Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com
We’ve probably all seen Mr. Overflowing Plate in the buffet line. He can’t make a choice, so he chooses everything. As he returns to his table, he leaves a trail of onion rings, and pizza slices in his wake. His plate is too small, and his appetite too big.
Now, imagine that overflowing plate is filled with items he didn’t choose, and even dislikes—while those in the buffet line hurl insults and second-guess the forced choices tumbling from his plate.
The plates of public school teachers are overflowing. It’s causing serious heartburn, leading to burnout.
IT’S ABOUT RESPECT
When I was still representing educators, a tearful elementary teacher said, “I told a 4th grader to be quiet. She told me, “Daddy says you don’t make much money, so you’re not very important.”
It stunned me. That Daddy could be unique, but if there’s a handful or even one parent like him, it crushes a teacher’s soul. Most teachers feel like once a kid crosses the classroom threshold, “they’re their kids.” Teachers are invested in their kids’ success. Veteran teachers have kids who are now more than 50 years old.
Many teachers tell me they often feel disrespected by students and parents. I’m not talking about “Sit up straight, say ‘Yes, sir’ or “No, ma’am'” respect. I mean students who openly defy teachers, or display threatening behavior, with verbal taunts and insults. Yes, respect must be earned, but teachers shouldn’t be forced to endure performing multiple shows daily full of heckling and ridicule. Unlike doctors, teachers don’t have waiting rooms. They deal with multiple problems at once.
Teachers who try to deal with defiance are frequently regarded as intolerant or not patient enough. The parent gossip network may brand them as someone you don’t want teaching your kids. Administrators often treat them more harshly than they treat the disrespectful student. Disrespect isn’t an instinct—it’s a behavior learned through observation, getting worse when ignored.
It’s also certainly true that not everyone should teach. I had some painful conversations with teachers about finding other work. The idea that schools can’t fire bad teachers is a lie spread by lazy administrators.
OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED
Teachers are hired to teach academic subjects. But here’s the rest of the story. Teachers take tickets, run carnival booths, operate the scoreboard, work track meets, chaperone dances, monitor parking lots, do lunch duty, and referee fights—all without extra pay. Teaching is the profession that makes other professions, but at the end of the day, some of those teaching professionals don ugly orange vests and become crossing guards.
That’s an overflowing plate.
SECOND-GUESSING AND USING TEACHERS AS PAWNS
Public education has some gifted administrators, as well as some who thought that line of work would be easier than teaching. The second group of administrators irritate teachers by not supporting them when needed and second-guessing them every minute. Those administrators smother the joy and magic of teaching.
No profession wants a political target on its back, and teachers especially hate being used as political pawns. For instance, some politicians who haven’t been in a third-grade classroom since they were in third grade themselves try to raise money (or make a name for themselves) by pretending teachers are politically indoctrinating students.
In reality, the only indoctrination going on in the classroom is trying to get kids to come to school ready to learn, pay attention, do assignments, and stop interrupting by yelling “six seven.”
I can hear critics now: “You’re just whining for teachers.” The next time you think teachers are whining, spend one day helping in a classroom. My guess is you’ll come away thinking educators are heroes with plates too full.