What I see happening to teachers every day — and what nobody is willing to say out loud.
By Kim Lester
Teachers —
I want to say something that your administration is not saying. That the professional development is not saying. That the end-of-year data meeting is definitely not saying.
The system isn't broken.
In fact... it's working exactly as designed. And unfortunately, teacher, you're the one paying the price.
What does that mean? How does that show up for you? Well...
A student does nothing all week. No homework, no classwork, no assessment — nothing. The solution the system gives you is to sit beside the student and walk them through every single step, hand in hand. "Helping them out"... supporting them.
A student ignores every direction you gave. Plays with friends as you teach. Sleeps during your small group instruction. Refuses to take out the notes you gave him three times already to use for the assignment. The solution the system hands you: "Give them grace." Change the grade. Make it work.
A student does absolutely nothing. No attempts made. No verbal responses to questions. No participation in collaborative learning. The solution the system hands you: pass them anyway. We can't fail them.
So what exactly are the students learning?
They are learning that if they wait long enough — someone will eventually come do it with them. Or for them. They are learning that no one will allow them to fail even when they make no effort to pass. They are learning that the expectations of others do not apply to them.
And if you don't play along? If you hold your expectations and don't chase, re-explain, or water it down until something gets turned in? What are you told?
You didn't build the relationship. You didn't differentiate enough. You didn't make it engaging enough... In short, you didn't do your job to support the student.
THEY didn't open their laptop. But the failure still circles back to YOU.
You are not imagining this.
You were trained to teach. Not to chase. Not to re-explain indefinitely. Not to water down your standards until something — anything — gets turned in.
You have been handed responsibility for outcomes you are not allowed to control. And when those outcomes fall apart — the finger still points at you.
Teachers... know that this is not a reflection of your skill.
This is a system protecting itself.
You cannot fix what the system refuses to acknowledge. I spent 28 years in education watching extraordinary teachers carry this weight — and I could not get them the support they needed from inside the system. So I left. Because if I couldn't protect teachers from within the system, I could support them in protecting themselves from outside of it.
What you can do — right now — is stop letting the weight of it live in your body after 3pm.
Stop carrying what was never yours to carry.
That is not giving up. That is survival. And survival — staying in this profession without disappearing inside it — is exactly what we're here for. 💚
Give yourself the same care you give everyone else.
— Kim 🌿
After the Bells was built for the teacher who is still showing up — and deserves to come home to herself when the day is done.
→ Join the waitlist: afterthebells.org/pages/waitlist-after-the-bells-official