Teachers Say These 3 Changes To Their Jobs Would Make Them Much Happier To Go To Work Each Day
Being a teacher is not for the faint of heart.
Monkey Business Images | Shutterstock Teachers have a tough job, and sometimes, to make it all just a little easier, they need to air their grievances, so to speak. That's exactly what a group of teachers on Reddit did, sharing all the changes to their jobs that would make them actually happy to go to work every day.
Of course, there were the funny responses that anyone might have. One teacher shared what we all dream of: "Let me work from home with a roster of zero kids, while still getting paid a full, large salary." And while that sounds amazing, most of the responses were much more down-to-earth.
Teachers shared 3 changes to their jobs that would make them happy to go to work each day:
1. Parents who hold their kids responsible
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Behavioral issues in the classroom have been a growing problem in recent years, and teachers are bearing the brunt of the chaos. A lack of support from both parents and administrators makes any sort of discipline impossible. A National Education Association survey found that behavioral issues among students, sometimes even violent behavior, have become a top concern for teachers above even low pay.
One teacher on Reddit simply shared, "Parents who hold their kids responsible for their own behavior instead of trying to blame me for their kids’ choices." While it's natural for parents to trust their children and believe their rendition of the truth over others, being unsupportive of teachers isn't exactly the right move. Writing for Edutopia, veteran teacher Evan Chase noted, "A new, dangerously overdeveloped sense of entitlement among students and parents — particularly in secondary school — has led students to actively disrespect teachers on a whole new level. I am talking about behavior that no self-respecting person, let alone an educator, would ever be willing to tolerate. Times have changed, as the kids say, big time."
The solution seems simple enough. Parents need to start supporting their kids' teachers, and administrators need to enforce stricter classroom rules. Unfortunately, putting that solution into practice is much more difficult than it seems. Social worker James Lehman explained, "It’s important to assert yourself as a parent and advocate for your child at school. But it’s just as important not to defend them when they’re in the wrong." He went on to say, "Understand that defending your child when they have behaved inappropriately will not help them develop appropriate behavior skills." Most importantly, he noted, "for many parents of kids with behavior problems, it’s easier to fight with the school than it is to change their child’s behavior. And when you fight with the school, you let your child off the hook instead of having him or her make needed changes."
2. Better pay
Teachers are notoriously overworked and underpaid. It's not a secret. It's also why there is a major teacher shortage plaguing the education system in the U.S.
According to 2025 statistics released by the National Education Association, the average starting teacher salary for the 2023-2024 school year was a staggeringly low $46,526. That figure, if you can believe it, marked a 4.4% increase, the largest in 15 years, yet it’s still $3,728 below 2008–2009 levels.
The cold, hard fact is that teacher salaries do not reflect the increased cost of living in today's economy. That means most teachers need to work multiple jobs to simply afford the basics. As one teacher on Reddit said, "Double my salary. Really it’s that simple (or impossible) for me. There are a lot of things I don’t like about education, but the thing that is actively pulling me away from the classroom is the fact I get paid peanuts for the work I do."
3. Smaller class sizes
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It's no wonder that smaller class sizes would make teachers happier to go to work every day. Fewer students means a more productive teaching experience. It's also much easier to maintain control in a classroom when it's not overcrowded with students. One teacher wrote, "With the increased number of behavioral issues, learning disabilities, and range of educational deficits, it's now too much to effectively teach as many students at once."
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average class size for elementary school is 21.6. That's a packed classroom. And overcrowding can be fairly common. In fact, according to the NCES, approximately 14% of schools had enrollments exceeding the maximum capacity of their permitted occupancy. That's not just too many kids; that's a safety concern.
Teaching is a thankless job, and it really shouldn't be. We need to do better, not just for the profession but for the kids who are suffering as a result.
Matt Machado is a writer studying journalism at the University of Central Florida. He covers relationships, psychology, celebrities, pop culture, and human interest topics.
