In 'The Teachers,' passion motivates, even as conditions grow worse for educators

Alexandra Robbins' The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession opens with this line:

"You may think you know what's inside, but you don't."

And Robbins delivers on this promise.

I taught four different high school classes for two years in Austin before the COVID-19 pandemic, which showed me what teachers experience. But the challenges, politics, and failures of public school districts across the country are as varied as their students — and they've been getting worse in recent years.

is a year-long divetheir battles, frustrations, triumphs, and heartaches illuminate how teachers, who literally shape our future, live a constant battle against financial pressure, entitled parents, politicians, and the educational system at the local level.