Well, I quit my teaching job today.

It wasn’t easy. I’ve been doing this for ten years.

But I was tired. Tired of negotiating my values and my humanity. Tired of saying yes when I really wanted to say no. Tired of smiling and nodding when I wanted to shake my head.

Too many schools have not included teachers in their decisions to re-open schools in person. Too many schools have sidelined teachers to please parents.

I am reclaiming my humanity. I am choosing me. And I am taking control of my own health and well-being in the midst of a global pandemic.

I’ve already gotten a bunch of texts and DMs on Instagrams about this, saying how brave I am. But this isn’t a brave move.

Honestly, I’m scared. And it’s my fear that drove me to quit. I don’t want to put myself in a position where I have to police kids’ bodies and project my anxiety onto them.

It might just be that by choosing my own humanity, I am choosing theirs too.

I urge all schools, all teachers, all families—advocate for the humanity in your school.

There is so much life, so much energy, so much human power within schools. Don’t sacrifice them for the sake of tuition dollars or satisfaction surveys.

Preserve life. Make education about humanity. Take CARE of the people who breathe life into our schools. Don’t put them on the front lines to make them fend for themselves.

Show them their worthy of dignity, their health, and their personal well-being.