THE TEACHER THEY COULDN'T KEEP
This isn’t just another story about teaching. It’s a story about surviving a system that wasn’t built to heal—only to break.
In The Teacher They Couldn’t Keep, Dr. Dennis Ibude pulls back the curtain on a journey marked by passion, resilience, and heartache. Ten years, eight different schools, countless battles with administration, and the relentless pursuit of a truth no one seemed ready to face: our education system is hurting the very people it claims to serve.
Through raw, powerful storytelling, Dennis shares what it feels like to be a charter-school student forced into silence, a teacher desperately trying to hold onto their humanity, and a leader fighting to create safe spaces amidst chaos. Every chapter is a mirror, reflecting painful realities educators recognize but rarely speak about openly—burnout, emotional exhaustion, systemic inequity, and the desperate need for genuine emotional care.
This book is for the teacher crying quietly in the supply closet, the leader silenced by bureaucracy, the parent wondering why school feels more like punishment than possibility, and anyone brave enough to believe that education can—and must—change.
Because the truth is:
We don’t need more teachers who can follow a script.
We need more educators who dare to lead with heart.
Prepare to feel deeply, question everything, and emerge with a new vision for what education can become.