Her letter spread because it named what many educators only mutter in break rooms: teachers are exhausted from parenting other people’s children. They see kids dropped off hungry, tired, undisciplined, or glued to screens until 2 a.m., then are told to “fix” the gaps in a 45-minute class. When those gaps remain, blame lands almost exclusively on schools, never on living rooms, schedules, or silent phones at home.

But stopping at parental failure is too easy. Many families are juggling two jobs, unstable housing, or their own unfinished education, while social supports shrink and expectations rise. A child’s future is shaped long before the bell rings, yet it can still be reshaped afterward. The real question isn’t whether parents or schools are at fault; it’s whether either side is willing to change before another year of children quietly slips away.