By Catherine Gewertz, Education Week, August 5, 2019
More than half of the country’s teachers say they’d go on strike for better pay if they had the chance, and half are so unhappy that they’ve seriously considered leaving the profession in the last few years, according to a poll released Monday.
“I work 55 hours a week, have 12 years’ experience, and make $43k,” one teacher told researchers for the PDK survey. “I worry and stress daily about my classroom prep work and kids. I am a fool to do this job.”
For the first time since 2000, PDK included public school teachers in its annual poll of attitudes toward K-12 education, and their voices came through loud and clear: They’re exhausted and resentful. Topping teachers’ list of complaints: low pay and inadequate school funding, issues that ignited a wave of strikes starting last year and boosted public support for their cause.
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