If you have watched the Emmy-nominated sitcom "Abbott Elementary," you'll get the feeling that we definitely need to laugh to keep from crying regarding the urgent crises public school teachers are facing in K-12 education across the nation. Following the demoralizing challenges and suppressed frustrations of teachers at Abbott, a fictional and chronically underfunded predominately Black public school in Philadelphia, viewers get to see how these obstacles have taken the joy out of teaching for many, while those determined to push through hunker down for expected and spontaneous classroom and administrative battles.

As is the case for many public inner-city schools, there's a shortage of just about everything at Abbott: working toilets, full-time teachers and teacher aides, cozy rugs for students to sit on during story time and up-to-date textbooks. Regarding the latter, in one scene of the pilot episode, second grade teacher Janine Teagues, played by "Abbott" creator Quinta Brunson, is explaining to her students that there have been three U.S. presidents since George W. Bush because their textbook is that old. She had to cut and paste in a picture and page on Barack Obama. In a more poignant scene toward the end of the episode, Barbara Howard, an older and seasoned teacher portrayed by Sheryl Lee Ralph, elaborates on the seriousness of the various roles teachers take on that go way beyond their initial job descriptions to Janine. "At schools like Abbott, we have to do it all," Barbara stresses to her much younger colleague. "We are admins, we are social workers, we are therapists, we are second parents." The difficulties of stepping into these necessary, additional roles are magnified at Abbott due to having a narcissistic and incompetent principal.

Brunson has brilliantly depicted the intense issues plaguing public education in shrewd mockumentary form, and when reading headlines of teachers' struggles and demands for better pay and working conditions, "Abbott Elementary" presents a bleak reality. Just before the school year began about two weeks ago, there were national stories highlighting the teacher shortage that is hampering many districts. It is well known that teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers, which is an ongoing repercussion of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with what many deem a "culture war" over how sensitive subjects of race and oppression in American history should be taught. A June 2021 survey of over 2,700 teachers conducted by the National Education Association found that 32% were permanently leaving their careers earlier than they had planned. COVID was a top reason, but others cited one that I believe is most pervasive: feeling unappreciated.

I thought about this as I have been following the teachers' strike in Columbus, Ohio, where teachers are demanding pay raises, smaller class sizes and classrooms with "functional heating and air conditioning." According to local news reports, six Columbus City Schools are without air conditioning mainly due to a supply chain backlog, but even with this reasonable explanation for the delay, no air at the start of the school year is burdensome, and other building concerns need to be addressed. One issue regarding reduction of class sizes that caught my attention is high school teachers' daily student totals will decrease from 180 to 150. Thirty fewer students will allow teachers to provide more effective instruction and lighten their heavy grading load. If high school students can receive just a little more one-on-one time with their teachers, this will help them be more prepared for college and courses that I teach, such as beginning English composition. Negotiations are still ongoing with CCS teachers, and there seems to be some progress, but with students having to begin this year online, it's almost like we are back in August 2020 again. And as we have learned throughout the pandemic, Zoom overloads will only cause students to fall further behind.

I have a friend who is a CCS teacher. The school where she works does not have all of the overwhelming challenges of the fictional Abbott Elementary, but a recent Facebook post from her pretty much summed up her feelings going into this academic year: "Pray for our teachers." That's exactly what I'm going to do in asking God to give teachers grace as they nurture students who feel unmotivated and unsure of their talents and abilities. Grace for those teachers who faithfully "do it all."

Dr. Jessica A. Johnson is a lecturer in the English department at Ohio State University's Lima campus. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @JjSmojc. To find out more about Jessica Johnson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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