COVID threatens statewide teacher crisis
IEA poll finds almost a quarter of teachers across state are considering retirement in pandemic
“I wish I could say that I’m surprised so many are considering leaving the profession that I love so very much,” says IEA President Kathi Griffin. “But I’m not. Our teachers are struggling.” (Zoom)
By Ted Cox
The pandemic and the uneven measures to address it in schools are causing anxiety levels to rise among teachers and prompting more than 1 in 5 statewide to seriously consider leaving the profession, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Illinois Education Association.
“This should sound the alarm for every person in Illinois who values our children and their education,” said IEA President Kathi Griffin in a news conference conducted over Zoom. “We are already in the middle of a teacher shortage. Teacher retirements are at their highest rate in five years, and others are considering switching careers.”
The poll of 1,317 members, or about 1 percent of the 135,000 educators and staff who make the IEA the state’s largest education union, found that — just when asked about the school environment this year in the pandemic — 22 percent said they are considering quitting, with 12 percent saying they don’t want to be a teacher anymore, and 10 percent saying they’re considering early retirement. Griffin added that “35 percent of our education employees have considered leaving the profession or reevaluating their career path,” with more than a quarter, 27 percent, saying they have “seriously considered giving up teaching as a profession.”
The increased burden of teaching in a pandemic — whether in person, remotely online, or a hybrid combination of the two — weighed heavily on teachers, mentally and emotionally. More than half, 52 percent, reported their workload was “much heavier” in the pandemic, with an additional 24 percent saying it was “somewhat heavier.” That led to two-thirds, 66 percent, saying they “have been more burned out than usual this year.”
The poll, conducted last month, found that 39 percent said they had been granted no extra time for planning, with almost half, 48 percent, saying they were “not very satisfied” or “not satisfied” at all with the planning time allotted them.
With some teachers working 12 to 14 hours a day, “it’s pushing our members to the brink,” Griffin said. “It’s amazingly impossible.”
Mariah Klein, a second-grade teacher in Glendale Heights who works now at a school she attended, said, “I couldn’t have imagined a better job,” as “my former teachers are now my colleagues.” But she said teacher morale is now “incredibly low,” with the “impossible workload,” especially as the school is conducting in-person classes in an area with a 20 percent positivity rate in COVID-19 testing.
“I don’t want to leave,” she said. “I just don’t know what else to do.”
Pamela Kramer has been a teacher for 20 years in Highland Park, and is at high risk for COVID-19 with a heart condition. Assigned to teach a bilingual class this year, she took issue with how the district called for teachers to come to school even while teaching remotely.
“I’m a virtual teacher,” she said. “Just let me teach from home where I feel safe.” Kramer added that there are benefits to remote instruction over in-class teaching with everyone wearing masks, in that “I see when they’re smiling and when they’re confused,” and the students in turn pick up better on her own facial expressions.
“I can’t risk my life. I have to retire,” she said. “I don’t want to retire early. But I also don’t want to die.”
“I can’t risk my life. I have to retire. I don’t want to retire early. But I also don’t want to die.”
Highland Park teacher Pamela Kramer (Zoom)
According to Griffin, a common complaint is that schools are sometimes ignoring state education guidelines in the pandemic issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Gov. Pritzker has left many decisions on dealing with the pandemic to local school boards, which have proved to be prone to “a lot of community pressure,” she said. “We need to figure out how to keep our talented professionals in education, and we think that the best way to do that is by asking local health departments to intervene when school boards or administrations are making decisions that are not keeping their students and staff safe.” But even local health boards, she added, are sometimes susceptible to that same community pressure.
“We are not against in-person learning,” Griffin said. “We are against unsafe learning.”
According to Griffin, the Illinois State Board of Education has already established a virtual mentoring program for new teachers, but she warned against “fast tracking” student teachers to address the statewide shortage. “We have to be cautious,” she said. “Quicker doesn’t always mean better,” especially with the ongoing pandemic problems already affecting established teachers as shown in the survey.
“I wish I could say that I’m surprised so many are considering leaving the profession that I love so very much,” she added. “But I’m not. Our teachers are struggling. Our support staff are struggling. Some are working in school districts without a safe plan in place. Others are working in districts where there is a safe place, but the district is not enforcing or following it. And even in those districts where everything is being done safely and appropriately, they are saddled with extreme amounts of stress and extra work.”
While suggesting there could be better statewide enforcement of basic guidelines and better oversight, from the governor and the Illinois State Board of Education, Griffin warned that “health and safety strikes” were possible as a “last resort” in areas resistant to taking necessary measures against the pandemic. “We do every single thing we can to prevent that from happening,” she said, adding, “It’s not going to be a surprise” if it does happen, and that districts and parents will be made well aware of when things are reaching a crisis stage.
“Being a teacher is part of who we are. It’s the center of our being,” Griffin said. “Teachers want nothing more, all of us want nothing more, than to teach our students in person in our school classrooms. But we must make sure that everyone — students and staff — are in an environment that is healthy and safe.”