Why teachers are leaving their classrooms.

Teachers help create the future leaders of the world. However, many obstacles are making prospective teachers turn away, and many current teachers are quitting or retiring early. Teachers are being pushed well beyond their limits between the low wages, new curriculums, standardized testing, and an immense workload. Seeing all of this deters people from wanting to enter the field of education. Since the pandemic, things have worsened for educators as they are now tasked with additional duties. These factors are causing burnout and leaving the number of teachers at an all-time low.

The Covid 19 Pandemic

The start of the pandemic in March 2020 hurt teachers and students by shutting down schools. At the time, people went home for what they thought was a two-week break and ended up not going back to school for months which set everyone back. Teachers tried to make up for this by teaching online, but they and their students found that it was not the same. Many students who were used to doing everything in person were unable to adapt to online learning.

Two years later, we are still seeing the effect of this is still apparent in the classroom. St. Tammany Parish Schools Superintendent Frank Jabbia stated, "There is a lot of pressure on teachers right now, more than in the past because at the same time they are trying to teach kids new material, they are also trying to recover learning loss and time we lost due to COVID." Teachers are supposed to be teaching students to get them to the next grade level, but are struggling to do so because they are already behind.

Even though many teachers are back in the classroom, the pandemic still prohibits students from catching up on assignments. Whenever a student is exposed to Covid-19, the entire class is sent home to quarantine. Exposures frequently happen, interrupting the learning environment and further setting the students back. Teachers are left to worry about catching Covid-19 and enforcing pandemic protocols, such as masks and social distancing on students.

Low Wages

While the pandemic is a massive catalyst in losing teachers, it is really just the tip of the iceberg. People always say teachers do not teach for the money; they teach because they love what they do. However, it has gotten to the point where teachers can no longer afford to teach for passion. According to Maxouris, teaching has always promised high stress and low pay, and despite the numerous stories of the often impacts teachers can have on their students, educators in the U.S. have long felt unappreciated and disregarded.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, teachers and educators in America make 20% less than other professions with the same educational qualification, similar experiences, and merits. Teachers are the most significant factor for student performance and high-quality education despite being under-compensated for their work. The National Education Association found that the average classroom teacher salary during the 2020-2021 school year was just over $65,000. However, some of the lowest paying states offer an average salary of less than $50,000.

There are a multitude of reasons given for the low wages paid to educators. Teachers spend a good sum of their own money on school supplies for their students and classrooms due to the lack of funds in schools. Additionally, there is a lack of public funds directed to education, which leaves no money to give teachers better salaries or give students better resources. Furthermore, teachers' roles in education are often disregarded even though they have several roles as a part of their profession. Their job is subjected to constant evaluation and training, they work many hours of overtime without compensation, and they must keep up with a frequently revised curriculum.

Curriculum Changes and Mandated Testing

Many teachers feel they cannot teach to the best of their abilities with new, restrictive curriculums. New policies and curriculums are constantly put into effect by the government. However, many of the people making these decisions have never taught in a classroom, which means they are most likely unaware of how those changes will impact students. The teachers are left to understand how to get the students to where the policy states, even if it is near impossible.

Lawmakers are discussing having teachers make all lesson plans for the upcoming school year over the summer. Some are also deliberating allowing parents access to their school's learning management system and review any other learning materials used in their child's classroom upon request. These things put extra stress on the teachers without giving them any real benefits, which further drops their morale and makes them want to leave.

A recent legislative push in the United States has mandated what may be taught in classrooms. A new study found that more than 17.7 million public school students in the US have had their learning restricted regarding teaching concepts related to race, sexual orientation, and gender. This limits teachers' ability to talk about important topics and history for fear of losing their jobs. Many students already feel underrepresented in the classroom environment and are now losing access to conversations and knowledge they may not have access to anywhere else.

Another frustration many teachers face is standardized tests. In most instances today, teachers are given a curriculum and a massive set of standards to teach. However, they must also worry about teaching additional things that may appear on the tests. Students' scores on these tests influence how much funding the school gets. Therefore, if a class performs poorly, it is reflected on the teacher, even if it was because the students did not know the material because the teachers were not required to teach or did not have enough time.

Prospective Educators Are Turning Away

Prospective teachers are seeing current educators’ struggles and are beginning to look towards a different career path. “The perception of teaching is that there is little respect and little pay for the amount of work that has to be done," Priscilla said, adding that while her family values education, they attempted to dissuade her from pursuing teaching. The stigma around low wages and high expectations from teachers turns away many prospective educators.

This stigma is leading some prospective teachers to choose a different career. Teacher preparation programs have reported shrinking enrollment numbers over at least the past decade, and these numbers are worse now due to setbacks from the pandemic. In fall 2020 and 2021, 20% of institutions surveyed by AACTE reported the pandemic resulted in a decline of new undergraduate enrollment of at least 11%. Roughly 13% of institutions reported "significant" declines in the number of new graduate students. This decline has led to budget cuts, staffing shortages, and staffing reductions that could continue to affect programs even after the pandemic.

Covid-19 intensified present struggles and added new ones for prospective educators that decided to join the program. Many missed the in-person classroom experiences that let them experience a classroom environment from the teacher’s perspective and prepare them for their student-teaching placements. Those who are student teaching do not have much experience in a classroom environment, making it hard to adjust to teaching an entire class. The lack of experience impairs their ability to see the realities of being a teacher.

Conclusion

The pandemic worsened the existing challenges teachers face daily, like low wages and legislative requirements about what and how to teach. The pandemic has added more tasks to their huge workload. Teachers have always been forced to choose between following their passion or having a job with good benefits, and they are tired of making that choice. Many are experiencing burnout from the high stress levels and have walked away amidst a dire shortage, and few people want to fill their spots. Until people begin to listen to teachers pleas for change, the teacher shortage will continue.