Teacher shortages plague schools nationwide amid burnout
Former Texas teacher Staci Crosswell joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss why she left her profession as a teacher and the repercussions some are facing for quitting.
A former Texas teacher said Monday that the main reason for her leaving the profession was to protect her "mental health."
"It was just too much to do, too much to catch up on. It was very overwhelming to have to try to catch kids up one, two, three, four grade levels in a year," Staci Crosswell told Dana Perino on "America’s Newsroom."
A majority of Texas teachers are apparently on the verge of quitting, according to a new survey.
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Holly Thorsta, an art teacher at Roosevelt High, stands in silence with other teachers on the 10th day of the teachers strike in Minneapolis, March 21, 2022. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP)
The study, which was conducted by the Texas State Teachers Association, says that 70% of the 688 teachers surveyed are seriously considering leaving their profession.
The number is the highest recorded by the TSTA, which has been tracking teachers' concerns in the Lone Star State for over four decades. The survey recorded that 53% of the teachers they asked considered leaving their jobs in 2018.
About 94% of surveyed teachers attested to the pandemic increasing stress in their professional lives, while 84% said their workload and planning requirements increased. Around 41% of respondents said they took on extra jobs throughout the year.
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Crosswell said another reason she left the profession was due to the "red tape" in the education system and watching children getting "passed along" instead of receiving the help they need.
"It's a lack of support from districts and government and beyond to get everything done to help these students catch up, to help take that burden off the teacher where you have anywhere from a kindergarten to a fifth-grader in your class. To try to plan and teach for that, it becomes nearly impossible and consumes all of your time," Crosswell said, predicting an increase in school districts moving to four-day weeks.
Crosswell said she's not sure if she'll ever return to classroom teaching.
Fox News' Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.
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