The Quiet Crisis: Why Our Teachers Are Leaving

Beyond the classroom walls, a silent crisis is unfolding: the increasing departure of dedicated educators. Step into any school, and you'll see teachers working hard, shaping young minds, and caring for their students. But look closer, and you might notice something worrying: more and more good teachers are leaving. This isn't just a small problem; it's a quiet crisis that could hurt our schools and communities.

One of the main reasons teachers are leaving is burnout. They're often overworked, dealing with large class sizes, large amounts of paperwork, and not enough support. The pressure to meet standardized test goals and manage students' different needs can be overwhelming. As a result, many teachers feel stressed and exhausted, leading them to seek jobs with better working conditions and more respect.

To gain deeper insight into this issue, I spoke with Mr. Warner, a former history educator of Liberty High School for 3 years. His perspective sheds light on the challenges teachers face: 

How did your workload and responsibilities affect your ability to stay?

Work wise the workload was manageable but annoying with how much they baby yall. Having to call yall parents when yall don’t do work isn’t preparing yall for the real world or college and is extra work for teachers. 

Were there resources or training you wish had been available to help you succeed?

We needed more chances to pull small groups to assist students more but the lack of paraprofessionals made that impossible. 

Were there changes in the school environment or leadership that played a role in your decision?

The leadership didn’t bother me because I stayed to myself but I did feel there was a shift that I saw my colleagues feel stressed over. 

If you could change one thing about this school to make it a better place for teachers, what would it be?

I’ll give the students more control. Put emphasis on developing the whole student vs focusing strictly on academics.

If more teachers keep leaving, it's not just the schools that will lose out, the whole community will. Students will miss out on having caring, inspiring teachers who make a difference in their lives. We need to figure out why this is happening and fix it, because without great teachers, learning just isn't the same.