We have heard from countless teachers from around the area that the stress of their jobs has become untenable. From the dramatic changes forced upon classrooms by the pandemic, to political firestorms such as the “Critical Race Theory” controversy, the number of external factors affecting the profession has pushed many veteran teachers into early retirement and likely scared away an untold number of talented, new teachers in the midst of a national labor shortage.
According to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 300,000 public school teachers and staff left the field between February 2020 and May 2022 — a nearly 3% drop. And a February National Education Association poll reported that 55% of teachers said they would leave education sooner than planned, an alarming increase from 37% last August.
In a Community Conversation last month where panelists shared concerns about the new school year, Springfield City Schools Superintendent Robert Hill told us that “one of the greatest detriments to us right now is the social media noise. People can hide behind screens and criticize educators, principals, board members, superintendents — and that causes an extreme level of stress on everyone and leads to why people want to leave.”
Regular Ideas & Voices Sunday columnist Ray Marcano wrote several columns over the past year about increasingly combative school board meetings. He spoke with UD professor Art Jipson about the nature of hate and what we can do to address it.
“We find it hard to put ourselves in other people’s shoes; we find it hard to take the role of the other,” Jipson said. “The golden rule, not judging someone, those statements really have some deep, meaningful ideas about the kind of community we want to live in.”
What kind of community do we want to live in? More pointedly, what kind of community do the teachers and school staff who educate our children want to live in?
It is on all of us to foster the kind of community that makes teachers feel appreciated and decide to remain in their profession — and our region. When all the excitement of the new school year fades, we are asking our readers to remember to be kind.
This is a simple but important request. While every profession experienced painful transitions and transformation during the pandemic, teachers were among the hardest-hit and were steadfastly on the front lines. As Phillitia Charlton said in the same Community Conversation, “Teachers feel devalued in this work because they have not been humanized as the first responders that they are.”
“We upheld our hospital workers and we praised them,” Charlton continued. “But teachers were also doing their jobs and they were at home with their families. There’s the moral injury: Am I really valued in the work that I’m doing? Do I feel appreciated?”
We understand that parents are similarly under incredible strain and stressed, and we are not asking for parents to be any less involved in their child’s education. But there is a difference between being involved and being a bully.
Before you send that angry email, type out that outraged Facebook comment or stride into that parent-teacher conference with clenched fists, remember what Professor Jipson said about the golden rule and placing yourself in the shoes of the person you’re about to berate.
We could all stand to receive more kindness in the world, but please extend a little extra grace to teachers.
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