A former teacher on TikTok revealed the harsh contrast between Ohio’s wealthiest and poorest schools.
Featured VideoTikToker Nathan Ramos-Park (@nathanramospark) shared his emotional story in a now-viral video, recalling how working at both ends of Ohio’s educational spectrum completely changed him. “What radicalized me as a teacher,” he said, “is I was working at the richest school in Ohio and the poorest school.” His video has been viewed over 24.8K times and has over 4,000 likes.
He described one of those schools, Hawken Lower School in Cleveland, as a picture of academic luxury. Tuition ran over $40,000 for preschoolers and kindergarteners, and the students were children of NBA players, doctors, and lawyers. Every day, he said, “they speak in four languages: Mandarin, Spanish, American Sign Language, and English.”
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At Hawken, the curriculum Nathan taught was Montessori-style, and students tackled subjects like Julius Caesar in fourth grade. Ramos recalled how the kids dined on a daily lunch buffet that included an organic salad bar and vegan options.
However, his day didn’t end there. After teaching, he’d hop into his “beat-up Honda Accord manual 1999” and drive to a vastly different school in inner-city Cleveland. There, he ran an after-school program for disadvantaged students.
That school couldn’t afford basic supplies like textbooks. Some kids didn’t eat until the banana and juice box he brought them himself. “The first meal of the day for them would be like the banana and juice box I would bring,” he said. In one example case, he said, a 35-year-old grandmother picked up her six-year-old grandchild, a detail he said underscored generational poverty.
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Although he gave everything he could, Ramos said he often left in tears. “I would cry every day,” he admitted. “It’s not about me.” He pushed back against those who tried to comfort him by saying he may have at least changed one child’s life.
“That’s not the f*cking point,” he insisted. “Every f*cking kid should have access to clean water, to education, to not have their first meal of the day be at four PM.”
Ramos’ video struck a chord online, with viewers applauding his raw honesty and many sharing similar opinions.
AdvertisementOne viewer wrote, “ALL school lunches should be FREE and HEALTHY.”
“Big flaws in our American dream,” another TikToker added. “We saw the gap getting bigger but didn’t correct it.”
An inner-city teacher found the video and shared their experiences. “What’s really shocking – kids are allowed to engage in disruptive and destructive behavior continuously. And administrators allow this to happen. No consequences. And the teachers are held responsible for this. When and where I went to school, this was not allowed. The eduocracy is responsible for this.”
Nathan’s core message is that individual acts of charity can’t fix systemic inequality. He criticized a system that places enormous pressure on children just to have a shot at survival, adding, “It should not be up to a f*cking six-year-old to understand the structures at play. If you f*cking believe that, you’re like a wicked human being.”
Advertisement@nathanramospark Teaching at the richest school and poorest school radicalized me growing up #privateschool #boardingschool #publicschool #juicebox #banana #community #cleveland #hawkenlower #easttech #projects #teachersoftiktok ♬ original sound – Nathan Ramos-Park
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