I recently retired after more than 3 decades as a public school teacher. I can tell you that teaching today is extremely stressful. Teachers have become the national scapegoat for anything with which Americans are disappointed. Other professionals are allowed to do their jobs as they have been trained, but teachers are instead micro-managed by politicians, school boards, the media, and parents. People with no expertise in education feel entitled to judge, bully, and disrespect them. Parents complain to teachers' superiors if their children have homework, yet expect teachers to magically produce high student achievement. Growing numbers of students come to school unprepared to learn, expecting you to provide them with school supplies, and daring you to teach them. Even more frustrating is seeing serious students' learning disrupted by those who don't care to be there.
Decades of this intense pressure can be especially oppressive to teachers, because it is more than a job for them. America's teachers can't clock in and out of the job, like many other employees, even during the summer. It's like being clergy; you are always "on." No matter what you do, you must constantly be aware of the community's expectations, perpetual oversight, and judgment. Teachers are often the victims of gossip, some of which has the potential to ruin their lives and careers. Politicians and the media constantly depict America's teachers as inept and uncaring, neither of which is true. Parents call their homes after hours, or corner them at the store, wanting information, help, advice, etc. Teachers appreciate the interest, but need to be allowed some time off- duty. Many teachers have experienced vandalism to their homes and vehicles, harassing phone calls, threats, and retaliation against family members. Many will be physically attacked at some point in their careers.
There is no escape from the role. Socially, it can be isolating because many people don't see you as an ordinary person; they see you only as "the teacher." Weekends, evenings, vacations, summers, etc. are spent on paper work, curriculum development, teaching summer school, continued schooling (required, at your expense), additional jobs (so you can pay the bills). Teaching becomes your life in a way that defines every aspect of it. During my career, I earned 4 college degrees, including two Masters degrees. I coached multiple sports and worked additional part-time jobs. At the end of my career, it was still necessary to work 2 additional part-time jobs, so I could pay off my loans.
Personally, I loved teaching and found it very rewarding. I earned several state and national teaching awards and successfully mentored many students and athletes. Fortunately, the district that employed me used an accurate and relevant teacher evaluation model and did not release that information to the public. Even with my high evaluation history, it would have increased the inescapable stress that permeates the teaching experience. When I retired, I was given a great send-off by my supervisors and colleagues, as well as my students. I appreciated it very much and knew that I would miss teaching, but I knew that the stress of being a teacher had finally worn me down too far to keep performing at my best.
The point of my post is not to express bitterness toward the profession, but to help non-teachers understand its inherent stresses. Most importantly, I hope it helps some people understand how a teacher could become so overwhelmed that suicide could occur.
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