The Education Catalyst

An Education Catalyst Investigation into the Public School System

The Education Catalyst is a Merchant Ship Collective investigative newsletter series exploring whether the U.S. public education system is failing due to dysfunction—or functioning exactly as designed through money, politics, institutional self-protection, and workforce pipelines. Each issue examines what the system claims, what it actually produces, and how students, families, teachers, and communities are impacted. We also highlight real-world solutions and legal rights that can help rebuild education from the inside out.

The Climate Nobody Puts on the Website

Every school district has a website.

On that website, you’ll find:

• mission statements

• core values

• strategic plans

• equity commitments

• “student-first” language

• smiling photos

• polished slogans

What you won’t find is this:

The internal climate.
The culture of silence.
The fear of speaking up.
The quiet retaliation.
The unspoken understanding that some truths are not welcome.

Because culture is not what is written.

Culture is what is tolerated.

And in many public school systems today, what is tolerated tells a very different story than what is published.

When Institutions Behave Like Institutions

Public schools are supposed to function as community anchors.

But structurally, they are institutions.

And institutions have instincts.

They protect:

• their reputation

• their funding

• their leadership

• their compliance status

• their legal exposure

When an institution feels threatened, it does not ask:
“How do we fix the problem?”

It asks:
“How do we contain the problem?”

This is where culture shifts.

Because the problem stops being:

• unsafe classrooms

• inconsistent discipline

• academic decline

• inequitable services

• teacher burnout

The problem becomes:

• the person reporting it.

The Culture of Silence

In healthy systems, feedback improves performance.

In unhealthy systems, feedback threatens stability.

Research on workplace culture consistently shows that psychological safety is critical to organizational health (Edmondson, 2018).

Psychological safety means employees can:

• raise concerns

• admit mistakes

• report problems

• challenge decisions

Without fear of retaliation.

But education has a structural challenge:

Schools operate within layers of hierarchy:

• teacher

• instructional coach

• assistant principal

• principal

• central office

• superintendent

• school board

When hierarchy becomes rigid, upward feedback becomes dangerous.

Teachers quickly learn:

• which topics are safe

• which questions create tension

• which concerns disappear

• which conversations lead to isolation

And once teachers learn that truth carries consequences, silence becomes self-preservation.

Teacher Retention Is a Culture Indicator

If we want to measure climate honestly, we should not start with slogans.

We should start with retention.

The RAND Corporation’s national teacher surveys have repeatedly shown that working conditions—not student demographics alone—strongly influence teacher stress, dissatisfaction, and intent to leave (Steiner et al., 2025).

When teachers report:

• lack of administrative support

• inconsistent discipline

• excessive workload

• pressure to ignore issues

• lack of voice

Turnover increases.

Teacher turnover is not random.

It is a culture symptom.

And when high-quality teachers leave while compliant employees remain, the system becomes less stable over time.

Research further shows that teacher turnover negatively affects student achievement, particularly in high-poverty schools (Ronfeldt et al., 2013).

Toxic Positivity as a Management Tool

There is another cultural pattern that deserves attention:

Toxic positivity.

Toxic positivity in education sounds like:

• “We’re all here for the kids.”

• “Stay positive.”

• “Trust the process.”

• “Don’t be negative.”

• “Focus on solutions.”

But sometimes “stay positive” means:
Don’t question leadership.

Sometimes “trust the process” means:
Stop documenting inconsistencies.

Sometimes “focus on solutions” means:
Stop talking about the problem.

Toxic positivity reframes legitimate concerns as negativity.

And once someone is labeled “negative,” their credibility is easier to undermine.

Targeting and Blacklisting

There is a quiet reality in public education that few openly discuss:

Teachers who advocate strongly—especially for individual students, legal compliance, or discipline accountability—often find themselves isolated.

Patterns can include:

• removal from committees

• negative evaluations after raising concerns

• sudden scrutiny of minor infractions

• exclusion from communication loops

• pressure to resign

• non-renewal without clear justification

These practices are rarely documented openly.

But they are recognized privately across districts nationwide.

And when teachers are forced out of the profession, it affects not just their careers—but their families, their financial stability, and their long-term security.

Facts & Statistics

• RAND found that teacher stress remains significantly higher than many other working adults, and teacher intent to leave remains elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels (Steiner et al., 2025).

• Teacher turnover has measurable negative impacts on student achievement (Ronfeldt et al., 2013).

• NCES reports ongoing academic recovery challenges through NAEP assessments, reflecting instability in instructional continuity (NCES, 2024).

Climate is not abstract.

It affects:

• retention

• instructional quality

• student behavior

• academic performance

• community trust

Real-World Solutions

For School Districts

• Conduct anonymous third-party climate audits and publish results publicly.

• Track teacher retention by school and department.

• Publish discipline data transparently and consistently.

• Establish whistleblower protections specific to district employees.

For School Leaders

• Create protected reporting systems.

• Respond to concerns in writing.

• Stop labeling dissent as negativity.

• Reward problem identification—not just problem avoidance.

For Teachers

• Document everything.

• Use written communication when raising concerns.

• Build networks outside your district for support.

• Understand your state and federal legal protections.

For Families

• Ask about teacher turnover rates.

• Ask about discipline consistency.

• Ask how staff feedback is collected and used.

For Communities

• Treat schools as public institutions requiring oversight—not private organizations requiring loyalty.

Call to Action

This week, ask one culture question:

“How does our district handle internal dissent?”

Then ask:

• Is there anonymous reporting?

• Are results published?

• Are concerns tracked?

• Is retaliation monitored?

Because climate determines everything.

And until we fix climate, no curriculum, consultant, or technology platform will solve the deeper problem.

Closing

Public education does not collapse overnight.

It erodes quietly.

It erodes when silence becomes safer than truth.

It erodes when retention becomes collateral damage.

It erodes when leadership prioritizes optics over accountability.

And it erodes when institutions forget they exist to serve communities—not themselves.

If we want to rebuild education, we must start with culture.

Because culture decides whether truth survives.

And without truth, nothing else matters.

— Lyndsay LaBrier
Merchant Ship Collective | The Education Catalyst

References

Edmondson, A. C. (2018). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. Wiley.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). The nation’s report card: Mathematics (2024). U.S. Department of Education.

Ronfeldt, M., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2013). How teacher turnover harms student achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 35(1), 4–36.

Steiner, E. D., Doan, S., Woo, A., Kaufman, J. H., & Berdie, L. (2025). The state of the American teacher 2025. RAND Corporation.