Emily Heid’s statement to AAPS BOE 4.27.2022

My name is Emily Heid, and I was a music teacher at Pattengill, Pittsfield, and Carpenter Elementary schools. Even as a young child, I knew I wanted to be a music teacher when I grew up. I pursued my goal and received a bachelors and masters degree in music education. That is why it was such a heartbreaking choice to decide to leave the education field due to burnout, not feeling valued, and impossible work conditions. When I put in my resignation with AAPS this March, I expected to be met with anger or resentment from my fellow educators, but instead I received congratulations and praise. Many educators and teachers assistants told me how they also plan to quit soon, asking me for advice on how to find a job in another field. AAPS and the state of Michigan are already facing a teacher shortage and support staff crisis, which will continue to worsen unless drastic action is made. Try leading a four hours worth of  presentations back to back without a bathroom or mental break, while your audience throws things, hits or kicks you, and you have to guard the door to stop your audience from running away. That is what it is currently like being an elementary teacher during the 2021-2022 school year. We are trying to handle extreme behaviors from traumatized children. We do not have enough trained, knowledgeable teachers assistants, and our SISS staff are overwhelmed. We cannot teach our curriculum effectively due to these behaviors, and yet are still expected to complete observations, SLOs, and other evaluations. The district is expecting educators and students to perform as if the past two years of a global pandemic never happened, as if we can just pick up where we left off, and everything will be okay. Teachers are told that we need to practice “self-care” while the admin piles on more tasks and meetings on us instead of taking things off our plate. I asked other music educators in the district how they have managed to stay in this career for 15+ years, and they told me that they had to stop actually caring, and just treat it as just a job that gives you a paycheck, otherwise it is just too exhausting and frustrating. One of the reasons I chose to work for AAPS was due to your commitment to equity, welcoming and supporting all learners of all races, genders, religions, orientations, etc. We spent hours in professional development with Dr. Sealey-Ruiz, learning how we can fight systemic oppression and racism, offering all of our students a safe and equitable learning environment. However, AAPS is failing their low-income BIPOC students and families. AAPS divides funds and staff equally based on the amount of students per school, which on paper seems great, but there is a significant difference between equity and equality. Small schools, such as Pittsfield, only receive a part-time behavior intervention specialist due to the amount of FTE allotted per student, however, they have some of the greatest behavioral needs as a low-income, diverse Title 1 school. Teachers in richer areas of Ann Arbor receive $600-800 annually from their PTO, while teachers in lower-income areas receive $200-300 annually. If AAPS truly wants to support students of color, they need to start evaluating how they allot funds and FTE to ensure that all students are receiving what they need to be successful, which looks different depending on the school. If you treat each student and teacher as just a number on a spreadsheet, you are failing them. I miss my students greatly. I miss sitting in a circle and singing our songs together or playing ukulele with them, showing how wonderful instruments can be. But I do not miss being assaulted by students, losing my voice, experiencing insomnia and panic attacks, and working weekends to finish my lesson plans. I do not miss feeling undervalued and like just a number on a spreadsheet. Please start valuing your teachers before it is too late and there are none left.