NO institution has contributed more to America’s economic growth, innovation, and opportunity than the public school. For generations, they have educated the workforce, opened doors for families, and strengthened communities. 90% of US students and their families still choose public schools.
So why are teachers leaving?
One major reason is that public schools have increasingly become the urgent care for society’s problems.
When children are hungry, homeless, struggling with mental health, living through abuse, dealing with addiction in the home, chronically absent, unsafe online, or in crisis, schools are expected to respond. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, we are still expected to teach. Educators care deeply about students. We will feed them, encourage them, protect them, counsel them, and help them through difficult circumstances because that is what people who care about children do.
But there is a difference between choosing to help a child and making schools legally responsible for solving nearly every problem affecting childhood.
That line has become badly blurred.
Public schools have evolved from primarily academic institutions into massive social safety nets responsible for an extraordinary portion of a child’s development and well-being. Meanwhile, lawmakers continue adding mandates, programs, reporting requirements, training requirements, interventions, and responsibilities—often one well-intentioned piece of legislation at a time.
Individually, many of these requirements sound reasonable. Collectively, they are overwhelming. At the same time, policymakers debate school choice and alternatives to traditional public education while continuing to place additional responsibilities on the public schools that must serve every child who walks through the door. At some point, we need to STOP adding and start asking what can be removed.
I would support the creation of a serious repeal and review committee whose purpose is simple: examine every state mandate placed on public schools and determine what is truly the responsibility of the school, what belongs to another public agency, and what should remain primarily the responsibility of parents and families. Consider what schools are now expected to address:
Student suicide prevention, anxiety and depression, mental-health referrals, crisis counseling, threat assessment, active-shooter preparation, cyberbullying, sexting, social-media misuse, internet safety, vaping, fentanyl awareness, substance-use prevention, food insecurity, homelessness, transportation, clothing and hygiene needs, foster-care stability, child abuse and neglect, trauma, grief, behavioral intervention, anger management, chronic absenteeism, truancy, dropout prevention, teen pregnancy, medication administration, diabetes, seizures, allergies, cardiac emergencies, concussion protocols, heat safety, nutrition, physical fitness, special education, 504 accommodations, speech therapy, occupational therapy, English-language acquisition, migrant support, dyslexia intervention, reading intervention, math intervention, gifted education, AP, dual enrollment, career and technical education, workforce readiness, college readiness, ACT preparation, career counseling, financial literacy, computer science, digital literacy, character development, leadership development, employability skills, parent engagement, transportation, before- and after-school supervision, athletics, extracurricular activities, arts, internet access, school security, emergency preparedness, student-data privacy, civil-rights compliance, harassment prevention, and teacher professional development.
And that list still does not fully capture the modern public school. The question is not whether these issues matter. They do. The question is whether the local public school should be the agency legally responsible for addressing all of them.
Teachers entered this profession to teach. Principals entered it to lead schools. Parents remain the most important influence in a child’s life. Other government agencies exist specifically to address health, mental health, public safety, social services, and family welfare.
We need to restore some boundaries. Let teachers teach. Let principals lead. Let parents’ parent.
And when children truly need additional help, let schools work with families, healthcare providers, law enforcement, social services, churches, nonprofits, and community organizations instead of being expected to replace them all.
Public schools should always be a place where children are known, protected, challenged, and supported. But they cannot continue to be society’s urgent care for every problem America does not know how to solve.
Robin