This is a really informed perspective, and it speaks to me as a teacher (as it does to many folks here). I think more than anything, I wish kindness was a given as well as good, fair pay, as you say at the end of your article. I sometimes feel like teaching is the bad boyfriend that buys flowers only when he's messed up. Just enough to keep you going.

The problems in education are not limited to one person or group. As many have already said, it is the larger system itself that is broken. There is a lot of research to support the fact that education as a system is broken. Many of us are chipping away at some of the rougher spots, and we do see areas that have been cobbled together to work, though I might argue a lot of that is due to the relationship a good teacher builds with their students, rather than any attribute of the system. But there is more work to be done than any one person or group can do. It will not happen quickly. And it may never be healed, though it may get better. It does feel overwhelming at times.

For the new teachers out there, I wouldn't say that teaching is not worth it. But I would say you may want to think about what you'd like to do after. Have an exit plan: a skill or dream to move on to from teaching. We need people to jump into the trenches for a time and it is a good, worthwhile battle to fight. At least I have found it so. But it is not a life-time battle. I have seen too many colleagues succumb to burnout, and am feeling my own ends start to fray after about 9 years of teaching. I am glad that I have the wherewithal to recognize this, and I do not regret it. But I am starting to look around at other dreams. This keeps me sane.

Thank you for this very cathartic piece.