Teacher Goes on "Unfiltered Rant" About "Bad Parenting Habits" That Led Her to Quit

A teacher's startlingly honest Facebook rant about the public school system and its problems has folks all over the internet slow-clapping in admiration.

In case you've been turning a blind eye to the issue entirely, the U.S. hasn't exactly been killing it when it comes to educating our youth in the past few decades. In fact, we lag behind many industrialized nations in several subjects.

It might have something to do with the fact that teachers across America are generally underpaid for the amount of work they're expected to do. Or that curriculum standards vary widely from state to state and seem more focused on raising standardized test scores than, you know, actually teaching real-life knowledge. And let's not even begin to talk about what huge failure our higher education system is becoming. 

While it's easy to discuss ad nauseam all of the potential problems with the U.S. education system, no one understand the pain points and possible solutions better than teachers. The sad part is, the profession often leaves them feeling disenfranchised, unsupported, and absolutely frustrated.

That pretty much sums up how Jessica Gentry felt before she quit teaching.

Jessica's a self-proclaimed "passionate" teacher who's all about education, but felt forced to leave the profession due to all of the horrible BS she had to endure over the years. She insists that she isn't the only one who feels this way and breaks down all of her biggest gripes with parents, the administration, the lack of modern technology in our schools, and the poor treatment of teachers.

First, she challenges the idea that children have "changed" over the years, which somehow makes them more difficult to educate. To rebut that, Jessica points out the obvious: children are raised by adults. The expectations placed on parents and the roles parents play in their children's lives is what has changed. So yes, technically, kids have "changed," but only because adults are doing a crummy job of raising them today.

Then there are bureaucratic decisions that take teachers away from students, all for the sake of useless meetings, workshops, and "professional development" days. What's more important? Beating a dead horse of a subject to "appear" you're supporting your teaching staff? Or actually supporting them by letting them do their job?

Jessica returned to the topic of parents and that schools now treat them as if they're "customers" who are "always right," instead of holding them accountable for their behavior. Teachers will get in A LOT of trouble if they comment on the way a parent is raising their child, too.

Then there's the mental health problems that come with putting up with all of this nonsense. And the worst part is, you're getting a salary that necessitates you get a second job to have any semblance of a normal lifestyle. Ultimately, Jessica left the profession because she was suffering, and it was starting to affect her family.

She decided that instead of worrying about an entire class, she would worry about raising her own kid to be the best person they can be.

Her post quickly went viral, racking up over 210,000 shares with tons of people commenting on her invective. Most people were in total agreement; many of them teachers themselves.

What do you think about Jessica's post? Do you know anyone in the teaching profession who feels the same way? Or do you think teachers are just a bunch of big crybabies and should be happy that they have summers "off"? If you think the latter then I'm going to assume you don't know much about a teacher's life.