As teacher stress and burnout levels remain high, and the pressures of the job continue to grow, educators say one thing can go a long way in making teaching a more sustainable profession: more time.
鈥淲e want the gift of time,鈥� said Anna Aguilar, an elementary teacher in the Twin Rivers Unified school district in Sacramento, Calif. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need more [professional development]. We don鈥檛 need to be told what to do. We have plenty to do, which is part of the problem. You keep adding stuff to our plates. I鈥檓 telling you I need time to do those things.鈥�
Yet school districts often don鈥檛 seem to be listening, Aguilar and four other educators said in a roundtable discussion at the National Education Association鈥檚 representative assembly here in early July. Many educators say that teaching has gotten harder since the pandemic, as student academic needs have gotten greater, behavioral challenges have increased, and substitute and other staffing shortages have continued to plague schools.
鈥淲e鈥檙e always asking more of our educators and not less,鈥� said Robert Gould, a special education teacher and the president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. 鈥淲e never take anything off their plates.鈥�
A recent RAND Corp. study found that teachers are nearly twice as likely as other working adults to report having difficulty coping with job-related stress, and 10 percentage points more likely to experience burnout. Frequent and long-term stress increases the risk of mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression.
Yet a nationally representative survey of teachers, conducted by the EdWeek Research Center in January, found that districts鈥� mental health programming for their employees is sparse, even as more than half of respondents said that the mental health and wellness of teachers in their school had declined over the course of the 2022-23 school year.
Some teachers are leaving the profession altogether because of the stresses of the job, while many others are pushing through鈥攚hich experts say is bad for both their own mental health and that of their students.
鈥淲hen you have burnout, you鈥檙e coming to work with a very negative attitude and very negative energy,鈥� said Donna Christy, a school psychologist and the president of the Prince George鈥檚 County Educators Association in Maryland. 鈥淎nd kids are so empathic that they feel your negative energy, and that spurs their negative energy, which causes more behavior problems and challenges.
鈥淚t just becomes this really vicious, horrible cycle of a really negative climate within our schools where the educators are dysregulated, and the students are dysregulated, and we鈥檙e all feeding each other鈥檚 dysregulation, and it鈥檚 just a time bomb鈥攁nd it erupts frequently.鈥�
What educators say could help improve employee mental health
The educators said they need time and space to do their jobs well. They want to teach鈥攁nd spend less time doing administrative tasks and paperwork.
Christy called for an audit of the educator workload: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 a must versus a want in terms of what you鈥檙e asking educators to do?鈥�
For example, she said, officials in her district want teachers to call home every time a child is absent, but a robocall system could take care of that. Teachers are also expected to pull reports on every student who is in danger of failing, but the central office has access to that data, too, she said.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 burying [teachers] is all this work that they shouldn鈥檛 have to do鈥攋ust let them teach,鈥� Christy said. 鈥淟et them plan their lessons, let them teach. And everybody outside of the classroom should be thinking, 鈥榃hat can I do to support what鈥檚 going on within those four walls of the classroom?鈥欌��
Her teachers鈥� union in Prince George鈥檚 County focused on reducing educator workload and protecting planning time during bargaining last year. Ultimately, the district agreed to build in more planning time in the contract. Middle and high school teachers, for instance, now have at least 45 minutes of planning time every day鈥攁nd a full class period for two days each week.
Wayne Spangler, a 2nd grade teacher in Peterstown, W.Va., said his principal has made sure that all grade-level teachers have the same planning period. Sharing that time 鈥渉elps our mental health,鈥� he said, since it allows them to go over what is working and what鈥檚 not.
But the lack of substitutes in his district sometimes cuts into his planning time, he said. Administrators will ask teachers if they鈥檙e willing to give up their planning period to cover this class, and offer a $25 incentive.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to say, 鈥楴o, I don鈥檛 want to do that,鈥欌�� Spangler said, because he knows that if he doesn鈥檛 step up, the students will either be missing out on instruction or will be spread across other teachers鈥� classes鈥攚hich brings class sizes to 鈥渁lmost an unmanageable point.鈥�
In general, large class sizes are also a major time-suck for teachers, said Gould, the Denver teachers鈥� union president. With smaller class sizes, educators would have more time to implement the inclusive practices that they want to do and that support students, he said.
Other educators in the school building can also lessen teachers鈥� loads, but staff shortages have made that harder as everyone in the building is stretched thin. For example, Christy said school counselors are often tapped to coordinate tests and facilitate special education meetings鈥攔educing the amount of time available to lead social-emotional learning in the building or respond to students鈥� mental health needs.
Nicolle Reyes, an education support professional in Harrisburg, Pa., said she wishes every classroom had an assigned paraprofessional. She is often sent into classrooms to help students with behavioral challenges, but she said her presence can make the entire classroom run more smoothly and alleviate the teacher鈥檚 stress.
鈥淚 was sent into a classroom to support the kids, but truthfully, it turned into a support to the teacher,鈥� Reyes said. 鈥淪he kept saying, 鈥楾hank you for being here.鈥� ... She would give me a group [of students], and we鈥檇 divide and conquer.鈥�
Mental health days are not necessarily the answer
A dozen states allow students to take a day off from school for mental health reasons, but the practice is less common for teachers. In the EdWeek Research Center survey, about half of teachers said their school or district permitting or encouraging mental health days would support their well-being.
But the educators at the roundtable weren鈥檛 convinced鈥攊n part because that time off won鈥檛 solve the root of the problem.
鈥淗aving a day off to take care of my mental health to recover from my job is not the answer,鈥� Christy said. 鈥淭he problem is fixing the job so that it鈥檚 not so stressful that you need to be taught how to cope with it.鈥�
In many districts, sick days can be used for mental health as well, but 鈥渢eachers don鈥檛 always feel like they can take that day,鈥� Gould said, pointing to the lack of substitutes and a general desire to want to be there for students.
Aguilar, the California elementary teacher, works with children with disabilities. She hesitates to take days off because she wants her students to have consistency. It can be stressful for them to have somebody new at the front of the class.
Also, she added, it鈥檚 鈥渟tressful for you as a teacher to have to plan literally every second of the day as if you鈥檙e there, to explain to [a substitute] in words how to do what you do.鈥�
Aguilar said her union did successfully bargain for bereavement time for pregnancy loss鈥攑art of a growing trend in certain districts to support educators who have a miscarriage or stillbirth but are unwilling or unable to take sick time. (Oftentimes, teachers are trying to save their sick time to take when a future baby is born, since many districts do not provide paid parental leave.)
鈥淚f we value mental health, it should come from the adults,鈥� Aguilar said. 鈥淎dults should put on our [oxygen] masks first, so we can help our children. If we鈥檙e not OK, it鈥檚 going to be very, very difficult to do that.鈥�
Removing barriers to mental health support
In a small town, teachers might be deterred from taking a mental health day or visiting a therapist for fear of word getting out, said Spangler, the West Virginia teacher.
And there鈥檚 a generational divide, he said: He鈥檚 noticed younger teachers being more open about struggling with their mental health and being proactive in seeking support.
But for veteran teachers like himself, 鈥渨e don鈥檛 do that. We power through,鈥� Spangler said.
School and district leaders have to create a culture where it鈥檚 normalized to seek mental health care, the educators said. Part of that is reducing any barriers to access.
For example, Gould said the Denver Classroom Teachers Association has successfully negotiated with the district that starting this year, educators won鈥檛 have to pay any co-pays for mental health support, relieving a big financial burden.
鈥淭hat was a major reason why people didn鈥檛 go鈥擨 want to have this relationship with somebody over time, but if I鈥檓 going to be shelling out a thousand dollars over time, it doesn鈥檛 make much sense,鈥� he said.
Above all, the systemic issues that make teaching so hard must be addressed, the educators in the roundtable discussion said.
鈥淧eople come into the education profession thinking it鈥檚 one thing, and then the reality is something so completely different,鈥� Christy said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why they leave. ... If we could make the job what people think it is, people would actually enjoy it and stay. They would not be burned out, and we would not have mental health crises.鈥�
