If you’ve been in education long enough, you’ve probably experienced tensions around contract negotiations - maybe even a full-on strike. Heck, in 7th grade, I watched my teachers stand outside of our school as the morning buses pulled up, wearing red t-shirts and holding signs to demand a fair contract. Despite active teachers’ unions in many districts, it seems we are never actually granted a contract that serves us and our students.

Positioned outside my classroom door, I take a breath as deeply and subtly as I can manage. Believing that my warm greeting is important to my students is the only thing that pulled me here after the bell rang.

There is no controversy in saying that schools should prioritize student learning. Schools should do their best to help students grow as people, master information, become curious, self-sufficient, capable, and independent. We may not fully agree on the content of all that learning, but we certainly agree that the purpose of schools is to educate our children. It’s curious then, that many people would say our schools have become no more than glorified babysitting operations. Many are unhappy, disgruntled at the state of our schools. And as someone on the inside, I can understand why.

I was a demoralized teacher.

Demoralization differs from burnout because it is rooted in having to face frequent moral conflicts. These dilemmas are rarely “I’m not sure what the right course of action is,” but more “I know the right thing to do, but am unable to do it.”