How TV’s Abbott Elementary sugar coats the experience of low income public schools

Image c/o Disney+

By Madison Sciba
Editor-in-Chief

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ABC’s Emmy award winning show, Abbott Elementary, portrays the struggles of the teachers and staff at a financially struggling public school in Philadelphia. The mockumentary-style sitcom gives audiences a comedic view of what they could assume is what it is like to work at and/or go to a low income public school. 

While I do believe that it is necessary to bring attention to the struggles of teachers, especially those at low income schools, I do not appreciate how Abbott Elementary seemingly sugar coats what it is actually like to work at one of these schools. While the show portrays the teachers having to deal with broken equipment, low budgets, and unsupportive administrators, it uses these as points of comedy rather than addressing the seriousness of the situation. 

In a time where our country is facing a detrimental teacher shortage, idealizing the battles of teachers is not helping. Abbott Elementary is centered around the kind of teachers who struggle the most in the teaching profession: those who do not have the necessary support from their administration, students’ parents, and community. All the teachers in Abbott, however, are portrayed as being dedicated educators who will do whatever it takes to be a good teacher to their students. That is, unfortunately, not the truth when it comes to the experiences of teachers at low income public schools. 

The teaching profession can break those who entered the field to change the lives of our children. They barely make a livable wage and yet they do one of the most difficult jobs in the world. We expect teachers to be the best no matter the circumstances and common misconceptions, like the one Abbott Elementary is portraying, is damaging. How else can we as a society change our perception and support of educators if our media is not showing the truth?

Instead of making jokes about lacking funds or battling with the school district, why doesn’t Abbott Elementary show the parental neglect, the horrific conditions, and the real toll that teaching at a low income school can have on a teacher. Most teachers take what very little money they earn and put it back into their classrooms, buying the necessities that the schools and districts cannot provide them. 

For my whole life, my mom worked at a Title I elementary school in San Jose, CA. For those who don’t know, a Title I school is, “provides financial assistance to local educational agencies for children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards.” (National Center for Educational Statistics). Growing up, I witnessed the struggle of someone who, although extremely dedicated to the field of education, lost their love and passion for the job. 

She and the other teachers would spend their own money on snacks, supplies, and sometimes even appropriate clothing, for students who couldn’t afford to bring in their own. Cockroaches were such a common issue that they would just put a cup over the bug and wait until the next lunch or break to deal with it. Barely anything was fully functioning and getting anything new was a rarity. 

I started off my educational journey at this school. After one year my parents decided that I had to be sent to a different school. My mother, someone who taught at a low income school for almost fifteen years, knew that students at that school were being done a grave disservice. Lucky for me, my parents had the means of sending me to a local Catholic school for a better, healthier environment, however, my former classmates were not as lucky. 

To this day, that school is operating even worse off than before. The buildings are practically falling apart and the students at this school are getting a significantly worse educational experience than a student at the wealthier public elementary school just a mile up the street. 

What this society needs is not for these kinds of low income schools to be the center of jokes, but to be the catalyst for great changes to the educational system. There needs to be more awareness of the struggles of teachers at low income public schools and how that struggle directly affects the ability for those students to learn.

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