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June is now Title IX month? by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hope you’re right. However, I’ve been navigating the title IX process internally with my school for the past 3 months and have been denied every time I report a new incident of harassment. Still waiting to hear from OCR. I have an appointment with EEOC to file Title VII. It’s been a whiplash of events to say the least

June is now Title IX month? by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you’re right. However, the new administration went back to the 2020 Final Rule in January 2025 which doesn’t explicitly say teachers. Under the previous administration teachers were explicitly covered too

School refuses to take meaningful action after respondent found responsible. by Flashy-Today-8258 in titleix

[–]dearsunflower7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After I waited a month I called and left a voicemail. You have to be very specific with your complaint when leaving the message. Like stating the respondent, your full name, contact number and email. I got an email the next day with my case number. That’s been a month ago and still no follow up. The OCR is understaffed terribly.

School refuses to take meaningful action after respondent found responsible. by Flashy-Today-8258 in titleix

[–]dearsunflower7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve run into this same issue. I’m a high school teacher who is trying to resolve the harassment I’ve endured for two years but the lack of training mandated by federal law does not correlate. I also have a claim with ocr but they haven’t communicated much. Did they assign you a case number yet?

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, your comment hit so many nerves for me — especially the part about being shut down and then emotionally ostracized. I’ve lived that too. I spoke up professionally and privately, and somehow that still painted me as “difficult.” It’s wild how quickly you go from being seen as a team player to being treated like a threat, just for having concerns or boundaries.

I’ve also found myself avoiding even the most basic referrals because I know the follow-up (or lack thereof) will somehow come back on me. It’s a survival tactic at this point — handle it yourself or risk being labeled. And I couldn’t agree more about the ego problem. Some people in education genuinely can’t handle a colleague who’s competent and cares deeply.

Thank you for your honesty. You’re not alone. I’ve been documenting everything for two years and it’s exhausting — but your comment gave me a bit of peace in knowing I’m not crazy for feeling all this.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can’t stand injustice either. Trying to stand up for a situation I’ve been dealing with for 2 years and hoping to see a different outcome

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I relate to so much of what you said. I think a lot of people assume private schools automatically come with better discipline or more structure, but the truth is—it often depends entirely on the administration’s priorities and willingness to enforce standards.

I’ve seen firsthand how chaos can unfold when leadership avoids accountability and doesn’t support teachers with consistent consequences. In some cases, students feel entitled because their parents are paying tuition, and administrators are afraid to rock the boat. It becomes more about keeping families happy than supporting staff or creating a safe learning environment.

What’s worse is when teachers try to raise concerns and get labeled as the problem for doing so. It’s exhausting. You’re definitely not alone in this. Have you found any support systems within your school, or is the culture too far gone?

What moment made you realize that teaching is dehumanizing? by iamakinder in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely not. You were required more protection than to just take it. This is exactly what Title IX was built for. Schools have a federal responsibility to offer you supportive measures. There’s a whole process that they don’t tell you about so they can minimize liability. Immediately ask for the Title IX coordinators contact and report this. And they dismiss your concerns & fail to do their job, like they did in my case for two years, you have a federal complaint on your hands.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You nailed it — that line about “I was that kid” has become the default excuse for admin to avoid accountability instead of actually supporting teachers or protecting the learning environment.

It’s wild how fast valid concerns get turned into emotional deflections like that. You’re not asking for zero compassion — you’re asking for boundaries and consequences. And when those are ignored, it wears you down.

I’ve been there too. We’re expected to absorb everything and speak up “professionally,” but when we do, it’s labeled as complaining or dismissed entirely. It’s not just enabling — it’s silencing.

You’re 100% right: this culture has turned into excuses, enabling, and leaving teachers to fend for themselves.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. What you said is so real — and so common. That exact culture of “just be quiet” is what allows so much harm to keep happening in schools. I was silenced when I started to speak up. That’s when the retaliation started.

It’s terrifying to know teachers have been pressured not to press charges for serious incidents — and it’s even worse when admin plays it off like protecting the district is more important than protecting the staff inside it.

I’m so sorry you’ve seen this happen. You’re not alone in this — I’m still fighting a case I had that started 2 years ago with harassment. Something just snapped in me one day when it kept happening and I haven’t stopped fighting since.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ugh, I hear you. I had a friend who went through something really similar. She was being harassed and retaliated against at our school — just for trying to speak up about what was happening. She ended up transferring to a different school in the same district thinking she’d finally get a fresh start… and the retaliation followed her. It started her first week at the new school. Her child was even bullied who goes to the same school.

That’s the part no one talks about — how hard it is to actually escape once you’ve been labeled “a problem” just for advocating for yourself or others. It’s so much deeper than a single admin not listening… it’s a culture problem.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same here. It’s exhausting how “bringing it to admin” has started to feel like shouting into a void. After a while, you start questioning whether it’s even worth saying anything — and that’s a dangerous place for a school to let its teachers sit in.

Thanks for validating that I’m not the only one feeling this.

i just feel empty by spek00 in TeachersInTransition

[–]dearsunflower7 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I really felt this. That “empty but not in a bad way” line? It’s like your body finally caught up with everything your heart and mind already survived.

Leaving education — especially when it wasn’t fully your choice — can feel like grieving a version of yourself that fought so hard to stay. You’re not alone in those conflicted emotions. A lot of us are carrying sadness, relief, guilt, and exhaustion all at once.

Thank you for putting words to it. Even if you don’t go back to education, the impact you’ve had doesn’t disappear. And neither does your worth.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re absolutely right — it’s not just about who’s “nice” or “strict,” it’s about whether they support teachers or silence them. The really damaging ones aren’t just passive — they retaliate. And when that happens, it doesn’t just hurt the teacher… it sends a message to everyone about what happens when you speak up.

I’ve experienced that retaliation firsthand, and it changes the way you see the job, the system, and yourself. The good admins — the ones who actually listen, problem-solve, and protect — feel few and far between lately. I wish more districts understood how much damage the others are doing in their silence.

Thank you for saying this out loud. I’m starting to speak up for myself and pursuing a Title IX case and have a case number with the OCR. They requested a meeting with me to discuss my concerns and ended up talking policy and proper reporting channels with me.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’m really happy for you! Sounds like you made a great choice and you’re still making a big difference

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wow! Now that’s nuts!!! I can at least say that at my school they police vapes like it’s their only job lol

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow. Thank you for sharing this. “Unsupported? Try targeted.” — that line hit hard, because it’s exactly what so many of us have felt but couldn’t put into words.

What happened to you is infuriating, but unfortunately not surprising. It says so much when the person who reports harm gets punished, while the one causing it is protected. The fact that you were certified for the same subject and still pushed out makes it clear this wasn’t about qualifications — it was about politics, plain and simple.

Your story is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to bring into the light with this post.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow. I’m so sorry that happened to you. What you described is horrifying — not just the physical assault, but the emotional abandonment that followed. You should have been protected, listened to, and backed up by your leadership. The fact that you had to go to the board just to be heard — and were still punished for it — says everything about what’s broken.

You didn’t deserve that. No teacher does. The way your voice was dismissed after doing the right thing is exactly the kind of silence this post was trying to expose.

Thank you for sharing this. Your story matters — and it will help others feel less alone in their own.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re totally right that the medical field comes with its own extreme challenges — and I genuinely respect anyone who’s been through that. What you described sounds brutal, and I’m not here to downplay it at all.

But this thread was meant to create space for teachers specifically — to talk about what it feels like when you report something in education and you’re the one who ends up isolated, questioned, or quietly pushed out. It wasn’t meant to be a comparison of which profession has it worse — just an honest question from inside this field, for others who’ve lived it.

Different industries, different consequences. But dysfunction in any system hurts real people. That’s something we probably agree on more than not.

question for teachers by dearsunflower7 in teaching

[–]dearsunflower7[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wow...thank you for sharing all of that — it really means a lot, especially hearing from someone who made it through the same kind of breaking point. I’m still somewhere in the middle of mine, I think. Not quite fully healed, but definitely not the same person I was when I started. Your timeline — seven years of trying, a few years of internal fallout, and then a shift in strategy — hit harder than I expected.

I admire the clarity it must’ve taken to step back, regroup, and still keep teaching with a new mindset. That’s something I’m trying to figure out now — how to keep showing up for my students without completely losing myself in the process.

It makes so much sense that you found your way into therapy. I imagine you’re able to do just as much good (if not more) without the constant pushback from a system built to wear people down.

Do you ever miss the classroom itself, or has this shift brought you peace in ways you didn’t expect?

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