Teaching Broke Me—And Now Anyone Can Do It

I used to think teaching was a calling. I gave everything to it—late nights grading, weekends spent planning, swallowing every insult from parents and politicians who thought they knew better. I believed the struggle meant something. Then Florida said anyone could do my job. No experience needed, just a uniform or a marriage certificate. Years of training, thousands in student loans, all those nights I came home too tired to eat—suddenly worthless. I watched the news in my empty classroom and felt hollow. Like the work I killed myself for was just a joke to them. I don’t know how to explain the ache of realizing your life’s work is disposable. Or how much it hurts to see your students treated like practice rounds for someone who just showed up. #TeacherExhaustion #EducationReality #Burnout #Education