Why are Teachers So Quiet?

While the craziness of Covid creates school boards who are willing to force children into dangerous masks and to take vaccines they don’t need and might harm them, it’s clear that parents are speaking out.

But, there is one group in the schools that is NOT speaking out. A friend of mine asked me the other day, why are teachers so quiet about this?

It reminds me of something Senator Ron Johnson said to Dr. Pierre Kory in 2020. While Senator Johnson was hearing about all the dangers of the vaccines and all the suppression of physicians when it came to treatment he said, ” I want doctors to take their gloves off. “

We all know what he means. When are doctors going to start really fighting? Of course, we know what doctors and nurses have faced if they speak up. Censorship, punishment, discrediting, and even losing their licenses. Still, many have and are speaking out.

But teachers are, for the most part, staying quiet about the harm being done to their students and themselves by mandates, by CRT, etc. Why?

Being a teacher is a wonderful profession, but it is also one that is subject to pressures from so many sides. For one thing, no one knows how daunting it is to be in charge of a class of children, regardless of their age. Much less teach them. Then there are the parents. A teacher’s relationship with parents is one of extreme importance for both parties. I very seldom met parents I wasn’t able to get along and work with. It was a matter of understanding that they view their child as precious and their main concern. Being aware of this is critical. When a teacher and a parent have a conflict, it can be detrimental to all parties.

But the most difficult part of teaching is having administrators, Board members, politicians, etc. presume to know how you should do your job without ever having spent a second in a classroom.

Imagine yourself at your job completing a task that requires special training. Now imagine that someone walks into your jobsite and starts telling you HOW to best do your job, even though that person has no training or hasn’t done your job for years. And, imagine that this person tells you to do things that don’t make sense and don’t work. You’d probably get angry and throw them out.

It happens to teachers all the time. The difference is, they can’t usually throw these people out or even express anger to them.

A good example is when teachers were told, out of the clear blue sky, that they should no longer teach phonics in order to help kids learn how to read. Why was this done? It was done because some researcher, somewhere, decided that teaching phonics didn’t work despite the fact that humans had learned to read for decades using that strategy. All of a sudden, it was not only suggested that teachers not use phonics but they were forbidden to do so. If they did, they would get in trouble.

I remember teachers hoarding their old phonics books and materials, hiding them, and only giving phonics lessons in a clandestine manner. It was as though phonics was the educational equivalent of illegal drug use. If you got caught using them, there would be dire consequences.

At some point, people came to their senses and loosened the sanctions on phonics. But then came state testing and all the money tied to it, and now many teachers have to follow pre-written scripts in classrooms. Algorithms. Sort of like doctors in hospitals treating Covid.

So, with all this going on, why don’t teachers speak up?

Fear.

I’m sure you are asking what they are afraid of. After all, teachers have something called “tenure” which means it is really hard to fire them except for certain conditions. While it is true that any teacher who makes it through three years does get tenure, it’s not exactly true that there is nothing a school system can do to a tenured teacher.

Tenured teachers may not be “fireable” but they can often be harrassed and threatened by administrators for going against the educational flow. That would never happen, would it?

Well, yes, it would. And sometimes the harassment can get quite personal and quite ugly. Ask teachers whose evaluations were glowing for most of their career but who suddenly start getting poor evaluations after speaking out. Or teachers who are specifically trained and experienced in one level ( elementary, secondary) and then find themselves suddenly transfered to a position they neither want nor are competent in. It sounds minor. It isn’t. I know Assistant Superintendents and Superintendents who could target non-compliant teachers better than the Biden DOJ targets January 6th protesters.

As a supervisor, there was a time when I was instructed to observe a teacher and find various areas to give that teacher a negative evaluation so the Assistant Superintendent and the Principal could force the person out.

Thing was, this was a good teacher. Not earth shaking, not incredibly innovative, but good, solid. The kids in the class learned and liked the teacher. I couldn’t do it. That got me in trouble but, oh well. It wasn’t long after that when I got my own form of harassment.

And this was over teaching strategies. Can you imagine the vitriol for any teacher who opposes the Covid mandates?CRT?

One would think the Union might get involved until you realize that the Union isn’t really about protecting teachers. Remember, they only spend 5 cents of each dollar on actually advocating for teachers. Also remember that they love this Covid stuff. It makes them important in the world of government influence.

What about the school boards? Please. In our county, the school board is merely a group of bobble head dolls, nodding and smiling at everything the Superintendent says and does. Teachers who go to them for help soon discover how useless and disinterested they are.

So, teachers are frightened to speak out. I get it. They could lose jobs, their certifications, the whole nine yards. I have said many times that I am so glad I am not teaching right now. I’d have to leave my job.

Problem is now we need them to speak up. Like the doctors and nurses during the Covid crisis, teachers have to take off the gloves and fight for their students and for themselves. Without them, no one can testify to the damage being done in our schools to our most precious citizens. No one has the first hand knowledge of how the mandates are destroying the lives of many children, not just a few.

We need them.

But, they will need us also. They’ll need us to stand with them, support them, and advocate for them. When you see the unions making statements or crazy teachers on TikTok, remember it’s not most teachers. Even when you hear the Boards of Education say that “teachers have asked for this or that,” most of the time that is not true either. Some teachers may have asked, but not all.

And we need to support the ones who have the best interest of the children at heart.

But, like them, we are going to have to be “all in.”

Are you ready? I am.

*If you are a teacher who is being harassed and have no one will help or allow you to tell your story, let us know. We’ll listen and we will keep your info confidential.

Additional Note: As a supervisor, I had to observe teachers and occassionally give evaluations that were not good and could possible affect their job. The difference is that I NEVER did that to appease a Superintendent or Asst. Superintendent or to promote their political views.