Not many teachers leave the profession because of how they are treated by the students (that is if there are systems in place to help teachers feel empowered when students need to face discipline and consequences for detrimental actions).

Most teachers leave the profession because how they are treated by other adults: lawmakers, parents, taxpayers, and even administration.

Students don’t write the curriculum and mandate tests.

Students generally don’t come to school board meetings and threaten lawsuits or boycotts.

Most students are not old enough to vote in legislators and policymakers who set salaries, budgets, mandates, and taskforces that investigate teachers for bogus accusations.

Adults do.

As a state, we are losing teachers.

More than DPI wants to admit.

More than we can replace.

Actually, it’s happening all over the country at a faster pace than usual. And it’s not a pandemic that is causing it.

The pandemic has just exacerbated already existing conditions and became a catalyst for more attacks on public education like Critical Race Theory hoaxes, the banning of books, accusations of indoctrination, calls for extreme transparency, and the “need” to write new standards in history.

Those attacks have all come from adults, not students.

If the pandemic has shown anything, it is that schools are a fundamental part of society. Schools do not work without people. At the very foundation of a strong school system is the teacher/student relationship.

But if teachers are leaving, then we are damaging the very foundation of a vital institution.

Schools will suffer.

Students will suffer.

Communities will suffer.