There’s nothing worse than realizing that the state of education in the United States is declining because more and more teachers are deciding to leave the profession. For too long, teachers have been subjected to difficult working conditions and low wages, and it seems more people are no longer letting that define them. One Houston, Texas, woman shared how she resigned from teaching after the school district allegedly put her under review for taking unpaid leave when her baby got sick.
The kicker is that she only did that because she took all her PTO and sick days to care for her baby after he was born. It turns out that teachers in Texas are not provided with maternity leave, and can only take 12 weeks under FMLA (the Family and Medical Leave Act). So instead of waiting to be terminated, she resigned and brought her followers along for the journey.
The above video was posted to the social media platform TikTok under the account @craftymsmendoza, a teacher named Ms. Mendoza in the Houston, Texas area. She can be seen packing up what used to be her classroom while she details why she decided to resign a few years after her district got taken over by the state of Texas. She claims that things have only become more and more difficult, with the final straw being the birth of her child.
She reveals that the state of Texas does not provide maternity leave to eligible employees, which means that her only option was to take the unpaid, job-protected leave known as the Family and Medical Leave Act. Unfortunately, this left her without any additional sick days when her child fell ill in December, beginning the snowball that turned into an avalanche.
However, she claims that the district does not allow for unpaid leave, and they put her under review with the decision to terminate her. Instead of waiting for termination, she decided to just pack her things and leave. What really accentuates the situation is her removing everything from the classroom and loading it into a truck because, at the end of the day, teachers purchase all of their own supplies.
Texas Teacher Resigns After District Puts Her Under Review For Unpaid Absences
The comments immediately filled up with people agreeing that teachers deserve so much better, with one of the top replies simply saying, “Former teacher here…..I want everyone to notice that she’s packing up because TEACHERS BUY EVERYTHING ON THEIR OWN DIME. Shame on that district.” Another comment noted the irony of the situation, saying, “So a red state that is “pro family” can’t give teachers paid maternity leave?“
She has not updated her profile since about what her next steps are, though it’s clearly not within the teaching career. Hopefully, she is able to begin her new life within a field that is able to appreciate her because Texas definitely lost a passionate teacher.
