An Arkansas teacher, Jake Lee, is more burnt out than ever and blames a lack of classroom support. Lee begins by stating that he has a kindergarten class of 27 students that he essentially teaches by himself. He argues the problem isn’t that he doesn’t love inclusion or kids, but that “we keep adding needs, responsibilities, and expectations to classrooms without adding the staffing, training, or resources.” His TikTok video has over 106,000 views and over 17,000 likes.
The problem he sees is that the general education setting doesn’t support the significant needs being added to the classroom. Lee argues, “Inclusion requires support.” In his classroom, some of his students have “significant needs and robust IEPs.” These students do have an educational paraprofessional helping them, but only those individual students. Not the rest of the class. Furthermore, sometimes one of these paraprofessionals is supporting three or four students “with very high needs.” He says, “Trust me, that’s not enough.”
Lee proceeds to list other needs that his students have, such as speech, behavior, regulation, and academics. Currently, he has three students using AAC devices to communicate with different programs he’s expected to learn. He says, “I’m a general education teacher, and I’m expected to learn all three, create visuals, make schedules, implement accommodations, specialize instruction, and also teach kindergarten to 27 kids essentially by myself.” Lee isn’t a special education teacher and hasn’t had any specialized training that goes with it. Additionally, he argues that “there’s no compensation in taking on that expertise, and there simply isn’t enough adults.” Furthermore, he shows up every day to give everything to his students but after nearly 20 years, he argues a teacher in a successful classroom is “wondering just how much longer they can do this.”
Many React To Arkansas Teacher’s Video
People are shocked to hear what Lee goes through on a daily basis. One person says, “No kindergarten teacher should ever have 27 kids in his or her room.” A second commenter is overwhelmed: “My head almost exploded when you spoke of the three students with devices. Ok no.” Another teacher agrees, “We are so tired!! Preschool teacher, multiple IEPS, we keep showing up, but man this is nuts.”
Meanwhile, many call out inclusion in schools as presenting a serious issue not dealt with. One says, “Inclusion without support is neglect.” Another agrees, “Inclusion is wonderful in theory and horrible in practice!” Another commenter argues, “Inclusion is the district’s guise for cutting costs and support.”
Many of Lee’s videos on his channel @me_seeking_me focus on his life as a single dad to two teenage sons and an inside look at his life as a teacher.
