She’s jingling their bells, alright.
While parents and teachers should always be working together in perfect harmony for the sake of the children, things seem to have hit a bum note in one St. Louis school.
Fed-up educator Essence Green, who teaches middle school math, stormed social media just in time for Christmas with a very public — and funny — dressing down of the moms and dads of her students.
“Oh, the weather outside is frightful. And these parents are so un-delightful,” crooned the shady Christmas caroler, in a sassy cyber snippet seen on TikTok.
Greene belted out her frustration with the apparently strained relationship to the unmistakable tune of holiday hymn “Let it Snow.” The video has already captured the attention of more than 456,000 viewers.
“Did you know that your kid can’t read?,” the cheeky instructor continued, “Not passing, not passing, not passing.”
“So when you’re calling my phone, remember to fix your tone,” Green added. “Education starts at home.”
“Take that phone, take that phone, take that phone.”
The classroom queen went on to note that teachers like her shouldn’t be solely responsible for the massive gaps in a child’s education, owing to the fact that the tots have only been under her tutelage since the school year began this fall.
Green closes her catchy chant with: “Parents and teachers are supposed to be a team. So help us, and stop being mean.”
“And stop blaming COVID-19.”
Fans of the rhythmic rebuke raved regarding the ugly truths of the tired teacher’s tuneful tongue lashing.
“Straight FACTS. Parents hate the word accountability. Learning gaps [are] DEEP,” cheered a commenter.
“Parents and teachers are supposed to be a team!!!,” agreed another.
“I hear no lies,” an equally impressed admirer penned.
Green isn’t the first educator to beg for more support from mom and dad.
At the dawn of the 2023 academic year, a seventh grade teacher from Atlanta earned a staggering 4.9 million TikTok views on a PSA to parents, notifying them that their children are falling behind in the books.
The virtual reprimand nearly coincided with a eye-opening report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which found that New York school children can’t read.
And, in addition to turning a blind eye to lagging progress, it seems parents aren’t even making sure their broods get on the bus.
A disturbing December 2023 study from the Attendance Works revealed that a whopping 14.7 million public school students in the US were “chronically absent” from the classrooms last year.
“When chronic absence reaches high levels,” said researcher authors, “the educational experience of peers, not just those frequently missing school, is also affected.”
