How to Stand Up for Students in These Crushing Times

Hey, Teachers!

Whether you're a veteran teacher or a new teacher, you might be questioning how to support students in these crushing times facing public school. It was already challenging. We already have too much on our plate, and now, we're wondering how to advocate for youth while navigating a significant loss of federal funding and personnel, and in some states, difficult policies. Some policies have reduced our liberties and an overall sense of feeling safe as educators. Teachers may no longer feel safe related to topics of teacher autonomy, knowing how to implement what's unarguably best for kids, and being able to teach without intense scrutiny that questions our expertise and undermines our authority as practitioners.

For some teachers, this may be a political conversation because politics have been more intrusive lately in the teaching and learning space.

For other teachers, this may be more frustration jammed into a pot that's been about to boil over for a long time, or a sense that there's just no hope in sight, increasing stress, apathy, and drudgery going to work.

For new teachers, this may mean leaving the profession altogether or changing career direction in undergrad before even stepping foot into a classroom in 2025, because the teaching profession seems unstable and uncertain--or frightening.

But for all of us, when we don't feel we can speak up for kids without facing negative repercussions, write-ups, targeting for being non-compliant, and the ultimate punch in the gut, termination, we feel further distanced from personnel in leadership positions, our colleagues, our mission, and from our core values and principles as practitioners who care.

It's getting more difficult to be a teacher, and this is a time when teachers should feel more needed and valued because of so much uncertainty.

But you know as well as I do: that isn't the case.

How do we stand up for students in these crushing times? How do we explain how and why our students don't see themselves in the curriculum? Or the impending threat of losing programs and services that they deserve and need, that will affect students negatively including students living in poverty, students in Special Education, and our high school graduates applying for FAFSA?

The answer is based on our minute-by-minute decisions, something we're quite used to, and something we need to apply full-force.

Following is what to consider when asking yourself how to stand up for kids in 2025, as a classroom teacher. It's riskier. It's more cutthroat. And you might lose your job for doing the right thing.

So, what does that mean?

First, I've never been one to advocate non-compliant behavior. It's not a good teacher's first choice. And it rarely ends up well if you're isolated on a mountain of idealistic principles. 

Second, being vocal to the point of becoming a target is risky and could cost you your job. You must weigh the consequences of standing up for students by going against the grain publicly and forcefully. (And obviously, unlawful behavior is never the answer, not to mention unprofessional.) Depending on your individual situation related to school policies, your professional code of ethics, and your own morals under "teacher self-image", you as a teacher must decide what teacher behaviors truly promote a sense of well-being and safety in your classroom, and illuminate your role as a teacher-leader.

What's most important in any school year, on any given day, or in any classroom space, is that students know we care.

1. Everything you say and do should promote positivity, connectivity, and resolution in your classroom. Your curriculum may have been stripped down, you may be further silenced, further devalued, and further defunded by the federal government, your state, or your local governance, but you have every opportunity to do good when you address students. If we internalize the negativity, become pessimistic and hateful, start cutting down others, or blame our students or communities for what's crushing us, we will fail (and not the good kind of failure, as in failing forward). We will fail as educators and we will fail these younger generations.

2. Students who see a strong teacher can see themselves as being strong too. The way we conduct ourselves sets the tone in our classrooms. Students, including our most defiant and resistant to instruction, are watching how we behave and how we handle conflict. Secondary students are likely aware of the national climate, and are definitely aware of negative policies and pushback to those policies that are affecting them. Our self-efficacy impacts our students' self-efficacy. Remaining a confident teacher in this challenging time in education is imperative. Also, remaining neutral to politics is best practice. Address student concerns with diplomacy, and do your best to maintain a positive classroom environment where students feel safe.

3. Supporting students means staying informed and advocating for them. It's impossible to ignore recent developments attacking "DEI" (widespread book banning falls into this category), and "DEI" now carries negative connotations. "DEI" may be removed, eradicated, and trampled upon in concept and policy, but it doesn't mean that we eradicate it from good teaching practices. Looking back, the practices of equity and inclusion that have underscored my 30-year career weren't based on political terminology or policymaking that destabilized my personal teaching philosophy and non-negotiables, threatening the very pillars on which my teacher professional identity stands. Good teaching practices for me, have always been based on building strong teacher-student and student-student relationships centered on validating each and every human being in my classroom.

Emphasize the goodness you can bring about in cultivating strong 1:1 teacher-student relationships. This is both the pragmatic and spiritual strength we can infuse into our classroom spaces and instructional efforts.

Furthermore, inclusionary practice for student populations that are already marginalized means being more intentional and vigilant in the coming days about upholding laws and standing in students' corners under those laws. We need to educate ourselves and remain aware of changes at the federal and state levels affecting student advocacy and civil rights. And in states where all "DEI" emphasis is being "washed away" in theory and also through mandates, teachers must remain creative in cultivating opportunities for student authenticity and acknowledgement as individuals. Additionally, we must remain in consistent dialogue with parents and guardians of our students who have 504s and IEPs, so that parents and guardians are educated about how the team supports and provides individual student access to education that is equitable.

In short, know what that means for each of your students in your unique teaching environment.

4. Preparing now to do with even less is wise. If you're a teacher who's concerned about how you're going to teach with fewer supports, and how your students will fare with reductions of programs and services that have supported them, the future is absolutely uncertain. This is disheartening. Schools historically are underfunded in this country. That's not a mystery. Education has not been a fiscal priority, and now, it seems it will be even less of a priority in the coming months and years. Teaching is not a lucrative position, nor do our students have what they deserve and need across this nation. Disparity has existed for some time across our school districts, and students always pay the price of decision-making that does not have their best interests in mind. 

Preparing now means determining how you will teach with reduced funding and programs, with students whose survival needs are further threatened, and with students who are fighting to be recognized in the school system with equal access to education. Who are the students who are already marginalized at your school setting, and how will you be a voice, an advocate, if you face greater hardships and more roadblocks when trying to do your job? 

5. Grassroots efforts can promote student advocacy in the areas you know your students will benefit. Depending on your "trust circle" at work, having conversations about how to support students, with greater deficits, is important. What do your colleagues believe? How are you in each other's corners? What do your administrators believe? Is your school toxic or cohesive? Are you fortunate to have leadership, or are you isolated as a teacher because of poor, top-down management? What conversations can you initiate in the planning stages now, for a fall semester that might look different from 2024-25, based on budget cuts, reduced programs and services, and a general sense of fear permeating the teaching industry?

6. Don't forget why you're a teacher. While investing time in planning for increased uncertainty in education, remembering who you are as an educator is paramount. Given these additional "dealbreakers" related to the abandonment and dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, further crushing our morale and isolating us, teachers may be wondering if it's worth staying in the field. Some teachers will take these hits and roll with the punches. Some teachers may feel less impacted than others, depending on demographics and what's actually lost at the school site. Some teachers, especially teachers new to the profession may be questioning how to retain enthusiasm for teaching and learning when it's already so hard to retain student interest and engagement during instruction.

Knowing your core beliefs and values will carry you as a teacher. We all know that good teaching is about doing our best within the confines. There have always been confines. Good teachers have always battled those confines to reach students. Emphasize what you CAN control: how you teach and how you build bridges between student and curriculum.

Don't focus on the limitations. Focus on the opportunities and possibilities.

7. Underscore your civic duty. I have numerous conversations with teachers who aren't even aware of what's happening at the state level related to policymaking impacting what we can and can't do as practitioners. It's so important to stay "in the know" about your local and state legislation. The less surprised you are, the better. Student advocacy begins with knowing what laws and directives are on the table, have passed, or likely will pass. This includes staying current about developments at the federal and state levels and how your school district will be affected.

This isn't a time for pessimism, defeat, or complacency.

Being a teacher-leader means staying informed and prepared.

This is a time for collective teacher activism to protect our jobs, schools, and most importantly, our students.

Be a voice and don't give up. Where there is hope, there is still a tomorrow.