Low salaries and high pressure are causing a mass exodus of American teachers from the profession, even though they previously faced long queues for job applications.
Betsy Summer, a family science and consumer education teacher at a high school in northern Virginia, quit her job last year after 14 years in education . She couldn't handle the workload, which was disproportionate to her salary.
"Every day, you have to prepare 'a performance' before class, like you're in a circus or a theater. It's not really sustainable," she said.
Ryan Higgins, a geography teacher in Texas, also resigned two years ago due to a lack of support from superiors, along with poor student behavior.
"I'm a ninth-grade teacher, but the students' minds are stuck at the seventh-grade level. I can't teach them," he said.
Public school teachers in the U.S. are quitting their jobs in increasing numbers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of February, the number of public school teachers who voluntarily left their jobs had increased by more than 20% compared to 10 years ago, from over 72,500 to 94,000.
The education sector has 247,000 vacant teacher positions, but only 155,000 have been filled.
According to a survey by management consulting firm McKinsey of 1,800 teachers, principals, and staff in the 2021/22 school year, approximately 42% said they left their jobs because of salaries and benefits. The average teacher's salary is around $66,000, significantly lower than many other professions and with little increase in decades.
Meanwhile, 31% quit due to work pressure. The remaining three reasons were happiness levels, leadership abilities, and flexibility in the workplace.
Experts also found many other jobs attractive to teachers due to low unemployment rates or the possibility of working remotely. Additionally, some teachers said that student behavior has worsened, especially since the pandemic, making their teaching more challenging.
Many school leaders are facing a double crisis: a shortage of teachers and a struggle to recruit new staff. Nationwide, the number of teacher training students was estimated at 400,000-440,000 between 2014 and 2022, but this is still significantly lower than the over 680,000 in 2009, according to a report from the Center for Educational Policy Evaluation and Analysis, published in early March.
"Currently, there are not many applications for teacher positions in the state or nationwide," said Paul Pack, principal of an elementary school in Virginia, adding that the school has been unable to find teachers for both of this year's school cycles.
In North Carolina, Superintendent Whitney Oakley shared that it has long been difficult to recruit teachers for math, science , and special education. Now, elementary school teachers are also in short supply.
"In the past, there were many primary school teachers, and the lines were long. That's no longer the case," she said.
Doan Hung ( According to WSJ, NEA, BLS, McKinsey )
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