Teachers are burned out (and it's not their fault)

Teachers Are Burned Out and It’s Not Their Fault

Teachers are burning out faster than healthcare workers, retail employees, and police officers.

By: Zachary Bohlman

LAKEVILLE, Minn. - K-12 teachers are more burned out than retail workers. They’re even more burned out than healthcare professionals. In fact, according to 2022 Gallup polling, more than four in 10 teachers said they felt burned out at work “always” or “very often.”

​​When burned-out teachers leave education for other jobs, their already overburdened colleagues are forced to pick up the slack. As schools struggle to recruit new candidates to fill a growing number of vacancies, the K-12 education system ​​is teetering on the verge of collapse.

The education system in the U.S. is wearing out teachers faster than it can replace them​. Rand, a nonprofit policy research institution, released a survey in 2024 that stated 23% of teachers said they were likely to leave their job by the end of the year. This is especially true in the Twin Cities where a third of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years.

Heavy Workloads, Long Hours

A Lakeville middle school teacher said they work as many as 12 extra, unpaid hours per week. They said they typically have to put in extra time for tasks such as grading assignments and preparing lesson plans. The teacher said during stalled contract negotiations in early 2024, Lakeville teachers decided to implement a concept known as “work-to-rule,” where they work only their contracted number of hours as a form of protest.

Independent School District 194 and the Lakeville teachers union, Education Minnesota-Lakeville (EML), finally agreed on new contract terms in late May after nearly a year of tense negotiations. Teacher salaries were a key point of discussion, with EML pointing out that ISD 194 teachers are underpaid compared to neighboring districts. The new agreement includes a 9.4 percent compensation increase over the next two years. ​

Minnesota ranks 25th in the nation for how well it pays entry-level teachers with the average starting salary at $43,181. This past April, the union filed an intent to strike which was approved by 99% of the voting membership. EML announced a tentative agreement was reached a week later following a 12-hour mediation session with school district leaders.

The pay increase represents an overdue and hard-fought victory for Lakeville teachers. The Lakeville middle school teacher said they felt some relief when teachers were leaving their classrooms on time at the end of the day. Instead of grading assignments into the late hours of the evening this teacher said they could finally take time to decompress in ways many of us take for granted such as relaxing at home with a good book.

This teacher said they carry a lot of stress and bring their work with them, physically and emotionally. “Learning to turn it off, put the work away, and physically finding that time for yourself is what keeps you going in this job,” they said. It is an indictment of how Minnesota treats its teachers when simply going home on time is considered a method of protest. However, even “work-to-rule” is difficult to maintain long-term.

The ungraded assignments will still be on teachers’ desks in the morning even if they go home when the last bell rings. Some teachers say they feel like they’re doing a disservice to their students by not being as prepared as they would like to be.

“That’s why so many people didn’t stick to it, because it hurts us,” they said. “It hurts our students, and we know that.”

Teachers Feel Lack of Support from Admin, Community

Erin Austin is a national board-certified French teacher at Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado. She taught for 11 years in ISD 194 before losing her position to budget cuts. She said she had frustrations with district administration during her time at ISD 194 and she is much happier at her new school.

“I have a great principal who is supportive of anything new and innovative that we want to try,” she says. “In Lakeville, it’s like everything had to go through the school board and in my view that’s what’s wrong with public education. It’s being run by people who don’t have a clue about education.”

Austin does not put blame for burnout on educators themselves; burnout goes deeper than an individual teacher giving up. “Teacher burnout is largely the inability to continue doing the job you love in the way that you love,” she said.