They say students have fallen three grade levels behind. They say behavior has never been worse. They say it's as if they have to teach people who have only built one-story houses how to build skyscrapers.

And they say they've been too scared to talk about it − until now.

Teachers are taking to TikTok to express their fears, frustrations and worries about the state of education more than three years after the COVID-19 pandemic prompted school shutdowns and remote learning nationwide. Though the problem of some students underperforming is nothing new, many teachers say the gap between where kids are and where they ought to be has never been more staggering.

To make matters worse, these teachers say the education system isn't doing enough to address the issue − and that most of their colleagues are too scared to call it out publicly. But thanks to a new viral video, they feel emboldened, validated and free to say their piece.

It's 'hell out here'

It all started when a seventh grade teacher in Georgia spoke out on TikTok last week about how much kids are struggling, revealing most of his students entered the school year performing at a fourth grade level or lower.

His frank admission garnered 3.8 million views and inspired a floodgate of other teachers to speak up about what they're seeing in their classrooms. The teachers say the video made them feel validated, with one high school teacher immediately rushing back to her desk to record her own response.

"The pandemic caused a learning gap − plain and simple," she says in her video, which has nearly one million views. "The education system as a whole, we have not really done anything to fill that gap effectively."

These teachers say people would be shocked to learn just how far kids have fallen behind − and not just in academics. A music teacher shared in a video viewed 4.9 million times that "the kids are 100% different," with behavior and classroom etiquette much worse.

One seventh grade teacher in Texas declared: it's "hell out here."

"When I tell you that these babies cannot read, they cannot write, and they cannot comprehend, I'm not being funny," he says in a video viewed 12.6 million times. "I'm being dead serious."

'Unbearable, ridiculous, insurmountable'

How did things get this bad? Some teachers blame pandemic school closures. Some blame kids' over-reliance on technology. Some blame inattentive parents. Some blame the after-effects of No Child Left Behind, a policy that prioritized standardized testing. Some blame other teachers. Some blame a bit of all of the above.

Laverne Mickens, a teacher of over two decades in Massachusetts who has also spoken out on TikTok, tells USA TODAY that, while COVID isn't the sole cause of the gap, it shined a light on the issue.

Distracted students, stressed teachers:What an American school day looks like post-COVID

"COVID just pulled back the curtain and lifted the veil, so everybody else now sees what we've been seeing for years," she says.

The gap has also made teachers' jobs more stressful and put significant strain on their mental health − something that's already a well-known weak spot in their field. Last year's State of the American Teacher survey found 73% of teachers experience frequent job-related stress, with 59% feeling burnout and 28% reporting symptoms of depression.

Mickens says the pressure to get kids who've fallen behind up to grade level can sometimes feel "unbearable, ridiculous, insurmountable."

By venting on TikTok, teachers have found a sea of supporters in comments sections, many of whom say they're fellow educators who also share their concerns and feelings.

Many also say they now feel liberated to join the TikTok teachers in sounding the alarm.

As one commenter put it: "Speak that TRUTH!!!!"

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