Watch: U.S. Teacher EXPOSES the 5 Worst Things About American Schools

4:06 Was very comfortable asking questions you know how to settle down there in the new culture, new environment. and a few months into the school year, there was a girl who came to me, my student, and she said because the semester was closing and she asked me if I could pass her and I told I asked her, you know, why didn't didn't you submit any assignment and why are you coming to me right now? She said I was taking care of my baby and she was only I think 13 or 14 years old and I was super surprised. I I thought maybe you know she's making up stuff so that you know I can sympathize with her and pass her but later I not noticed all the stretch marks and heard from other teachers as well that she actually you know had a 6 months old baby and so I told her okay fine you can if you can submit all the assignments before we wrap up the semester I will pass you. again she did not submit anything and by the time we wrapped up that school year she was in 9th grade only by the time I we wrapped up that school year she was

5:07 You know 8 months pregnant again. So it initially it was a shock for me but slowly I realized that it's very common in high schools there and u you know not just this there were some other things as well like use of marijuana is legal there. So you could smell some students you know coming into the classroom and you could realize that okay you know they just had it and they are walking into the classroom now. the smell of weed was very common in students bathroom as well. so so that was you know kind of started to turn me off in terms of do I really want to raise my kids in this kind of environment where these things are you know completely okay and legal.

5:53 So during my tenure there I got to know that in San Francisco Unified School District they made it legal to have contraceptives available in in in in nurse room and students can just walk in there and ask for it if they like. Okay. and and for middle school students it was it was highly unacceptable you know with the mindset and with the culture that we come from you know 13 14 years old and you know I have a teenage daughter right now and I'm so glad that you know she's not in that kind of environment where it's it's totally fine and it's totally okay to just walk into the nurse's room and ask for it openly. so these were the things that were turning me off. and then there was you know one day somebody wanted to have some kind of conference related to drugs and u they were showing all those pictures and they were asking

6:54 Questions to our students while you know the teacher I was there in the classroom and in fact you know I was seeing all those drugs for the first times and they are not because they are not very common or you know the the kind of upbringing that we have had we haven't seen these kind of you know usage of drugs around us. So they were you know showing mushrooms and wheat and you know many other varieties and I was so surprised to see that when they were so showing those pictures and asking questions all the students they were able to answer which drug it was even before they introduced. So everyone was aware of you know each and everything that was being shown there be it mushrooms be it you know weed or you know many different types of other alcohol or drugs they showed. So it was it was shocking for me to believe you know that this is going on and during those five years I was able to witness two deaths as well. one was because of you know this

7:58 LGBTQ encouragement that was going on in school and the other one was because of the drug exchange happening you know in one of the streets in San Jose and that was my student. So it was very heartbreaking and kind of I I had a full sympathy for my students and I did whatever I could and you know I was u you know liked by all the students and you know for all the help that I could you know offer to them that time and in that school at least from the department side and the administration side I was able to you know get into everyone's eyes and was very popular and was you know going up in ranking very quickly as well. but towards the end of you

8:52 Know those five years we started to plan our second child and we started to think about to buy a home as well because we had enough savings and you know home prices are just were just going up that time. So we were you know planning that. So in 2017 we bought a house in East Bay and I was about to deliver my second child as well. So we you know thought okay I will have to resign from the south bay job and find something in the east way. We moved there in 2017 and soon after you know as I told you there is huge demand for math and science teachers there and that's why we you know tech jobs are also in in so many Indians moved there because of tech jobs. So we moved there and soon after I found a job in a school that was very very highly ranked in California. I think that time it was ranked 13 out of u maybe around

9:53 2500 you know middle schools in California. So it was highly ranked and I was super excited, super happy. I saw the demography of that school district. It was you know somewhere around 90 plus% Asian students. So was super excited and that's where my daughter was also going to go you know when she will whenever she would go to middle school and elementary schools were also highly ranked. was excited to you know enroll my kids also. So I left my resigned from my job from South Bay and joined this middle school and the perspective was completely different here. Here of course amazing students you know highly into maths and science super intelligent and in fact you know the curriculum that we were offering there was not enough for them.

10:42 They could do much more. they were very talented you know the population that we had there. So so there what I noticed that in in my previous school as I told you out of 22 20 teachers were Asians but here we had all Caucasian teachers not even a single Asian teacher in the school. I think later one Indian teacher joined who was in the science department but that was it. So I was very confident coming from the high school and I was like you know it's going to be a piece of cake for me will be great for my kids as well because I had a newborn at home and the school was only one mile away from my home. So but I started to see so many mistakes in the worksheets that we were offering to our students and those worksheets were given to me by my team lead the department lead of that time. So there were just so many mathematical mistakes and I was super surprised. So I just you know and they

11:42 She was asking us to use those worksheets in the classroom. So I would just respond to her emails and tell her oh you know there is this calculation mistake. Oh there this question is wrong and you know so on and so forth. And I would never get any respond response from her. Never got any reply. So when there was a meeting I asked her you know I have sent you so many emails you are not responding to them. And her response was something that you know where everything started. So she said so what did you want? Did you want a pat on your back for that? So I took a back step there and I was like you know so many mistakes I can't teach this to my students. and the curriculum that they were doing was not even at par with the common core state standards. So this is a huge problem in schooling systems there ain because like here if you are doing CBSE you have to follow a certain textbook okay and you have to finish that entire thing because you know it's in the curriculum and no

12:43 Teacher goes to the principal and says okay I'm not going to do this entire book I will only do these two chapters the entire year because my students are not intelligent enough somehow you know you can prove but there it was like that in the high school they were not using any textbook. They were using some free curriculum available online and we were supposed to create a worksheet every day. And then you see the power that teacher has. You can create any kind of worksheet. You can give anything to your students to just you know let them enjoy the classroom and then move on without even caring about are they at par with that ninth grade math standards. Nobody's coming and checking that. you know by the end of the school year nobody cares if you did one chapter or 10 chapters so much power teachers have there and they are you know sometimes just misusing it so anyway so she just said that to me and I was surprised and I was like you know this is it's very difficult for me to follow this kind of curriculum while we do have a textbook here and they were you know

13:43 Just degrading and demeaning you know discussions about that textbook and I couldn't find anything wrong there. But anyways, I started to create my own worksheets and you know started to use the textbook as well because there was it was being supplemented by online you know there was a huge tool that was given with that textbook which was very useful for students. they could just you know see the lessons there practice questions and whatnot. so many things were there which for which the school district paid the license fee for and nobody was using it anyway. So I started using my own curriculum and I started to disagree with those teachers a lot. and soon after I realized why this all was happening because I had you know I was a math major. I was qualified there also to teach up to 12th grade math and later I

14:44 Realized other you know three teachers who were there in my department for that particular grade level. they so the team lead never had any math education or math major up to her high school level and she in fact openly one day said that you know I did my algebra 2 in my college that too just because I had to do it for the course that some other course that she was doing. So and there are ways to get the credentials also there because you know there are there is huge demand for math and science teachers. So the credential getting the that credential standards are going lower and lower every year because they it's very difficult for them to you know hire teachers from outside and then start to get them as well now you know with with the tech already being flooded with so many Asian people. So u what they want to encourage is to somehow get teachers from there only. Now they are

15:50 Higher level math at all. And I realized the other teacher who was there in the department used to teach elementary not even elementary the the preschool students and she got an she got the eye of the this school's principal and this principal said okay I'll help you get the math credential we can apply so and so and you know you can work work on it over five years meanwhile you can do the job as well. So that's how teachers are getting there. When they don't know the math themselves, why would they encourage your child to do advanced levels? So that's why so many kids who were deserving, you know how the a placement test happens there. so they used to take placement test every year where you know a sixth grader could maybe qualify for a seventh grade math in in sixth grade class. A sixth grader could even qualify for you know eighth grade math. And I realized they were intentionally in the background failing so many students for no reason because they don't have enough

16:50 Teachers to teach that high level math when I was available there because they want to for me to you know calm down and not talk about this in public and now they had a problem because I was the parent as well from the same school district and I don't want this to happen to my child if she's deserving I do want her to you know be challenged why would she do you know fractions in seventh or eighth th grade there when she could do it in fourth and fifth grade as well. So I was kind of a whistleblower there and slowly I started to you know come into the eyes of many other teachers, principal and then administrations. but by the time it happened I completed my two years there I had so much love and appreciation from the parent community there because they were very much involved. They were very much you know giving as well. They were contributing a lot financially also to the school district because they could you know all of them were in highly paid tech jobs and whatn not. And here these teachers are talking about you know

17:52 These parents and students. How you know parents want their kids to just run after maths and not do anything else. Although you know we I even myself I enrolled my daughter for seven different classes for you know on on seven different days she was going for many extracurricular activities you you name the sports and she has done it there just to see what she wants to you know finally settle down in and it turned out to be swimming eventually but it's not like that but they used to you know demean and talk rubbish about you know these parents and the lifestyle that we had they would say okay you know All these houses their houses look same like you know matchboxes just because you know they are newly built you know expensive homes in millions and they all are you know built by certain community builder. So they would just make you know fun of this kind and they would say you know Tesla is made only for Indians and Asians and and I myself

18:53 Was driving a Tesla to school. So it was like very at times sounded racist and they were making comments to you know students who were doing great in the classroom and those comments I cannot even you know mention here. So that was going on and I you know started to be involved a lot more with the parents and you know understanding their concern and I realized they had the same concern as I was you know being into the system and and these teachers wouldn't let the standards go you know up at all even for the students who are not feeling challenged enough the worksheets that they were giving to me most of the class students what they would do they would complete them in five minutes and then they are just sitting idle what should I do with Why are you not challenging them enough? Why do you want to degrade the standards when they can do you know so much better? So so there was some discussions were going on to degrade the standards even more and and this problem was not just

19:55 With this school. This was statewide problem and they were trying to you know degrade the standards even more like you know if you will go back in the history 20 years ago algebra 2 was a mandatory subject in 8th grade it it was algebra 1 I'm sorry a mandatory subject but then they are now you know somehow making it go to the higher level go to the high school everything should be done in the high school they are trying to remove algebra 1 as well from 8th grade they are trying to move it up to high school and these things are very much done in middle school in India and you know we I I personally never felt overchallenged with math in my classroom. It felt like you know it was appropriate you know most of the students were able to you know were average some were doing so much better some were doing you know less than average so where majority of the students lie that's where you know your normal standards are but when majority of the students are finishing your worksheets in 5 minutes you are doing definitely something wrong so

20:58 So I was pressurized a lot in that school because that was so highly ranked and you know the standards were not up to the mark And I was so much pressurized from the you know the department and principal and and there so once you complete two years you are a tenure teacher there they cannot fire you okay they cannot let you go they cannot fire you and I completed my two years so they started to pressurize me to move to another part of the city same city that we were in I was like four five miles away from my home and teach in that middle school instead and I had to accept it for that time and but I told them then I'm not doing full-time I will have to switch to fal time part-time because all this was taking a toll on my mental health as well because I was not able to help those students and I was feeling so bad for them so before I left that school that you know placement test was going to happen again and you know many of my students were it so what happens

22:00 There in sixth grade you do sixth grade math seventh grade there is you know math to eighth grade there is math 3 and algebra 1 was supposed to be done in high school. So that that was the level and I was teaching seventh grade that time. So many of my my students were deserving of doing algebra 1 next year. I could see they are getting bored. I could see this you know curriculum is not challenging enough for them. And I started giving them you know course three worksheets already during that seventh grade just for them to practice it. They were not getting any grades or anything because of you know the pressure from the school but they were very much interested. I was surprised to see that you know they are not getting any credits nothing but still they are so excited to you know solve these kind of math questions. So most of them you know covered that course three in the classroom itself. Of course you know other teachers did not like that but I went in you know anyways. The power that they had in their classroom I had in my classroom as well. So I went in anyways you know those teachers those students were deserving and before I left the

23:01 School I talked to all my six I had six different periods so six set of students I talked to all six set of students and told them see you know best what kind of exam you are doing for this you know entrance exam or the placement test that they were doing. If you have any doubts, please do not hesitate to go and ask what why did why did you get this score? Why did you why are you getting so low when you were doing so well in the classroom? You have A+ all the time. Then why are you failing this placement test? And that's what happened a after 2 3 months when the results were out I was already placed in the other school but the school district ID the email ID was still same. I started to get emails from my students. you know you told us this and next and what happened right after the placement test I went over the entire test the next day in the classroom and kids were super happy. They were like oh I did this right I did that right everything is

24:01 Right I'm going to you know be placed in algebra 1 next year and not not the 8th grade math course three and then they got the result and they they failed. Okay. So I don't know why immigrants are so scared when they are in that country they feel like oh we questions to these white teachers why not when you know that your child did right everything is going right at your end why can't you go and ask so this one student he was super excited to write me an email he said do you know what happened as you encouraged me I was I was you know surprised how did I fail when The next day you showed me the answers. Everything was right. I went into the vice principal and went there with my mom and I told her ma'am I did everything right and what happened and she was like oh no you don't deserve you should not take algebra 1 and because you know you will struggle and this and that while she was going on he said can you please show me my paper so she had to take it out because they

25:02 Don't you know show you your papers as well. It was one of the rule in the school that I was against. they won't write anything on the question paper. They won't even return you your question paper. They will update the grades four five weeks later by the time students has you know lost the motivation and they have moved on to the next chapter already. So they won't share any details so that you can go and contradict it or you know ask them questions. They don't want to get into trouble but they don't want you to feel like you are acing it. Yes. Okay. So anyway so he asked her to take out the test paper. when she took it out, she took out the test paper and she took out one answer key as well which is given to the teachers to grade it and he said you know while she was just going on I was looking at the paper and I had shock of my life every single question was right and in there was one part where it was checked by it which was computerized and the other part which was supposed to be checked manually had long answers and whatnot. So in the

26:03 Manual section he got zero and he he showed it to the vice principal and asked her madam what is wrong here and she couldn't find anything wrong and then she started saying oh I'm sorry I'm sorry so and so teacher graded it and it was the same team lead that I had team lead who checked the paper and she gave you zero I'm really sorry about it we will you know change your score and we will give you algebra 1 next year and it all happened because I encouraged them to go and check with them. And this is this has been going on for years. Nobody's there to tell them now you know teachers are dominating. They don't share any details. They are like you know with the power of union that they have. They want to ensure everything goes in their pocket and nothing is invested on kids actually. So this was the time when I felt like you know I am not able to work even part-time now because there were many other issues as well. If we start to dig deep into you know those issues, you

27:04 Will be surprised and it will take like forever for me to share like the school that I went in I realized that you know so many funds were that were supposed to be given to students who are not doing well in math so that we can arrange small you know classes for them like you know you can say tutoring sessions for them and what is happening do those in in those t tutoring sessions those teachers have arranged it in such a day that no student come to them during those hours and they are just sitting and you know solving their home issues, rent issues and you know talking to their own adult kids during that time. I was surprised seeing that that you know you are being paid another $5,000 a month just to you know tutor these kids and this is what you are doing right now. So it was so discouraging, so much corruption you know everywhere and as I said I was the whistleblower once I was introduced interviewed by New York Times as well and when that interview was published

28:04 One of the board member wanted to congratulate me but she didn't have the courage to congratulate me with an email she sent me a you know small card in my classroom just to appreciate me for my efforts and u so that you know she won't even come in the eyes of so many people are just scared of you know what's going on and don't want to intervene and just you know going with the flow as it's it is right now. So that was a big turn off for me and during that time I was doing my masters also there it was in the e-learning and by the time you know this happened I completed my masters as well and I was like I am not doing this job I am not satisfied and you know this is not just that school's problem it's statewide maybe nationwide as well because I had interacted because of the conferences I interacted with many other teachers also and the the the problems are very similar. You know, we are just trying to kind of dumbing down the entire system in you know, math and science education and Asians and we

29:07 Indians are, you know, so much into it and we take pride in that. Where will I take my kids to, you know, get that kind of education? I cannot afford to, you know, send them to private schools there and pay $4,000 a month for each child. So it's it was it was very disheartening and u my daughter was getting into sixth grade that time and when we started to feel like you know this is not enough we are not able to give them the best that they deserve and you know they are not being challenged enough. So I started to arrange some other classes for her outside as well and I started to enroll her in Hindi classes also just because this thought was there in our mind what if we you know decide to go back. So I started to get her Hindi classes, some advanced classes for the school curriculum as well because school curriculum was anyways not enough and that's how we were preparing them you know for last two years I would say. Yeah. And that was you know u the

30:08 Frustration that kind of was encouraging for us to come back. No, thanks a lot for sharing such a detailed information especially I'm surprised I mean I know we hear about some of these headlines or some of these information but hearing about like having a daycood just because of the students I mean that's just so shocking to me and maybe couple of quick

30:32 Questions so what the I know you mentioned the school in East Bay was like highly ranked right I think and when I hear that and I mean I'm assuming when I they highly ranked. I'm assuming it's based on the test scores. It's based on certain criteria that they were ranked high. When they are dumbing down the requirements or like what they're teaching the kids, it doesn't add up like you know they want to be ranked higher which means they want to push it more on the boundaries like you know what they can offer for the kids and on the other way around because of lack of teachers or for whatever reasons they're trying to bring it down. It doesn't add up to me like I think is it just across like Yeah. Maybe anything that you can like explain. Absolutely. Yeah. So those students are super smart. Okay. You know and like I was also sending my child to RSM and there is mathnasium ACE Academy. So we they these parents did have money to send them to those extra classes.

31:30 Although they had their frustration you know every time they will come to PTM and they will say oh for how many years my child is going to learn fractions. you know they are they are good now they can move on but that's what the school is teaching you know that's that's all they can do they will not give you any more support or any and then there are you know parents who want to intervene who want to you know offer you know the math kangaroo classes over the weekend and whatn not so that kind of support they are getting from home these kids are already you know they want to be challenged they are doing so much more than what is being taught at school now you're talking about the state standards s or the state score. whenever those exams would come, I could see no encouragement from the teachers to you know say that okay we need to focus on this for next couple of days because they know that kind of exam is coming so that you can do well in that exam. But instead what they would say oh just give it like you know just you just walk into the classroom and you give that exam. You don't have to prepare anything special

32:31 For that. You don't have to do anything special for that. that's when they will know your actual or your real you know knowledge about about the topic. but these are these are smart kids you know they start to worry about it they start to prepare for it even in my classroom I would offer some worksheets I would tell them some resources to go and explore so they would you know work on that but you are absolutely right I mean their their scores no one can degrade them because they are intelligent kids they will find resources they will be you know somehow supplemented by their parents they will offer them classes and whatn not so so the supplement work is helping even in Certino school district. I know there are so many weekend classes that are being offered by parents, so many camps that are being offered by parents and not by teachers. So it it depends you know some teachers are very much into it. They really want to help but they those teachers are very few in numbers and very difficult to find. Got it. So yeah, thanks a lot Miss Diva

33:33 For taking the time and having a very candid conversation about your experiences especially in the school system in US.