Teachers Are Burned Out
Teachers have been facing increasing responsibilities with less and less support leaving them feeling overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Teacher burnout has led to a severe teacher shortage, which has caused teachers and administrators to feel increasingly overwhelmed, making it very difficult for teachers to provide the kinds of support our students need.
Teacher Job Satisfaction Has Dropped Dramatically
In 2007, 72% of teachers were very satisfied with their jobs. In 2022, only 12% of teachers were very satisfied with their jobs. Teachers are overwhelmed, under-supported, burned out and paid too little. They are being micromanaged and constantly belittled. Teachers are true heroes who deserve our support.
Teachers Experience Public Shame and a Lack of Support
Public support for teachers has dropped dramatically, and teachers have been called lazy, selfish, greedy, incompetent, unmotivated, and uncaring. One teacher reported the following in an American Psychological Association (APA) survey:
“I have never had such aggression toward me from the community, the board of education, and my administration in my life. If I could financially quit, I would. The belittling of concerns and bullying of teachers from other adults has pushed so many of us to a breaking point. I have been called ungrateful, lazy, whiney, entitled, uncaring, heartless, selfish, stupid, and more.”
Teachers Are Being Attacked
Laws that protect violent and out-of-control students from facing adequate consequences have led to school classrooms that are dangerous to students and teachers. One teacher reported the following on the APA survey
“I have been physically assaulted multiple times by students in the building, and they know that not only is there no one to stop them, but there will be no consequences either. I ended up in the hospital the last time it happened.”
Teachers Are at the Breaking Point
Over the past twenty years have lost control of what happens in their classrooms, experience a dramatic rise in school violence, seen a drop in the levels of support they get from administrators, been forced to tailor their instruction to increase tests scores, and been publicly humiliated and shamed for being unable to raise achievement test scores or close the achievement gap. In addition, increasing numbers of special needs students have been mainstreamed in regular education classrooms without adequate support.
It is time for parents, administrators, politicians, and the American public to start appreciating our teachers and giving them the proper support they deserve. Where this does not happen, teachers need to take matters into their own hands and demand change.
Teachers Need to Demand More Say in Decision-Making
With students and teachers in crisis, it is time for teachers to make what John Lewis calls some “good trouble.” We educators must take control of our schools. We must demand the changes we need in our schools.
We must change the laws that allow dangerous and out-of-control students to stay in our schools and do everything in our power to prevent school shootings, including passing effective gun control laws.
We need to move away from high-stakes tests that unfairly label our children as “failing” and instead focus on creating school environments that are safe, equitable, and engaging.
We need to demand higher pay, more classroom support, less intrusive laws, and an end to state and federal mandates that control what we do in our classrooms. The starting point for all of this is for teachers to insist on being given a much larger role in school decision-making.