We’ve all seen them—stories about teachers sacrificing their evenings and weekends to clean their classrooms due to budget constraints limiting janitorial staff. Or the first-grade teacher caught at a local store filling multiple carts with supplies purchased out of her own pocket. Perhaps you’ve heard about staff members banding together to donate vacation days to a colleague expecting a child. These tales tug at our heartstrings, often going viral. Teachers receive media coverage and a moment of internet fame, leaving everyone feeling warm and fuzzy for a short time.
However, the real issue lies in the aftermath. No substantial changes occur to ensure that future teachers don’t face similar predicaments. As a former educator, I have mixed feelings about these narratives. I hold both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in education, yet I found myself buried under student loan debt and earning just enough to cover rent, utilities, and occasional ramen dinners. I worked in several underfunded districts, one of which ran out of paper by April.
How does one teach English in high school without paper? You adapt. You search for sales, request donations, and even make copies at a local print shop, all while using your own scant paycheck. I did all this for my students without a second thought. I didn’t have children of my own to support yet, so I may have had a bit more disposable income than some colleagues. As an enthusiastic recent graduate, I didn’t mind turning down the heat and wrapping up in an extra blanket just to afford pencils and notebooks for my students. But should that be the norm?
It was only after several years in the profession that I began to recognize the disparity in how teachers are treated compared to those in other careers. I started to see the uncomfortable reality—did anyone else I knew with advanced degrees have to buy their own supplies to perform their job? Or clean their own classrooms due to absent custodial staff? Or endure a broken air conditioning system in a windowless building throughout June?
Nope.
And that’s what’s concerning about the “heartwarming” teacher stories flooding our feeds. By celebrating these selfless acts, we inadvertently normalize the expectation that teachers across the country must become martyrs, sacrificing their financial resources and personal time for their students.
As Mitchell Robinson, a professor at a major university, asserts, “No other profession is expected to do this kind of thing.” One viral narrative details a superintendent who spent 90 hours painting his own school, saving the district $150,000. Another highlights a Florida teacher battling cancer who ran out of sick days, prompting colleagues to donate theirs so he wouldn’t lose income or his job.
Robinson observes, “If you asked the CEO or VP of any small to medium-sized corporation to spend 90 hours painting the company’s offices, that person would laugh in your face, explaining that it’s not their job to paint walls.” Yet, teachers do it regularly without question, receiving responses like, “We love teachers! They are the best!” Unfortunately, society has come to expect such sacrifices from educators.
Teachers Are Often Anticipated to:
- Paint their own classrooms
- Install their own equipment if permitted by the district
- Purchase essential classroom materials out of pocket
- Fund their own travel and accommodations for professional development conferences, if they can even get time off
Imagine being a professional in any field and being told to buy the basics necessary for your job. Would this happen to a doctor or lawyer? No.
Moreover, these teachers are expected to remain positive while facing constant criticism about the state of our educational system. They are expected to enter the classroom smiling, even as budgets tighten yearly and ill-equipped politicians are appointed to “fix” education, all while hearing comments like “Stop complaining! You get summers off!” and “You knew what you were getting into when you chose this job!” And they do it because they care deeply for their students.
But why must teachers balance their dedication to their students with their own well-being? Is martyrdom a prerequisite for being a good teacher? That’s simply not fair.
The article argues, “These stories aren’t ‘heartwarming’ or indicative of ‘dedication.’ They illustrate our society’s unwillingness to allocate resources to support the schools and educators we trust with our children’s futures—or to treat these professionals with the basic respect and dignity they deserve.”
Robinson points out that what would truly be heartwarming is a scenario where teachers have ample sick days for health issues and maternity leave. It would be heartwarming if they didn’t have to spend their own hard-earned money to maintain their classrooms. It would be heartwarming if administrators could hire professionals for tasks like painting—just as any business would.
Ultimately, Robinson concludes, “It would be genuinely heartwarming to start the new school year by treating public school educators as professionals—simply as we would want to be treated, with a modicum of common decency.”
It’s wonderful that individual teachers display such kindness and generosity, but that’s not the crux of the issue. They shouldn’t need to do these things just to fulfill their roles, and as a society, we are failing them. Unfortunately, this cycle is likely to persist in a country that doesn’t prioritize adequate funding for education or stop expecting teachers to simply “figure it out” as resources dwindle.
For additional insights on the challenges faced by teachers, check out this blog post. And for those interested in parenthood, this resource is excellent for understanding pregnancy and home insemination, while this authority can guide you on at-home insemination kits.
Summary
The article discusses the troubling nature of “heartwarming” teacher stories that highlight acts of self-sacrifice, which normalize the expectation that educators should bear the financial and emotional burdens of their profession. It underscores the need for society to support teachers adequately rather than glorifying their sacrifices.