Why are Texas teachers quitting in record numbers? This is what they said.

I'm having a heart attack I'm having a heart attack I started having no nosebleeds I never had a nosebleed and I just felt like everything was choking I was like what's going on I had increased anxiety medicine depression medicine and the doctor came in he goes are you under a lot of stress and I'm like no he goes what do you do I go I'm a teacher he goes yes you are these are the stories of six North Texas teachers we represent different grade levels we represent different isds they do have one thing in common all recently quit it takes a toll I could not do it anymore the job can feel like a calling growing up my mom was a teacher and in fact she was my teacher in first in fourth grade Amy Roden Ruff followed her mother's footsteps Derek Spencer saw the chance to make a difference there wasn't many African-American males in elementary my ran Gable was inspired I love my high school math teacher she looked like me she she had poised she just gave me a chance together they have a combined 140 years of experience raise your hand if you feel like you made a difference in kids lives so stepping away wasn't exactly easy I mean I can't do that anymore but that's where my heart is and I just cried because I thought that's my last you know that's my last group of kids the Texas Education Agency reports more than 13 of the state's teachers nearly 50 000 of them left the profession last year the highest number on record there's more than just one reason this group told us for the Exodus but a good starting point is the money or better said the lack of it and I know I didn't get into it for the money I know I didn't get into education for the money I sure thought it would be a lot easier than having to hold down a couple of jobs to to maintain the average starting salary for a teacher in Texas is just over forty five thousand dollars as they gain experience salaries increase but not by much veteran Texas teachers make on average just twenty thousand dollars more than novices I've talked to my ex-students who are graduate writing and who are going into college and they're like I guess what are you going to do well I would be a teacher but the main things that are the drawbacks money they can't survive they can't survive on what it what they're getting paid and the retirement when they retire like I know you know this I'm I'm I'm retired and I laughed at what I was going to get for my retirement like I literally burst out laughing Texas governor Greg Abbott last year commissioned a teacher vacancy task force to look at how to improve teacher Recruitment and Retention topping its list of recommendations released this February was a significant increase in overall teacher salaries but State lawmakers failed during their regular session to pass any increase at all the task force also tackled teachers working conditions recommending redesigned schedules that increase time for Planning and Development Noah tells you that you do all the extras you put out so much of your time and energy not just during the school day but after the school day on the weekends developing plans making sure the kids have what they need a study by Ed week Research Center last year found the typical teacher Works 54 hours a week most spent less than half that time actually teaching students however I was going to have to consistently go through more training to look like I was constantly learning y'all I went through a PhD program you think I have enough education and if a teacher is good at what they do this group says their job just gets harder the teacher who works hard the teacher who takes on a mother role get the most difficult children they get the tough kids those aren't going to be the kids that make the scores on the standardized assessment but the problem is you don't get any additional assistance the pandemic only made it all worse I don't know if anyone's ever tried to teach a third grader on a computer you can do first grade yes in person and so it's insane instead of the state stopping and saying all right we're two years behind now we need to like help these teachers they just kept moving forward and so you get you feel defeated not just moving forward requiring more requiring you to work longer no additional pay and health concerns they say weren't taken seriously Spencer told us since 2017 he's been living with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma a blood cancer putting him at increased risk during the pandemic he was initially approved to work from home but then I started getting emails from like the district and they were like yeah it's time for you to get back and so I called somebody in the district and they were like yeah do you pray like what what does that have to do with anything what is me praying have to do with me coming back to school every teacher here says they saw the effect of increased stress on their health with high blood pressure anxiety and panic attacks I had an anxiety attack on the day of star yeah I thought I thought I had committed like treason you're still expected to maintain mental health when you're given your all and then like but don't you know God oh yeah but don't you know God we studied all 160 bills proposed this year that would have affected teachers most never made it to a vote and in the end not a single one of the task force recommendations became law we asked this group about several measures the legislature did pass and whether they thought they'd make a difference like more money for retired teachers possibly yeah yeah possibly the right to hang an In God We Trust sign in their class and a specialty license plate that says Texas teachers no it's safe to say they would have preferred a pay raise right that would have that would have helped yeah but if you want to get to the bottom of why a record number of teachers in Texas are leaving the profession it's the disrespect the disrespect is real traditionally a woman's job teaching has historically come with less Prestige than other careers when I was in college getting my Bachelor's I remember people saying what are you in college for I'm like oh Elementary Ed and they're like oh those who can't teach I got that a lot it has to be seen as a respected profession just like being a doctor a lawyer and if you think about it we wouldn't have doctors or lawyers if you didn't have a teacher while not new these teachers say the disrespect they experience has in recent years gotten much much worse and it's the the the negative public propaganda against are we indoctrinating people if I could indoctrinate students they would show up on time every day they would speak politely to me and the other students they would do all of their work on time at school board battles over at masks books and diversity have heated up teachers have become a political Target I have literally had people in my face screaming at me for being a teacher and how we're so greedy and we're doing all these horrible things to kids when all I was doing was literally putting aside my life my family my friends to give to these kids but where is it all coming from is it the District administration is it the school board is it the state leaders is it politicians in general the parents it starts at home let me give you an example so at the previous school I was at Field Day thousands of parents I'm talking about packed house we couldn't find parking spaces but parent conference meeting calls all day long nobody answer maybe three or four concerned parents I somewhat agree with that but on the other end everything you said yes all of it we've got to be a community who actually understands that a educated society makes us all better if you're complaining about the cashier at the grocery store not understanding how to count your change then you better be at that school supporting those teachers supporting those students and you better be looking at the people you're electing and whether or not they support education these teachers say it's demoralizing the way State leaders talk about their profession it's degrading and I mean hello you're our public you know you're out there in the news saying that how do you think that affects everybody I think it's the way that you know a lot of the politicians look at the profession uh during covet uh even you know close family members you know say man you guys are really just glorified babysitters and that's offensive you know especially when you're trying to teach and you're trying to make a difference but I think overall that's how a lot of politicians look at this field it's like hey you guys you know take care of the kids all that disrespect they say can even translate to physical violence in a study by the American Psychological Association 14 of teachers reported having been physically attacked by a student my last year teaching I had been out on leave twice for being attacked by students one I had six months of physical therapy for I still wanted to be there I still wanted to be with those kids I still want to be with them today it's just that the system not only isn't doesn't work for us it doesn't work for the kids and I can't be a part of it anymore it just bothers me that we signed up to do this I do this because I love numbers I love teaching kids numbers it hurts me to know that she was attacked you know like I've heard about my co-workers being attacked personally myself that was my last straw like I got hit in the face with a beach ball if out of nowhere the parent asked me well what was going on what were you doing um what did you say but you hit me in the face and as a teacher I'm expected to just take it to attract and retain more teachers this group says the community and the leaders at elects need to start listening it's a smaller classrooms better pay have more support in the classroom I think we're highly qualified to do our job let us do it but give us the things that we need all these former teachers Miss their kids every day and now they Wonder who will be left to teach them the kids made me stay so long like I wanted them to know that they had somebody who was there in their corner will someone else be there I don't know and that's hard it's hard to walk away from that

Channel: CBS TEXAS

Views: 1,219,934

Keywords: CBS 11 News Evening

Id: BIMI8H4SmQM

Length: 11min 31sec (691 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 08 2023