Teachers are stressed out. But they're not getting much help from their districts.
According to a recent survey published by Metlife, stress levels among American teachers have increased sharply, and job satisfaction has dwindled to its lowest level in 25 years[1] . Amid the strains of low wages, pressures surrounding high-stakes testing, long working hours and threats of layoffs, almost half of teachers leave the profession after just five years[2] , costing districts' billions of dollars and depriving students of the experience of learning from seasoned professionals.
Given all these factors, it seemed natural that districts would want to enact morale-boosting programs. So we decided to reach out to our Twitter[3] and Facebook[4] followers to see if their local school districts were doing anything interesting to help them de-stress and unwind.
Unfortunately, the answers we received were pretty depressing. Here's a sample:
@HuffPostEdu[5] no but they add to stress with more requirements that do little to help kids
— Frank L. Rogers (@flrbase) October 3, 2013[6]
“@HuffPostEdu[7] : TEACHERS: Does your school district do anything special to help you de-stress?” LOL LOL LOL
— Kelly Harrington (@Srta_Kelly) October 3, 2013[8]
@HuffPostEdu Not at all. @CHSTAunited[9] [10]
— Ms Ullrey (@MsUllrey) October 3, 2013[11]
@HuffPostEdu[12] ha! I'm convinced this word doesn't exist for them.
— Aishousha (@AishyM) October 3, 2013[13]
@HuffPostEdu[14] They ring the 3:00 bell, the calendar turns to Friday, and the school year has a last day. We don't get any raises ever though
— Roderic Rinehart (@rodericrinehart) October 3, 2013[15]
@HuffPostEdu[16] No, but I would love an option to de-stress either at school, or something outside of school!
— Ashley Richardson (@ashley_nrich) October 3, 2013[17]
On the bright side, we found two people who said their districts are doing great things to help staff de-stress, and those efforts seem to be paying off in terms of morale.
@HuffPostEdu[18] We do morning stretch each morning and have a health fair each year #de[19] -stress
— Parker Ormerod (@ParkerOrmerod) October 3, 2013[20]
You go, Katy ISD!
Does your school district do anything special to help teachers and students de-stress? We want to know! Send tips to Rebecca.Klein@huffingtonpost.com.
Earlier on HuffPost:
References
- ^ stress levels among American teachers have increased sharply, and job satisfaction has dwindled to its lowest level in 25 years (www.cea.org)
- ^ almost half of teachers leave the profession after just five years (www.huffingtonpost.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
- ^ @HuffPostEdu (twitter.com)
- ^ October 3, 2013 (twitter.com)
- ^ @HuffPostEdu (twitter.com)
- ^ October 3, 2013 (twitter.com)
- ^ @HuffPostEdu (twitter.com)
- ^ @CHSTAunited (twitter.com)
- ^ October 3, 2013 (twitter.com)
- ^ @HuffPostEdu (twitter.com)
- ^ October 3, 2013 (twitter.com)
- ^ @HuffPostEdu (twitter.com)
- ^ October 3, 2013 (twitter.com)
- ^ @HuffPostEdu (twitter.com)
- ^ October 3, 2013 (twitter.com)
- ^ @HuffPostEdu (twitter.com)
- ^ #de (twitter.com)
- ^ October 3, 2013 (twitter.com)
- ^ Send us a tip (www.huffingtonpost.com)
- ^ Send us a photo or video (www.huffingtonpost.com)
- ^ Suggest a correction (www.huffingtonpost.com)
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