1. Schools are short-staffed:

74% of NEA members said they’ve had to fill in for colleagues or take other duties due to staff shortages.
80% report that unfilled job openings have led to more work obligations for the educators who remain.

2. Educators are burned out:

90% of members say feeling burned out is a serious problem (67% very serious).
To address educator burnout, raising educator salaries receives the strongest support (96%), followed by providing additional mental health support for students (94%), hiring more teachers (93%), hiring more support staff (92%), and less paperwork (90%).
91% say that pandemic-related stress is a serious problem for educators.

3. Schools are facing an exodus if no actions are taken:

More than half (55%) of members plan to leave education sooner than planned because of the pandemic, a significant increase from 37% in August.
This is even higher among Black (62%) and Hispanic/Latino (59%) educators, who are already underrepresented in the teaching profession.
This is true for educators regardless of age or years of teaching. 56% of educators under 50 years old and 54% of educators 50 and older say this. And 50% of educators with 10 or fewer years in the profession, 58% of educators with 11-20 years, and 57% of educators with 21 years or more say they are likely to leave before they have planned.
86% of members say they have seen more educators leaving the profession or retiring early since the start of the pandemic.

4. Uneven safety strategies

95% of members support improved ventilation in schools. but only 38% reported having improved ventilation in their schools and only 28% feel their school’s ventilation system provides them with enough protection.
And not all schools are maintained equally: In schools serving mostly Black, Brown, and economically disadvantaged students, only 21% of educators believed their schools had adequate ventilation.
35% of educators say mask and mitigation policies have been eased since the beginning of the school year amidst a rise in cases among young adults and children.

Instant Insights /

Stress of staff shortages may drive teachers away in huge numbers, survey shows