Less money, less support, fewer resources, more responsibilities—does this sound like the kind of career that has new college graduates lining up out the door? Over the better part of the past decade, I have watched countless excellent educators, frustrated with a general lack of respect shown teachers across this country, leave the state of Oklahoma or the teaching profession altogether, only to be replaced by less-experienced, untrained instructors.In addition to ballooning class sizes and dwindling supplies, many students find themselves without the sort of institutional support they need to navigate one of the more confusing times of their lives. Counselors are stretched thin between testing and administrative tasks, when their time could be spent focusing on students’ mental health and advising them about college and careers when they need it most. I have to think that if our students had the proper support and resources, rather than being squeezed into classrooms that are already stuffed and made to think a one-size-fits-all college plan is the only way, then we could really prepare them for their individual futures. We could actually set them up for success."Lawmakers who control the funding of our schools are tilting us toward an environment where only highly affluent students who can afford to move to attend “better” schools or pay for outside tutoring are able to succeed."
When I decided to become a teacher, I had no idea I was signing up for the financial sacrifice I’ve had to endure. I had no idea that I would not see any substantial raise in nine years or that I would have to take on additional jobs to pay off student loans. I had no idea that to continue in the career I love I would need to turn down opportunities for my own children, like providing them quality childcare or enrolling them in extracurriculars. I have been budgeting and downgrading for years, shedding countless tears each month when there was nothing left after I paid the bills.I’ve had enough. So I’ve decided to leave.My plan is still to teach, only now I have set my sights abroad. I hope to escape the chokehold student loans and careless lawmakers have had on both my life and the lives of those young people I’ve fought so hard for in the classroom in Oklahoma, as the balance increasingly tips out of their favor. As this issue went to press I’d already moved to Abu Dhabi, where I’ll teach English at a highly respected private school. Not only will I receive a $12,000 raise over what I’ve been making after nearly a decade in Oklahoma public schools; I will also receive a furnished apartment with utilities paid, health insurance for my entire family, tuition for my children, and an annual flight home. On my new salary alone, I can afford to finally pay off my student loans and provide my children with the education they deserve. When my infant daughter reaches the age of four and can enter preschool, she will do so free of charge. In the meantime my 5-year-old son, along with my new students, will attend classes of between 25 and 27 kids, something unfathomable in some Oklahoma public schools.Looking back on my first teaching job, I am saddened to say that being a teacher in Oklahoma is far worse today. Inexperienced teaching hopefuls with college degrees in hand, as I once was, no longer struggle to find a job; they have their pick of positions across the state. No teaching certificate? No problem—schools will hire you first and train you later just to get a capable human in an overcrowded classroom. The problem is that this strategy only fills open positions; more instructors are still needed to lower those class sizes. And yet, more desks are added. Active teachers in the system who’ve been overburdened are now leaving in droves, and who can blame them? Not everyone has the luxury of being able to up and leave, either. Students without the financial means to seek quality schooling elsewhere will continue falling through the cracks.I’m ready to go out again to try and change the world, and though I struggle to keep straight the hundreds of students’ names from over the years, I carry their memories and frustrations with me.“Public school didn’t prepare me at all for my future,” one former student told me. “I expected a road map, like when you pick your classes each year. Now I am almost 21, have no idea what I am doing with my life, no idea what I want to do. I’m depressed and owe way too much money for college credits that will probably never mean anything to me because I left high school knowing less about how the future works than when I went in.”Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily."We are breaking our kids’ spirits, stifling their love of learning, and crippling their confidence when we send this flawed message that their future worth hinges on standardized exams—which are devised, of course, by one of a small handful of testing companies profiting on the backs of a deteriorating public school system."