisted. With ongoing risks of school closures and Covid-19 exposure, independent work became the norm, often manifesting as mundane worksheets. Attendance requirements and deadlines have been relaxed, creating an environment where actual classroom engagement is no longer necessary for completing assignments. Students have understandably recognized the futility of attending class, resulting in significant disengagement.

While these measures may be well-intended, they inadvertently contribute to chronic absenteeism, particularly among low-income students. In New York City, 45% of low-income students are chronically absent, a trend exacerbated since the pandemic began. Schools with high rates of absenteeism are likely to continue emphasizing independent work, further entrenching this cycle: as class attendance becomes increasingly irrelevant, fewer students show up, leading to more policies that devalue in-person learning.

In contrast, affluent students receive instruction that closely resembles the pre-pandemic model, while their low-income peers are often relegated to less engaging forms of learning, such as worksheets. Though this may lead to higher graduation rates, it stifles curiosity and genuine learning.

Section 1.1: The Pitfalls of a Lack of Structure

Before the pandemic, I would generously grant extensions on major assignments, provided students communicated their needs in advance. Although late submissions were usually accepted, they required a plan for timely future submissions. This practice was both pragmatic and educational, fostering communication skills and trust between students and myself. As a teacher responsible for grading 120 essays, it was far more efficient to grade in batches than to manage sporadic submissions over an extended period.

However, many schools have since abandoned assignment deadlines, with proponents arguing that it’s better to receive late work than none at all. I believe that deadlines serve as an essential structure for students still developing their executive functioning.

With relaxed attendance policies, no deadlines, and pressure to pass all students, I have felt more like a taskmaster than an educator in recent years. My efforts have shifted from fostering deep learning to tracking down students who have been absent for weeks, urging them to submit assignments just to pass. At several institutions, I encountered immense pressure to pass students, a direct consequence of policies emphasizing four-year graduation rates. I found myself passing students who attended fewer than ten days of school, including those who were functionally illiterate or had not learned English after four years of high school.

The typical scenario involved students submitting essays weeks late, preventing me from providing timely feedback and engaging in meaningful discussions to enhance their writing. As one parent articulated, “He turns in a bunch of mediocre work at the end of the marking period, and he didn't have these habits before these policies were implemented.”

Effective learning thrives on iteration, with each assignment building upon the last. Yet, infrequent attendance and the absence of deadlines disrupted this process, depriving me of the joy of witnessing student growth and connections. This lack of structure ultimately harms students as well.

Section 1.2: Addressing Student Misbehavior

Misbehavior among students often signals unmet needs. Although extreme instances—such as fights or substance abuse—are rising, I have frequently observed a more common form of misbehavior: complete disengagement. Students are often found on their phones, skipping classes, or acting out. This trend is indicative of a mental health crisis among students. The increasing irrelevance of their schoolwork, coupled with isolation and trauma, can understandably lead to such detachment.

Historically, schools have addressed misbehavior through a system of rewards and punishments. However, under the guise of restorative practices, misbehavior is often left unchallenged.

Rather than recognizing the disengagement and behavioral issues as signs of deeper problems, schools are enabling these behaviors. We are not encouraging self-regulation; instead, we accept the lack of it as an unchangeable fact, failing to promote personal growth among our students. This approach is neither kind nor equitable; it is a disservice to our students.

Section 1.3: The Future of Education

I anticipate that the upcoming school year will be even more challenging. As the previous year came to a close, disengagement and non-attendance reached alarming levels, culminating in a surge of cheating, especially with the advent of tools like ChatGPT. Students, lacking deadlines, often submit all their work at the end of the marking period, leading to a dramatic rise in academic dishonesty. Unfortunately, due to the pressures facing schools, many of these students, despite turning in subpar or AI-generated work, are still promoted to the next grade. This reinforces the notion that such behavior is acceptable and hinders the development of crucial skills.

The pandemic presented an opportunity to reconsider the purpose of education, yet we have instead leaned into the least favorable aspects of the system, making schoolwork increasingly meaningless, more individualized, and detached from community engagement. Students have logically responded to this alienation by further disengaging and skipping school, exacerbating the mental health crisis. Meanwhile, schools continue to graduate students, ignoring the underlying issues at play.

I hold out hope that one day I might return to the classroom. It was once a role I cherished, but current educational policies have transformed it into a burdensome task. In the face of student suffering, we have collectively chosen to allow disengagement to persist. With the current state of educational policy and ongoing debates surrounding teaching, I see little hope for meaningful reform in addressing these pressing challenges.

In the video titled "I RESIGNED // why I quit my teaching job + what my plans are now," the speaker shares insights about their departure from teaching and reflects on their future endeavors.

Another valuable perspective can be found in the video "Why I Quit Teaching After 18 Years - Some Advice for Teachers," where the speaker offers advice and reflections based on their long tenure in education.