The Burnout Equation: America’s Teacher Shortage Crisis (Part 1) | To The Point

Research has found that teachers matter more to student achievement than any other aspect of schooling. But after decades of insufficient pay and increased workloads, many teachers across the United States have had enough.

“I need a pep talk right now because I'm not sure if I can come back on Monday at this point,” Violeta Duran, a high school English teacher in Los Angeles County, California, told VERIFY.

Duran, who has worked as a teacher for nearly 20 years, said she’s burned out. She’s not alone. Teachers in K-12 education report significantly higher rates of burnout than full-time workers in any other industry, including other high-stress professions like healthcare and law, according to a 2022 Gallup poll.

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[sheilac.]

As an educator, the pay isn’t the biggest problem. The biggest issue in American schools are student behavior, their lack of care for their education, and the lack of parental discipline. I believe in education and academic excellence. But I cannot do my job when students, parents, and administrators are against me. That is why I am going back to school for a second Masters so I can get out of the classroom.

[kb]

Reasons I left:
1. Horrendously inept administrator
2. Behavior of students
3. Behavior of teachers
4. Standardized testing
5. The real threat to my physical safety
6. Lack of work/life balance

I have not missed it. I am now doing everything to keep my kids out of school. Many of my homeschooling friends are former teachers. We know too much about what’s happening in schools.

[loriar]

The pay alone isn't a deal breaker, but when you add to that the students are not engaged at all, and you have very little leverage to get them to stay on task. They have no mental stamina to stay focused on anything other than their phones. There's little support, and the constant battle is draining. I felt so ineffective I gave up and retired.

[SkySpiral]

I quit teaching a year ago and swore off all “hero” jobs that use guilt to try to make you accept abuse and overwork. Staying in for 7 years didn’t make me better than teachers who quit earlier—it made me a SUCKER!

[atticussfinch]

I was on the way out, after 23 years. Luckily, made it to our district’s continuation school. Small classes, great admin support. What a difference! Now, I’m going to teach another 4 years. Good job getting this video out—the public doesn’t realize how bad it is in public education.

[jlee]

Trust me, most teachers can endure low pay as long as they have enough to get by, but misbehavior from students particularly from “those” kids is just their tipping point to quit.

[lindsayroberts]

Let’s redefine what they mean by “teacher shortage”. There are plenty of teachers out there that are highly qualified. There are not enough teachers willing to work in a toxic workplace where they are not supported unless it makes the admin look good. And then it is only superficial. Too many are at the top with oversized egos/oversized sense of self worth that have absolutely no empathy or respect for those who serve under them. Then there is the pay and oversized classes and expectations that round it all up into an undesirable job for anyone. Again…. There is no shortage of good teachers!

[TheCasualRealtor]

Getting an education degree was the biggest waste and regret of my life. I’m close to the end and can’t wait to leave. Couple more months to go.

[redjetsen]

The media gets it wrong ...again. The students and the classroom climate make the difference. the level of disrespect, laziness, unwillingness to do anything but sit on their phones makes it a tough job. Get the right cohort and it is a breeze.

[Nobody-womb]

I’m a special education teacher who is stressed to the max. Significant pay increases and smaller class sizes/special Ed caseloads would fix the majority of problems but we are not respected enough in the US for widespread policy change to happen. I have stuck with it and I sadly realized recently that I suffered years of parental abuse and neglect as a child/teen that have prepared me to withstand the abysmal working conditions of this job. I truly think that experience is why I have stayed.

[WriterProfessor]

Hold problem students and their families accountable for the chaos they bring into the classroom!

[rspen]

What I find the most difficult is, when teaching at low income schools, you are asked to jump through hoops and hurdles to get the same scores as higher income schools!!! This is next tom impossible because; while a few studnets are motivated to learn, the majority of them only care about clothes, shoes, socializing, and Tik-Tok!!! Also, the parental involvement and experiences just aren't there. It is demoralizing when you are asked what more can you do by administration. Smaller class sizes would be great (is what I say in my head) but I know that's the only place that would happen...It was never Covid that caused teachers to leave in droves. It is unfair mandates placed on teachers who are doing the very best that they can. Teachers leave because swimming against the tide will eventually tire you out and you WILL drown and I don't know many people who want to drown of their own will.

[sharonkaysnowton]

I retired in 2018. I sub now. Student misbehavior is HIGH. Parents do not support the teachers, but support their child in their bad behavior. Students (not all) are full of shenanigans. Those students who want to learn are struggling because of classroom disruption. I know why teachers are leaving the classrooms in groves. It won't change until we get parental support. Volunteer in the children's schools. Make your children study even if they do not have homework. Make them learn their multiplication tables by rote memorization. Support the teachers- let your child know NO SHENANIGANS AT SCHOOL AT ALL. THEY ARE THEIR TO LEARN. Give your children an education. That is the BEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE YOUR CHILD- an EDUCATION.

[brooklynnchick]

And no one can figure out why we’re all leaving? If The US isn’t the most unintelligent developed country already, we soon will be. Nearly every teaching contract contains the line, “other duties as assigned.”, it means that the school can order teachers to spend nights, weekends, and vacation days doing work related tasks.
Odd that as our culture’s misprioritization of education, law enforcement, and mental health has become worse the fabric of our society has started to unravel…

[sarahome]

Praise the people who can be teachers. I see so much disrespect and lack of support from parents, students, and admins I don't think I could ever be a teacher.

[ssakimoto]

I retired when I could no longer be the kind of teacher I wanted to be and knew I could if not for all the problems that came with the pandemic. Teaching 1st graders online was near impossible and I know of students who never checked in at all...I loved teaching, but couldn't any more...

[irmagonzalez-ramirez]

24 years in education and I really should have left in 2020. I stayed for my students. Who would protect them from the back and forth of mask mandates? I should have left in 2021. I stayed for my students. Who would be there to help them transition back into society after so much isolation? When admin said, "Self Care" it was a slap in the face. 2022 I should have left but I love my job and the special skills I use in this one unique position. Admin called us family as a way to guilt us to do more with less. 2023: 27 Prekindergarten students in one class. I should have left. I became so ill I had to leave before the end of the year. Surgery was like a vacation because of all the stress. Imagine life altering surgery as something to look forward to in order to escape the demands on teachers in prekindergarten. I will return but my days are numbered financially it is no longer viable to teach.

[melliott]

Young people today just don't really want to learn, parents are abusive towards teachers, and administration is weak and unsupportive. These characteristics have been in education for years. The pandemic just made it worse and brought it to the forefront. Here's an example that happened to me in 2000 as a high school teacher. Mid-term grades had just gone out and I got a visit by the school counselor. She stated she had just gotten off the phone with an angry mother who had received the notice of her "honor-student" daughter's F in my class, and wanted to know "what is wrong with that teacher." I had the students keep all of their work in a notebook, so I simply showed her this student's notebook. It was virtually empty because she was doing nothing in my class. It had the weekly grade sheets tucked into the pocket showing not only 0 after 0, but my requests to the student to see me after class so we could figure out a plan for her, which she ignored. The counselor asked if she could take the notebook as the mother was coming in for a meeting about her daughter's grade. I let her take it. She brought it back that afternoon and told me the mother would talk with her daughter and I would see a change in behavior, which did happen. In this particular instance in the end I was supported. However, the immediate response that a student's failing grade meant something was wrong with me, showed me the warped mindset parents and school administration have in this country when it comes to students. I switched from teaching high school to college in 2011 thinking I would find a system that supported and protected the learning environment. But I didn't. College students aren't out of control, they are just tuned out and care more about partying and becoming that next social media influencer than learning anything. Administration are still as inept as can be caring more about branding, image, and the revenue stream. But I also found another level of toxicity in tenured professors. They are lazy, mean, and have out of control egos. They are often stale in their own professional capacity (especially with technology), and feel insecure next to the non-tenured, harder-working faculty, so they target them with vicious gossip, the piling on of work, and the subtle yet constant message of not being worthy and knowing one's place is at the bottom. Thanks to tenured professors and their warped egos, discrimination has found a home in higher ed academia.

[Nightgrauen]

We have exactly the same problems in Germany happening right now. The only difference, we get payed quite well, so that isn't the problem. For us it is: Student behaviour, the behaviour of the parents as well, lack of respect from the government and the public, stress, micro-managing from the school disctrit and federal government, lack of funding, class size an the ever increasing workload. I love teaching kids, but that is roughly 30% of my job and it used to be 70% or more. These days we have to write lists upon lists, concepts upon concepts, all for the sake of documentation.

[Spork]

As a student, there have been countless times where students say they want to be a teacher when they grow up, and then the teachers reply with, “No you don’t. Don’t become a teacher.”