Movies and TV shows that tell fictional stories about the educational world can be eye-opening. Academia is a top priority for plenty of individuals around the globe. That’s because your value in society is often equated to the level of education you have. Since tons of jobs are completely unattainable until you’ve earned certain degrees or certifications, it’s unlikely this widespread belief system will ever fully go away.
Since the topic of education is such an intriguing one, movies and TV shows surrounding teachers have been around for years. Some of the most notable movies and TV shows take place in school settings with entire character lineups full of educators and students. Other projects merely feature a scene or two placed inside a classroom. There are a handful of truly evil and messed up educators who didn’t quite make this list since they don’t classify as teachers.
Miss Trunchbull, for example, was the dean from the 1996 fantasy “Matilda.” Since she was a dean instead of a teacher, she doesn’t count. In “The Breakfast Club” Richard Vernon was the main antagonist with a stark determination to treat students poorly while they served their detention sentences. As the school’s principal, he doesn’t count on this list either. For real-world coverage on teachers in the workforce, click here to discover 33 states that let teachers carry guns.
To compile this list of the worst fictional teachers in movies and TV shows, 24/7 Tempo consulted several entertainment sources. These include IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, ScreenRant, Movie Web, and Collider.
Elizabeth Halsey from “Bad Teacher”
- Played by: Cameron Diaz
An obvious teachers to mention on this list is Elizabeth Halsey from “Bad Teacher.” Cameron Diaz did an incredible job bringing the character of Elizabeth to life. Elizabeth’s offenses ranged from G-rated to X-rated throughout the film. On the more innocent end, she didn’t care enough to learn any of her students’ names.
Her willingness to smoke marijuana in the school parking lot was also problematic. The worst thing she did was embezzling money from a major fundraiser held by the school. Instead of helping allocate cash towards her students’ success, Elizabeth was way too eager to pocket the funds for herself.
Ezra Fitz from “Pretty Little Liars”
- Played by: Ian Harding
Ian Harding is the actor who played Ezra Fitz in “Pretty Little Liars.” The hit TV show focused on a group of teenagers being stalked and harassed by an anonymous freak. One of the girls being stalked was named Aria Montgomery. Ezra and Aria embarked on an inappropriate temperature relationships throughout the early seasons of “Pretty Little Liars.”
He kept it going despite learning that he was her English teacher. He tried to justify their romance by leaning on the fact that they started hooking up before she disclosed her under age status. In reality, he should have cut things off immediately upon seeing her seated in his classroom for the first time.
Tamara Jacobs from “Dawson’s Creek”
- Played by: Leann Hunley
The affair between Tamara Jacobs and Pacey Witter on “Dawson’s Creek” wasn’t taken nearly as seriously as it should’ve been. One of the reasons the affair got a pass from characters on the show is because Pacey is the one who incessantly pursued Tamara. He set his sights on her and refused to give up. Regardless of his desperation to start a relationship with her, as the adult in the situation, she should have continued to reject him.
Instead, she eventually gave in. Tamara and Pacey had a 20-year age gap between them, which was already a huge red flag in and of itself. Their affair came crumbling down when other students uncovered the secret. Tamara was fired from her teaching job, which prompted her to move out of town.
Rachel Carr from “Gossip Girl”
- Played by: Laura Breckenridge
“Gossip Girl” is arguably one of the most addictive shows of the 2000s. It had an incredible cast lineup, including Penn Badgley. He played the role of a teenage boy named Dan Humphrey who has caught in an inappropriate love affair with a female teacher. That female teacher was Rachel Carr, played by Laura Breckenridge.
At first, there was nothing romantic going on between Rachel and Dan. They merely connected over their shared love for English literature. Eventually, circumstances sort of pushed them into each other’s arms. They started hooking up with each other in a sneaky manner. They’re most inappropriate hookup of all went down on campus in the costume closet during his school play.
Dewey Finn from “School of Rock”
- Played by: Jack Black
When “School of Rock” hit theaters in 2003, it was highly revered as a lovable comedy-drama. Jack Black took on the role of Dewey Finn for the film. After getting kicked out of his band, Dewey desperately scrambles to find a new source of income. He agrees to fill in as a substitute teacher at a private elementary school – even though he doesn’t have any formal teaching experience.
Since he does have music talent, he goes out of his way to teach students how to play rock n’ roll music as a collective. The students he’s faced with come from sheltered households, which makes their exposure to wild music they aren’t accustomed to a bit over-the-top. Dewey also uses explicit language in front of the kiddos throughout the movie.
Coach Carr from “Mean Girls”
- Played by: Dwayne Hill
Dwayne Hill is the actor who plays the comical character of Coach Carr in “Mean Girls” from 2004. Although he goes by “Coach,” he’s actually the gym teacher in charge of teaching the Sex Ed lesson. Coach Carr is one of the worst fictional teachers based on his choice to use fear mongering tactics to scare students into abstinence.
Instead of giving them concrete, real-world advice about their sexual health, he made the outrageous claim that students who had sex would catch chlamydia – and then die. Coach Carr’s problems went way beyond Sex Ed, though. He also got caught having an affair with a student named Trang Pak.
Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter saga
- Played by: Imelda Staunton
What would the Harry Potter saga be without intimidating teachers like Dolores Ombrage? Imelda Staunton is the actress who took on the role of Dolores for the franchise. There’s no denying that she was the worst of the worst. Dolores loved to dangle her power over the students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Her favorite student to bully happened to be Harry. One of the cruelest things she did was force him to write, “I must not tell lies” verbatim on a sheet of paper that automatically carved into the skin on his arm. Causing physical harm to students was something she found pleasure in. She was incredibly sadistic and evil.
Mrs. Puff from “SpongeBob SquarePants”
- Played by: Mary Jo Catlett
Mrs. Puff is the driving teacher on “SpongeBob SquarePants” and Mary Jo Catlett is the voice actress who handles the role. The reason Mrs. Puff is such a problematic fictional teacher is that she’s always so exasperated and overwhelmed. Instead of being patient with her boating school students, she often loses her cool and raises her voice.
Mrs. Puff’s worst offenses include stealing SpongeBob’s boat, threatening to physically kick SpongeBob, joining the “I Hate SpongeBob Club,” and trying to murder SpongeBob. Some fans of the show understand Mrs. Puff’s frustration dealing with a student like SpongeBob – but others are convinced that she’s way too extreme.
Will Schuester from “Glee”
- Played by: Matthew Morrison
Anyone who’s seen “Glee” can understand why Will Schuester would be included on this list as being one of the worst fictional teachers ever. Matthew Morrison is the actor who handled the role, and he did so with believability. During the first few seasons of “Glee,” Will prove himself to be a thoughtful teacher who related to his students.
He knew how to listen to their needs. By the time Season 4 rolled around, though, his attitude switched up for the worst. When he left on a trip to New York while his wife was on the brink of giving birth, it cemented him in stone as one of the worst fictional teachers out there. His mistreatment of students like Unique and Marley also made him much less likable.
Miss Jessca from “Abbott Elementary”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 05: Sabrina Brier attends Variety's New York Party at Loosie's Nightclub on October 05, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)
- Played by: Sabrina Brier
Going viral on TikTok can take you far in the Hollywood industry. That’s exactly what happened to Sabrina Brier after she landed the role of Janine’s substitute teacher on “Abbott Elementary.” Brier took on the role of Miss Jessca, a super unlikable teacher in the classroom. She aggressively reminded everyone that her name was pronounced Jessca and not Jessica.
The students loved having someone like Jessca in charge of things, but it was clear that her methods were completely unorthodox and inappropriate. Instead of having students to do specific homework assignments, Jessca let the kids choose whatever homework assignments they felt like doing. Leaving homework assignments in the hands of children doesn’t often lead to positive results with true educational growth. She was also super dismissive of Janine in every conversation they shared.
Walter White from “Breaking Bad”
- Played by: Bryan Cranston
Anyone who finished watching “Breaking Bad” in its entirety remembers the fact that Walter White was actually a high school chemistry teacher before he went off the rails. Walter, played by Bryan Cranston, was passionate about teaching chemistry to high school kids.
Eventually, his passions shifted as he became a money hungry drug lord. Walter reconnected with one of his former students, Jesse Pinkman, to mass produce and sell methamphetamine to addicts on the street. Despite the fact that Walter had multiple opportunities to tap out of the drug game, he continued digging a deeper hole with each passing episode.
Miss Darbus from the High School Musical franchise
- Played by: Alyson Reed
Miss Darbus, played by Alyson Reed, was an extremely annoying teacher from the High School Musical franchise. Generally speaking, high school students love connecting with their friends using their phones. Miss Darbus had an obsession with collecting phones from teenagers as a way of taunting her power as an authority figure.
She came across as super judgmental when students would perform on stage for auditions. Since Miss Darbus was the type of woman who likely wished she made it big on Broadway, she spent much of her time hyper-focused on high school stage performances. Her desire to be extra critical of youngsters made her unlikable.
Geraldine Grundy from “Riverdale”
<> on May 25, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.
<> on May 25, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.
- Played by: Sarah Habel
Inappropriate classroom relationships is a common trope in movies and TV shows. That’s exactly what happened on “Riverdale” between Archie Andrews and Geraldine Grundy. During the summer season, Geraldine went out of her way to strike up a steamy romance with Archie. When the school year starts up in the fall, they chose to keep things going anyway.
Much to Geraldine’s dismay, parents of some of the students uncovered details about the affair. Geraldine was forced to resign from her position at Riverdale High School to relocate somewhere new. There’s a chance she would’ve been arrested and locked up if she chose to stay in town.
Denzel Crocker from “The Fairly Oddparents”
- Played by: Carlos Alazraqui
Carlos Alazraqui is the voice actor who took on the hilariously ridiculous character of Denzel Crocker on “The Fairly OddParents.” The animated show focused on a young kid named Timmy Turner living life with two fairy godparents. His fairies were willing to grant all of his wishes, no matter how big or small.
However, one of Timmy’s greatest struggles in life revolved around interactions with his teacher, Denzel Crocker. Denzel was one of the show’s main antagonists since his main goal in life was to expose Timmy for having fairy oddparents. His obsession was out of control.
Annalise Keating from “How to Get Away With Murder”
- Played by: Viola Davis
Annalise Keating, played by Viola Davis, is a fictional professor from the show “How to Get Away With Murder.” Instead of teaching her college students everything they needed to know about criminal law, she got caught in a whirlwind of illegal activities, burning drama, and murder.
Her life of crime was intertwined with young adults who looked up to her as a legal icon. Her students shared her interest in pursuing career paths as lawyers, but they ended up in situations where they had to lie their way out of trouble. The never-ending lies were unavoidable if they didn’t want to get stuck behind bars.
Martin Harris from “Cruel Summer”
- Played by: Blake Lee
Blake Lee is the actor who played Martin Harris in the first season of “Cruel Summer.” At first, Martin was a lovable teacher who got along well with his students. He consistently showcased how much he cared about kids by intervening when he noticed bullying taking place.
He acted as a listening ear to youngsters facing emotional turmoil. Things took a nasty turn for Martin when he gave into temptation by hooking up with one of his female students. After that, he kept her locked in his basement to protect himself from getting caught. The cringeworthy arc ended with his death.
Erwin Sikowitz from “Victorious”
- Played by: Eric Lange
“Victorious” was a popular show on Nickelodeon for four seasons starting in 2010. Earn Sikowitz, played by Eric Lange, was the eccentric acting teacher at Hollywood Arts High School. On the surface, his teaching style was considered super weird and bizarre.
On a deeper level, he was actually a terrible teacher who probably shouldn’t have been placed in charge of students. He would call female students “ganks,” without batting an eye. The inappropriate word was often directed towards Jade West, played by Elizabeth Gillies.
Mr. Sweeney from “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”
- Played by: Don Creech
When “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” first premiered on Nickelodeon in 2004, kids adored the concept. The one character viewers weren’t super obsessed with was Mr. Sweeney. He was played by Don Creech. The science teacher was recognized for being a critical antagonist who loved enforcing the strictest possible rules on students.
He was in charge, and he wanted the whole world to acknowledge that. In nearly every episode of the show, Mr. Sweeney was spotted wearing a creepy white lab coat. On the topic of teachers, click here to find the states where it’s best and worst to work as an educator.