Over the last couple of years, teachers all over the nation have been quitting their jobs. Not only are they quitting because of the underpayment, but also because of exhaustion.
According to Devlin Peck, 86% of public schools nationwide are “struggling” to hire teachers. This is found to be the issue in districts with high poverty rates, rather than districts with low rates. Areas with high poverty rates cause schools to receive less funding and to be less recognized. In addition, the working conditions are a lot more challenging, raising the stress and burnout amongst educators.
A poll done by the National Education Association shows the average annual salary for teachers in 2023-2024 was about $70,500. They say that low pay is one of the biggest reasons for stress in one of three teachers. As inflation increases, the worth of money decreases, almost canceling out the benefits.
The N.E.A. stresses that the issue is rising rapidly. Nowadays, teachers can’t afford shelter in the area they teach.
“I generally do think that teachers are underpaid for what we do. We are 10 month employees, it’s non-stop from the first day of school until graduation,” a teacher at John F Kennedy Memorial High School said. “Y’know those two months of summer time everyone’s like ‘oh we’re off for two months,’ but we’re also not getting paid for two months.”
Female teachers are more prone to “job-related stress and burnout,” Fortune Well states. Aside from lesson plans and grading assignments, female educators also have to worry about their children and household responsibilities.
“It’s not a job where you go home and it’s done, there’s tons of work being done behind the scenes, it’s very exhausting,” a teacher from JFK’s mathematics department states. “[The most stressful part is] paperwork, there’s a certain amount of grades that need to be put into the computer. The constant buildup of paperwork that your mind is [aware of and it] constantly goes and you kinda produce like an anxiety [because] it’s always on your mind and in the back of your head.”
However, a teacher at Woodbridge High School states that she receives disrespect often throughout a week.
“This is the most challenging part of my career actually, to see [the] lack of respect and low manners to no manners at all,” she said. “They use bad language and push each other into lockers, but the worst part is that they don’t follow school rules and procedures.”
Teaching is an awarding career, but all teachers fac disrespect from students, and not necessarily the ones they teach. All educators may face verbal harassment in the hallways, and many are subject to gossip and ridiculed outside the classroom.
It isn’t rare for students to bother and harass teachers, confess teachers from JFK and WHS.
A memorable incident that an educator from JFKMHS has had with a student was in the hallways, while the teacher was on bathroom duty. According to school rules, a student cannot enter the restroom without a pass.
The interviewee states that the student “got right into [their] face” and said, “listen, [expletive], open up the bathroom.”
Students simply don’t allow educators to stand up for themselves. The administration also prohibits teachers to do so. So, the teacher requested an administrator to come assist in the situation.
Earlier this month, a female teacher in Woodbridge High School has also experienced disrespect from students. A group of students have been late to class on multiple occasions. The teacher spoke up and attempted to “redirect” them to class.
According to the teacher, the students begin to talk back and argue about how she shouldn’t care. Then, the group proceeds to “look up and down” at her.
“One of the students suddenly turned to me and criticized my attire, my shoes [and] then started to call me ‘sir,’” she states. “This was like the hard part to swallow, and I tried not to react.”
Later that day, the same group of students found the teacher again in a different room. They begin to make fun of her, repeatedly calling her “sir.” The interviewee ended up writing a referral to the students, claiming that she felt “unsafe” while completing her duties.
“In moments like that, you question the place where you are and question why it happens, why people and young people are so mean to each other, so mean to strangers.”
