TikTok has been reeling over a mother who went viral because her kid’s teacher didn’t decorate her classroom. Since then, teachers are adding their voice to the crowd, explaining why that’s the case. One teacher in California shared her personal experience over the first year she taught. Not only was it challenging emotionally, but she was going through a lot of financial issues at the time. For a teacher that’s being underpaid (like most teachers), it made everything worse.
TikTok user @mrs.frazzled—who I’ll refer to as Mrs. Frazzle—shared a video outlining her disastrous first year as a teacher. She’s upfront about why teachers can’t always go the extra mile, such as decorating their classrooms. Mrs. Frazzled started by saying she “taught hungry” her first year of teaching—in other words, she couldn’t always afford to eat at the end of the day. This was due to the fact student teachers typically get paid until they’re officially done being a student. On top of this, she was going through a lot of financial hardships in the year leading up to teaching.
Mrs. Frazzled also had to worry about getting her classroom ready. She said, “You need to have a fully furnished and ready classroom.” She goes on to say, “If you’ve seen a government sponsored classroom, you know it is very barren in there.” Then there was time spent in traffic and lacking funds for an apartment closer to work.
Luckily, help came in the form of the parents of the children she taught that first year. She explains, “Parents kinda carried me on their back financially that year. I will remember those parents for the rest of my life.” Mrs. Frazzled was thankful for them at a time when she couldn’t afford a bed, dinner every day, or even Q-tips when things were especially tough.
If not for the parents who stepped up, where would she have been that year? And what’s with parents expecting so much from teachers? They shouldn’t be expected to pay out of pocket for everything. Teachers in America aren’t treated as well as they should be, seeing as they’re helping raise the next generation.
One person suggested, “Students AND teachers should get free breakfast & lunch. THAT is what I want my taxes to go to. And teaching supplies and paid student teachers… not billionaires & tax breaks for corporations.” I can easily get behind that!
Another shared, “My student teacher worked part time at Applebees as a waitress for barely any money. I paid for her lunch every day and anytime she subbed in my building after her student teaching was done, she was free to use my lunch account. Because I REMEMBER teaching HUNGRY.” It’s good to see people rallying together in support of our teachers because they deserve so much more.
