Abby Zwerner Followed the Rules. The Rules Failed Her

Teachers in Transition: Career Change and Real Talk for Burned-Out Teachers

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In this deeply personal and emotionally charged episode, Vanessa Jackson steps away from her usual format to examine the civil trial of Abby Zwerner, the first-grade teacher shot by a six-year-old student. This is not a story about politics—it’s a case study in ignored warnings, failed leadership, testing culture, and the trauma teachers are expected to survive in silence. If you’re an educator, this episode will feel painfully familiar. It’s a mirror held up to a broken system—and a call to stop accepting the unacceptable.

🧭 Timestamps for Navigation

Use these timestamps in the episode description or show notes so listeners can jump to the parts that resonate most:

• 0:00 – Introduction & Framing
• 4:07 – The Pattern of Ignored Warnings
• 10:05 – The Defense’s Strategy: Deflect, Distract, and Weaponize
• 17:29 – The Test-Score Obsession
• 22:51 – Authority, Safety, and the Functionally Absurd Gap
• 28:47 – Leadership Accountability
• 35:00 – The Human Cost
• 40:50 – Broader Systemic Implications
• 47:47 – In Closing: What Are We Willing to Accept?

Please share this with anyone you feel needs to hear it. And if you want to talk, - contact me. I’m here.

👋 Connect with Vanessa:

• 📩 Email: [email protected]
• 📞 Voicemail/Text: 512-640-9099
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• 🌐 Website: TeachersInTransition.com
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• 📸 Instagram + Threads: @teachers.in.transition
• 🐦 Twitter (X): @EduExitStrategy
• 💬 Bluesky: @beyondteaching.bsky.social

The transcript to this podcast is found on the episode’s homepage at Buzzsprout