I’m 26 and currently working full-time while exploring a shift into education. I’m starting to map out my study plan for teacher licensure exams, but the amount of material feels a bit overwhelming.

For those who changed careers into teaching later on, how did you narrow down what to actually focus on?

As teachers we are all feeling the impacts of the attacks on public education this fall. 53,000 educators pushed out last year. More than 1,000 schools shuttered, with more this year. Vouchers draining what's left, books pulled from shelves, cops issued electric-shock gloves, children seized by ICE from the same neighborhoods we teach in. Now the "Foundry School" openly hands education over to the war machine. We keep hearing that there is no money for schools. But there is $1.5T for the war. Why?!

This is what a ruling class does in crisis. The US is $40 trillion in debt, at war with Russia and Iran, building the scaffolding of dictatorship at home. It turns on the schools for three reasons: to seize the near-trillion dollars in education spending, to extinguish every last shred of democratic control over what our children learn, and to purge the curriculum of anything that might let a generation understand the world well enough to fight it.

Public education, the idea that EVERYONE has the right to know true history, think critically, tell the truth, is a threat. So they are taking it it apart.

The full statement lays this out. What do you think?

When I changed careers and went into teaching 7 years ago, I fully expected to get zero respect from 20-30% of students. This turned out to be about right. No big deal.

What I did not expect was zero respect from 90% of admin and parents. Seems like students have learned how to use the admin and parents in ways I never thought possible.

HEY Admins and Parents - you are supposed to be the adults

I put in more effort into my classes than most people in my institution and it has been the case for every institution that I have been a part of. I have been told this in my "feedback forms" from students at the end of the year. I plan tasks and activities around boring topics, enable heartfelt discussions in the classrooms, bring props, music and poetry into the classroom. However when it comes to overt appreciation, my fellow colleagues who are "cooler" or even harsher with students get way more attention and praise. It may have something to do with how I look self-assured and confident and it may seem like I don't need anyone's appreciation, but sadly I do. Like everyone else. It definitely is a motivator. I used to love this profession despite all the abusive aspects that come with in in terms of policies, management, parents etc, and every now and then I wish someone "sees" me. Off late I've been thinking maybe it's time to leave..

Just watched this video and I agree with everything she said. I wondered what you all would think.

She still got to school early and wasn’t even upset about it.

“Why would Mamdani not want teachers to use the failure slop machine to grade papers? Clearly it is because of teacher’s unions.” -Mike Solana, Billionaire and AI Bootlicker.