Some students would be surprised to learn that their teachers might pray for snow days just as much as they do, but for different reasons – like hoping for breaks from the anxiety and exhaustion that teaching can cause. Teachers across the nation are leaving the field due to how taxing the profession can be, which, along with other factors, has led to teacher shortages in many areas of America. 

 

“There were days that I was just praying that I would wake up sick, or we'd have a snow day, or there was an assembly, so my students wouldn't come to my class because the assembly was at the same time,” Sara Leslie, a former elementary music and art teacher at Catholic Central in Springfield, Ohio, said. “I just had so much, I mean that was anxiety, but burnout as well.” 

 

Many consider teaching to be a highly respectable profession because of the care and resilience it requires. Jobs that require high amounts of compassion can be taxing, and teaching is no exception. 

 

Leslie said that elementary education was the hardest job she’s had since she graduated from college. “I've worked at two different schools in higher education now, and it was still the hardest job that I've had so far since I graduated.” 

 

The teaching profession includes a wide array of responsibilities: teachers develop lesson plans, grade assignments, volunteer to lead student organizations or coach sports, deal with difficult parents, and help students cope with things going on in their personal lives. Sometimes, teachers feel guilty, because despite their desire to enrich students’ lives, they know that the amount of help they can provide is limited. Allen Pratt, executive president of the National Rural Education Association and former Tennessee elementary school teacher, said the need to make a difference can be both a passion and a source of burnout.  

 

“Sometimes, you get to the point where you may feel like, ‘I can't make a difference,’” Pratt said. “I think when teachers get to that point where ‘I just can't emotionally take trying to help,’ I think that can be part of that burnout.” 

 

All students have needs that require different kinds of attention. It can be disheartening for teachers to feel that helping at-risk students is outside of the scope of their jobs. 

 

“For me personally, (I) had moments when (I) lost students – and I'm not talking about physically lost. I’m talking about emotionally and mentally lost students, that they checked out,” Pratt said. “They checked out because there were circumstances that were out of (my) control and definitely out of their control.”

 

Despite a need for talented and seasoned teachers, various factors have made it harder for some schools to retain teachers. A 2019 study published in the Education Policy Analysis Archives found that the top factors that contribute to teacher shortages include fewer people studying education in college, smaller student-to-teacher ratios, increases in student enrollment and high rates of teachers leaving the field. 

 

Leslie, who left elementary education and now works as an admissions counselor at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, said that a lack of support from leadership within her school was a contributing factor in her decision to change jobs. 

  

“I think the hardest part was really just the lack of support from leadership, at least at my specific school,” she said. “It was really hard for me to enforce any kind of discipline on the students.”

 

Additionally, many teachers quit the profession after less than 10 years. In an analysis published in Education Sciences in 2021, researchers found that the average number of teachers’ years of experience is declining. The report analyzed nine cycles of data from the National Center for Education Statistics over a 30-year period. Each cycle surveyed 40,000-50,000 teachers as well as 9,000-11,000 school administrators nationwide. The analysis found that from 1987-1988, approximately one million teachers had 10 or fewer years of teaching experience. In 2017–2018, there were over 1.8 million teachers with 10 or fewer years of experience.

 

The teacher force is also becoming more female-saturated. According to a 2021 report published in Education Sciences, there has been a gradual increase of women in the field of education since the 1980s. In 1980-1981, 67% of teachers were women, which rose to 76% in 2017-2018. 

 

Timmy Jones, the principal at North Crowley Elementary School in Crowley, Louisiana, said that difficulties finding teachers can force administrators to make difficult decisions. Over the summer, the three third-grade teachers at North Crowley moved to teach at a different school. Simultaneously, enrollment skyrocketed.  

 

“(We) were going to have close to 90 first graders with three teachers. I had to make a decision to yank a third-grade teacher and increase the third-grade class sizes in order to lower the number of kids in a class for first grade, because that year is just so important,” Jones said. 

 

There’s a strong correlation between quality of education and poverty levels in schools. In a 2019 study published by the Learning Policy Institute, researchers found that high-poverty schools have higher levels of beginning teachers and higher teacher turnover rates. The study found that teacher turnover rates in high poverty schools are between one-and-a-half to two times as high as the rates in low-poverty schools. 

 

Teacher shortages are not one-size-fits-all problems. Michael Deurlein, the Tennessee State Board of Education’s deputy executive director of policy and research, said that one third of Tennessee districts reported no teacher vacancies, but some high-poverty districts had high amounts of vacancies and permit waivers. When schools are unable to fill teacher vacancies, emergency permits can be issued – which allow schools to employ candidates without teaching certifications. 

 

“Certainly, we know some of the higher poverty-concentration schools are in districts like Shelby County, but we also have significant rural poverty,” Deurlein said. “I definitely saw increased issuance of emergency credentials, what we call permit waivers, coming out of Shelby County, more than any other district.”

 

According to 2021 U.S. Census data, Shelby County, Tennessee, has an estimated population of 924,454 people. About 19% of Shelby County residents live in poverty, which surpasses the national rate of 11.6%. Additionally, according to a 2021 Key Performance Indicator report, Shelby County had a total of 217 teacher vacancies, which had risen from 63 the previous year. 

 

Duerlein said that staffing shortages can force schools to face various difficulties. “The challenges that (schools) face range from being able to offer certain types of programs that they'd like to be able to offer but can’t because they don't have the staff to support them. In some cases, being able to keep class sizes down, being able to staff a classroom with an educator who is prepared in their area as opposed to one that is hired on an emergency credential.”