I am a teacher. My district recently sent out a survey about teacher burnout and how to prevent it. They suggested shortened days and teacher work days, and asked if we had any suggestions to be considered.
We don’t want our instructional time reduced. We don’t want less time with our kids.
Here’s the thing: We’re burned out, but we’ve always been burned out. The last two years have been awful, but only barely more awful than normal. It has, however, been awful enough to push us over the edge.
This pandemic was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Now we’re leaving. We’re about to have a full-blown teacher shortage like we’ve never seen, and there’s only one thing you can do to stop it.
You want to prevent teacher burnout? Pay us what we’re worth and make our lives outside of work better. Pay us enough to own houses, to support our families, to go on vacation once a year. Pay us for the work we do in the summer, in the evenings, and on the weekends. We want to stay in this career, so help us do that. There’s nobody to replace us if we all leave.
Mitchell Hall, Eagle Mountain