

Totally. But that has been around since Bush, and 15 years ago it wasn’t as bad as it is today. It’s no child left behind on crack now. It’s absolutely insane. A lot of the blame lies on the obnoxious parents and admins who have no spines. Oh, and the shitty teachers who don’t teach but babysit. The whole industry is fucked.
Keep up the good fight, and since you seem like a thoughtful intelligent person, don’t forget you can transition out of the profession. When the inevitable furloughs, increased class sizes, further lowering of standards, etc happen, don’t let them convince you that you have to stay a teacher. At some point the parents of the kids have to step up because they are the most influential, even if the kids have shitty home lives. The parent-child bond is different than the teacher-student, and its a shame so many parents are shitty, but that doesn’t change that they are their parents.