Why I am recruiting pissed off teachers
It's time we started listening
I became a leader because I was angry—angry at a system that seemed to leave everyone behind. As one of the most experienced teachers at my school—with just three years in the classroom—I watched teachers crumble under impossible demands while students slipped through the cracks. I still remember a colleague breaking down in my classroom because she couldn’t find time to plan a lesson. It wasn’t just frustration but a sense of betrayal by the system we believed in. And I felt it deeply.
But I couldn’t just stand by. I ran toward the fire, knowing that stepping into leadership was the only way to start fixing what was broken. When I was tasked with recruiting school leaders at Tulsa Public Schools,1 I had no formal recruitment experience—just a relentless drive to find the right people and ensure that no one else faced the same struggles alone.
That same commitment, and yes, that same frustration, fuels my work today. I’m searching for other pissed-off teachers who care too deeply to walk away and who are too determined to stay still.
Why Teachers Get Pissed Off
Teachers don’t get angry for no reason. Their frustration grows from experiences like scrambling to buy supplies with their own money, watching systemic inequities block their students’ potential, and being sidelined when decisions are made about their classrooms. They’re told to ‘do more with less,’ and the cost of that sacrifice often lands squarely on their students.
This frustration isn’t just a complaint—it’s a signal that something is deeply wrong. For some, it leads to burnout, but for others, it fuels the fight for change. These are the teachers we need to lead the charge.
Frustration can either paralyze or propel. It can fuel innovation, advocacy, and change for the right people.
The Case for Recruiting Pissed-Off Teachers
We need leaders who stand with teachers, not just manage around them. Schools don’t function without well-supported and effective educators, and no one understands that better than pissed-off teachers. They’re the ones who hear the unvarnished truths in the break room, watch their colleagues buckle under the weight of impossible expectations, and speak up when others remain silent.
These are the leaders who fight for you when you’re not in the room, who channel their frustration into action, and who work to ensure that future educators don’t face the same broken system. They’re already leading in the most authentic way possible—by refusing to accept a broken system. These are the leaders we need right now.
Teachers who step into leadership roles out of frustration bring:
Courage: They challenge the status quo and demand better for students and staff.
Empathy: They’ve been in the trenches and understand the struggles their colleagues face.
Vision: They don’t just identify problems—they see solutions and fight to make them a reality.
The Silence of the Pissed-Off Teacher
Pissed-off teachers aren’t just ignored—they’re actively silenced. Teachers of color and women, in particular, bear the brunt of this. While over 75% of U.S. principals are white, more than half of the students they serve are nonwhite (Supervile, 2021).2 Teachers of color who raise their voices are often labeled as ‘difficult’ or ‘unprofessional’ (Superfield, 2021; Texido, 2024), while women are seven times more likely to face this critique than men. These labels don’t just exclude them from leadership—they drive them out of the profession (Superville, 2021).
This silence is a loss for everyone. Principals of color consistently hire more diverse staff, reduce teacher turnover, and build more inclusive and equitable schools (Eiland, 2022). The teachers we silence are often the ones equipped to dismantle the systemic inequities holding students back.
Yet too often, leadership sees them as threats to the status quo instead of catalysts for progress. Let’s be clear: silencing these voices is a choice—a choice to value comfort over change, compliance over justice, and the illusion of order over real solutions. If we continue sidelining these teachers, we’ll miss the opportunity to fix what’s broken in our schools.
Instead of shutting them out, we need to amplify their voices. Pissed-off teachers deserve a seat at the table—and, more importantly, a megaphone. Their anger isn’t the problem; it’s a sign that they care too much to stay quiet. It’s time we started listening.
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See what I did there? ABR - Always be recruiting.
They’re told to ‘do more with less,’ and the cost of that sacrifice often lands squarely on their students.
That resonated with me a lot and that’s how I felt for so long and have felt that the teaching profession set us up for failure. Thank you for writing this post!
This post resonates with me on such a deep level. After two decades as an educator, I finally left teaching, with my last day in the classroom being 12/20/24.
“Frustration can either paralyze or propel. It can fuel innovation, advocacy, and change for the right people.”
Wow. This is such an eloquent way to encapsulate what I have felt on such a deep level this year. I am so grateful to have found your writing!