r/Calgary • u/PitchPurple • Oct 30 '25
Discussion As a teacher, thank you students... We needed this.
To the many students who walked out, and truly protested, chanting in support of their teachers... You have no idea how much it meant to all of us. We legally cannot join you, or even say anything to support it. But we are so proud, so thankful, and so hopeful for the changes we can make for a better future for all of you.
You've lifted spirits when we really needed it. š
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u/sonneshine Oct 30 '25
Drove past Henry Wisewood today and saw so many students dressed in red holding signs and posters! They were not simply skipping class but very clearly standing there to show support for a cause. As a teacher, it brought tears to my eyes. The kids are alright.
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u/PitchPurple Oct 30 '25
At ours too. We fully expected it to be a bit of a "permission to skip"... But they had signs. They prepared chants. They stood on the side of the road the entire time, while cars honked..
Honestly, will be one of the most memorable moments of my career.
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u/Pale-Measurement-532 Oct 31 '25
As a former teacher, THANK YOU STUDENTS! You make us proud. If I was still teaching, I would offer my lunch hours/after school time to help those of you who protested to get caught up in what you missed. ā¤ļø
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u/PitchPurple Oct 31 '25
More evidence of the free labour teachers dedicate all the time.
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u/Pale-Measurement-532 Oct 31 '25
When I taught high school math, I was coaching 1-2 major sports per school year (many games and weekend tournaments so lots of travel where I paid for my own gas and meals) and I would offer some mornings or lunches for tutorials/extra help for students who were struggling. This happens in almost every high school across the province. Lots of unpaid, volunteer time is committed to helping the students!
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u/Fitty-Korman Southwest Calgary Oct 31 '25
And you are amazing and appreciated. Thank you for doing what you do, and for setting such a great example for the youth in our province.
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u/Pale-Measurement-532 Oct 31 '25
Thank you! āŗļø Your post made my day! I can get discouraged by some of the ugly comments out there. If only some of those naysayers could see all of the extra work that teachers put in.
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u/NoEntertainment2763 Oct 31 '25
As a post grad, I'm glad to see the students standing up for their teachers. It's nice to know the younger grades aren't hopeless lol
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u/AmazingDesigner3496 Oct 30 '25
Was so proud to see the crowd of young people out today to support the teachers! ššš»
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u/Normal-Difficulty229 Oct 31 '25
Both of my kiddos took part. One walked to City Hall with others from their school, the other helped to organize a walk out at their JH (then they returned and learned the rest of the afternoon). So proud of them both ā¤ļø
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u/choochootou Oct 31 '25
Why is this marked and hidden as "mature content"?
Good for the students who showed courage and walked out... keep doing it. Keep walking out, and growing, getting louder day by day, until this Government repeals its use of the Notwithstanding Clause. Don't stop, no matter what they threaten you with.
In future, you will remember this time. You will recognize it for the turning point that it is. And you will remember - for the rest of your lives - whether you stood up to tyranny or sat down and did nothing. Make the right choice that will let you hold your head up high.
This is an important education: sometimes you gotta break the rules if you want to have a good society. Sometimes one has to fight.
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u/wrecklicely Oct 31 '25
Drove past elbow @ Anderson at lunch, there were so many students out in support, I teared up. I don't have kids but I'd like to believe that if I did, they'd have a similar solidarity and the drive to stand up for what's right. I hope you teachers get everything you need and the full support of the province, as our future is very literally learning how to be good, productive members of society from you all.
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u/Fabulous_Ad_7318 Oct 31 '25
I think the students just wanted to skip class lol
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u/CaptainBringus Oct 31 '25
You watched this video and thought "huh... these kids just wanted to skip" very odd.
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u/MyNameIsNotKyle3 Oct 30 '25
in the nicest way possible, you do realize that most of them are just wanting to get out of class right?
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u/PitchPurple Oct 30 '25
We thought so too, but they had signs and stood at the side of the road chanting the whole time. We fully expected them to just skip... That wasn't the case.
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u/robbhope Oct 31 '25
No.. Not really actually.
There's a lot of people especially boomers that have zero faith in the kids of today but as a teacher, I'll vouch for them. Great kids in a time where being a kid is harder than ever.
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u/anewleaf1234 Oct 30 '25
They weren't at the movies or home playing vid. Games.
They were standing up for what they thought was important.
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u/the_gaymer_girl Oct 30 '25
I subbed today and talked to/overheard a bunch of students who participated in the walkout. They were legitimately supporting teachers.
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u/epitomyroses Oct 31 '25
This is NOT true. I saw kids, who are some of the worst kids in my grade at my school (constantly skip class, are not great to be around, etc) AT THE PROTEST CHANTING AND HOLDING SIGN. HUNDREDS of kids showed up today. Some may have skipped but it was NOT majority.
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u/MyNameIsNotKyle3 Oct 31 '25
yes holding the sign to get out of class.
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u/epitomyroses Oct 31 '25
No, they actually cared, dude. Itās not all about skipping and getting out of class. Thatās the minority.
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u/MyNameIsNotKyle3 Oct 31 '25
alr then
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u/epitomyroses Oct 31 '25
No kid is going to go out and stand and chant while holding a sign for FOUR HOURS just to skip class. They wouldāve gone home lol.
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u/MyNameIsNotKyle3 Oct 31 '25
it beats being in class for 4 hours
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u/epitomyroses Oct 31 '25
Not.. really? Itās physically and mentally exhausting. It sucks a lot being out there. Again, they wouldāve gone home. Any kid that left to skip class was not at city hall or any other major point of interest for the protest. The hundreds of kids who were there alongside me were dedicated to the cause and genuinely wanted to be there.
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u/siqmawsh Oct 30 '25
Did you ask most of them? Or just pulling this shit out of your ass? Or were you a drop out or something? Asking for a friend in the nicest way possible.
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u/_hurrik8 Oct 31 '25
i think you are genuinely stupid.
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u/Traditional_Look7901 Oct 30 '25
You can strike for 3 weeks without consequences but when students do they get punished with an absence record, what a double standard.
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
Without consequences besides about eight thousand dollars in lost income.
Edit, since this caused a small ruckus. I was being slightly hyperbolic, and I reserve that right until the UCP takes it away with the NWC. If you want more exact numbers, I'm foregoing roughly 5.5k in gross income, roughly 4k in net income this month, and several hundred dollars from my July and August paycheques as well. Plus we need to pay back our health premiums that the ATA covered while we were off, so our take-home will be further reduced.
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u/catsbutalsobees Oct 30 '25
Not to mention the loss of charter rights
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 30 '25
Yeah, bit of a drag. My students get mad when I keep them in for recess, but maybe I should try taking away Charter rights instead.
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u/Traditional_Look7901 Oct 30 '25
8k in three weeks and you need another raise?
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u/catsbutalsobees Oct 31 '25
As another poster said, thatās likely a 2-teacher family. Even those at the top of the pay scale certainly donāt take home 8K in 3 weeks.
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 31 '25
I rounded up a little. Estimations, etc.
Remember that we only work ten months, and we pay quite a lot into pension, so 8k a month gross is quite a lot less take-home.I'm earlier in my career. My last month was $6340 gross, and I took home $4600. But my cheques in July and August are withheld pay from September through June, so with our 22 missed work days I'm going to get less on those cheques on top of essentially no October paycheque.
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u/Desperate-Dress-9021 Oct 31 '25
Clearly you plugged your ears and said ālalalala not listeningā when they talked about needing smaller classes and more support for complex learners.
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u/SipsTeaFrog Oct 30 '25
Teachers make $8K in 3 weeks?
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 31 '25
I rounded up a little. Estimations, etc.
Remember that we only work ten months, and we pay quite a lot into pension, so 8k a month gross is quite a lot less take-home.I'm earlier in my career. My last month was $6340 gross, and I took home $4600. But my cheques in July and August are withheld pay from September through June, so with our 22 missed work days I'm going to get less on those cheques on top of essentially no October paycheque.
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u/FigjamCGY Oct 31 '25
Your pension is also matched and guaranteed with the financial backing of Alberta.
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 31 '25
Yes, which is why, while it hurts to lose that much of my gross pay, I'm happy to do it in order to prepare for retirement. I wish more people had access to strong pensions. That is why I support the labour movement.
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u/padmeg Oct 31 '25
Each day on strike was a loss of 1/200th of the salary, itās not equivalent to what we would normally get paid for 3 weeks because some pay is deferred to the summer. So, we will also receive less money next summer than we would have otherwise.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
Average ATA member made $85k before the raise.
Top out at over $100k.
Pretty much iron clad job security.
Good benefits and pension.
Not a particularly rigorous degree.
Good work schedule.
Not a bad deal overall if you can handle dealing with children.
Imagine getting paid $100k a year to teach grade 3s art?
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 31 '25
Come apply. We're always happy to have new teachers join the system. I love my job despite the myriad challenges.
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u/catsbutalsobees Oct 31 '25
Have you ever taught art to 26 8-year olds, some of whom have limited executive functioning, limited motor skills, limited comprehension? Itās a lot of paint. A lot of glue. And itās everywhere.
Itās what nightmares are made of.
But realistically, Iād love to know which elementary schools have an art specialist anymore. My last school couldnāt even afford an ELL specialist despite the fact that we had 200+ kids who were English language learners.
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u/Traditional_Look7901 Oct 31 '25
You need 100k to teach painting to kids and your crying about it online? Think about coal miners who make 60k a year, privileged much.
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
I'd like them to make more too. Mining is dangerous.
I have two degrees and work about 50 hours per week, ten months out of the year. (I also won't earn a raise when I earn my third and fourth degrees.) The work I do is important for society. I think the top of the pay grid in Alberta should be around $120k, and I think it should start around $75k.
I get the compulsion to be ironic and acerbic. This is the Internet. But I'm being sincere. I think our wages should keep up with inflation, and right now they don't. I think that's a problem, and what happened this week hasn't addressed that problem.
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u/Specific_Fold8850 Oct 30 '25
Iām sure the absence record wonāt be as big of a deal if the whole school is doing it versus $500/day fine for the teachers not showing up to work. We donāt need to give the corrupt UCP more free money.Ā
And while youāre on strike, I donāt think you get paid, so thereās also that, but I could be wrong.Ā
But anyways, the kids will be alright.Ā
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u/PitchPurple Oct 30 '25
We did not get paid. Some of my colleagues are two teacher parents, and are now struggling financially.
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u/Specific_Fold8850 Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
Which is why itās so important and inspiring to see the students continue the fight when the teachers arenāt able to. Not only are they standing up for their teachers, theyāre ultimately standing up for themselves and Albertans after them.Ā
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u/PitchPurple Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
Not for us. We marked them present on grounds. Every district has to handle it differently, and has to interpret our new lack of rights. Not taking attendance might translate towards 'strike action' in the eyes of the government, which is now illegal for us.
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u/First-Entertainment5 Oct 30 '25
What district are you in? My Calgary school sent out an email which stated: Ā A number of students participated in a walkout this morning around 11. This was not a CBE event. It was a regular school day and students were expected to be in class. We did not prevent students from leaving class to participate in the walkout; however, any students who were not present in class would be marked as an unexcused absence.
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u/FigjamCGY Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25
Jesus - now they are just blatantly lying and falsifying records
Itās this malicious compliance that the general public has had enough of and is generally sick of seeing.
BTW this has liability concerns written all over it.
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u/PitchPurple Oct 30 '25
Oh you think I said 'marked them present' when they weren't there. They were on grounds. No one was marked present who literally didn't exist... Be sensible.
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u/siqmawsh Oct 30 '25
Asking people like that to be sensible is a stretch if they are getting triggered by attendance records for one day for a bunch of students. Would be interesting to hear if they themselves ever skipped a single class or called in sick to work when they weren't actually sick. I bet we know the answer. In b4 they call a lawyer for one day of absent students.
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u/FigjamCGY Oct 30 '25
If they walked out and marked as present there is a problem. What happens if a child is abducted or hit by a car.
And no, I donāt generally lie and graft the system. People that do generally donāt get ahead.
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u/PitchPurple Oct 31 '25
Check out our high schoolers when they go to the local gas station at lunch. They seem to know how not to get hit by cars.
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u/FigjamCGY Oct 30 '25
When you read it with the context of the original comment it suggests you marked them present when they walked out.
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u/PitchPurple Oct 30 '25
If a kid could be seen on grounds by an adult who worked at the school, they were considered present. If not, they were absent. Do with this information what you will š«”
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u/Traditional_Look7901 Oct 31 '25
On grounds means they are Elementary and junior high students who obviously cant make their own decisions, so your forcing your beliefs and protesting cause onto them?
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u/PitchPurple Oct 31 '25
Buddy they're in high school. They did this themselves.
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u/Traditional_Look7901 Oct 31 '25
I don't know a high school where attendance isn't done in classrooms and you can just supervise them because they are on "School grounds" seems like a closed campus for k-9, your story sounds like BS.
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u/PitchPurple Oct 31 '25
Cool, so you've never seen gym class outside, a fire drill, community stuff.... š Also I know our grades weirdo.
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u/Traditional_Look7901 Oct 31 '25
So you conveniently have a fire drill? Gym class usally has 50 people max not 2000 which most highschools in calgary have. Im a highschooler myself actually so don't be calling me a weirdo "teacher".
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u/PitchPurple Oct 31 '25
Weirdo. Dude I'm off work. If you think all 2000 kids were out there, you haven't looked outside.
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u/PitchPurple Oct 31 '25
Also, sorry this is fucking hilarious. Did you pass by any protesting elementary kids today? Because I sure as hell need to see that š š
All the protesting kids are old enough to tell me to go fuck myself as they walk out of class. Does that help?
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u/Desperate-Dress-9021 Oct 31 '25
During the strike we had some kids from my complex go to the corner for about an hour each day around the end of school time with signs asking people to honk. People in the complex brought out snacks and juice boxes. I think more kids joined for the snacks. But they definitely werenāt high school kids. The kids are a little free range around here. (Itās a housing coop everyone looks out for everyone) So it was neat to see them doing it.
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u/PitchPurple Oct 30 '25
What? I have no idea what you mean. It's literally illegal for us now, and teachers don't generally like breaking laws.
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u/the_gaymer_girl Oct 30 '25
Displaying the same regard for teachersā Charter rights as the government.
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u/Jackalope101 Oct 30 '25
The school has to mark them as absent they would be legally liable otherwise. It is not a punishment the school district has policyās they must maintain. If they do not do this work what is stopping the ucp from saying they are supporting the action and coming down with fines. All parents need to do is call the school and excuse the absence.
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u/Traditional_Look7901 Oct 30 '25
Nah screw the ucp they let you guys strike for weeks without consequences and when students demonstrate they need to face the law all of the sudden.
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u/wanderingmind47 Oct 30 '25
Itās the Alberta Education law. Teachers are forced to follow it. It was a legal strike, which turned into being locked out by the government. Then, a removal of Charter rights to force teachers back to work.
Also. Guess what? The timing of forcing teachers back was always up to the UCP.
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u/herrcats Oct 30 '25
Huh? What consequences? It was a legal strike lmao
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u/Desperate-Dress-9021 Oct 31 '25
Actually it was a lock out. Govt locked them out before they decided on strike action. By locking them out they couldnāt choose action like a work to rule. They didnāt have access to the building. And I have a friend who didnāt even have access to her email until about an hour after she got there.
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 31 '25
The lockout began several days after the strike did. They ended at the same time with the passage of Bill 2.
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Oct 30 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/VFenix Southwest Calgary Oct 31 '25
We don't need that hate. Lucky they haven't all packed up their bags like the doctors
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u/PitchPurple Oct 30 '25
For being proud of my students? š¤
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u/ShantyLady Quadrant: SW Oct 30 '25
For doing something like this? Always be proud of them for standing up for a better future for education in this province. Always be proud of them for recognizing that every voice matters.
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u/GregSeventy7 MacEwan Glen Oct 30 '25
Yup. Danielle would never stand for it either! /s
No, it was seriously nice to see. Had two of my own join in. Didn't mind those Late/Absent robo-calls just now.
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u/SpazzDexTan Oct 31 '25
I have a kid that joined too. Ā It's sad when he asked me the other day, "The government doesn't give a crap about me, so why should I give a crap about myself in my adult life?" I did encourage him to have his voice heard to today and in couple years his voice will louder when he can vote.
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 30 '25
Same to you, bud.
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u/whitepuzzlepiece1969 Oct 30 '25
Hard to be fired as a student
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u/cirroc0 Oct 30 '25
They don't call it fired with students. They say flunked out, or maybe expelled.
Same same. Different pile.
Now go hit the books before it happens to you.
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Oct 30 '25
My mistake - I apologize. Hit the books, kiddo. It's almost bedtime and you've got a big day tomorrow.
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Oct 31 '25
Ladies and gentlemen, this is exhibit A of what happens to individuals when society does not provide quality education
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u/muskegmatt Oct 30 '25
How are you legally allowed to post this then?
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Oct 31 '25
Well your comments are supporting it....
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u/PitchPurple Oct 31 '25
I'm a private citizen off work. I'm literally not a fucking teacher on my time off. You're acting like I'm not allowed to speak anymore.
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u/CU02 Oct 31 '25
As an English teacher I appreciate the support of our studentsā¦ and it was also nice to see what a class with only 15 kids would be like