Tackling teacher burnout: A key factor in education reform

Midway through her first year as a K-12 teacher in Baltimore County, Veronica began to experience painful migraines and a severe flu. Veronica (who now works for the government) told us she was working overtime to create a curriculum and plan lessons for her students every day. 

Veronica faced an oversized classroom of 35 to 40 students, managed the curriculum of four classes, and was tasked with extra administrative work. Her salary wasn’t adequate and she was simultaneously pursuing a master’s degree to enhance her qualifications. 

Veronica’s life became more about the school and what she could offer while she lost herself in the cacophony of lesson planning, fear of school shootings, graduate school, and worries about how to make ends meet. It was affecting her ability to teach her students. She also had no support from school administrators. 

It was only then that she began to realize that she was experiencing burnout — best described as a state of chronic stress characterized by exhaustion, and feelings of unproductivity. 

Veronica’s story is no aberration. Nearly 60% of K-12 teachers have reported burnout symptoms due to the same reasons that Veronica experienced. 

Fatigue and burnout lead to turnover and declining interest and energy to teach, affecting student outcomes and widening achievement gaps.

Read on to learn more about the impact of teacher burnout and how you can become an advocate to put an end to this problem and improve working conditions for teachers. 

The major causes of teacher burnout

Teacher burnout statistics show that burnout is caused by a number of factors, including excessive workloads, low wages, lack of mental health support, and classroom management. The following are the top causes in detail.

Heavy workload

Over 8 in 10 teachers in the K-12 public school system struggle with juggling various duties and completing them on time. This leads to teachers working over time.

Long work hours are associated with episodes of burnout. The issue of staff shortages is another reason why teachers are overworked. Over 70% of teachers have reported taking up additional teaching or non teaching duties not originally assigned to them. These include after school coaching, lunch or hallway duty, or substituting for another teacher because of unfilled teaching positions.

Low compensation

About 37% of teachers cite low salaries as a job-related stressor that leads to burnout and a top reason for leaving the profession. Teachers nationwide complain that their salaries aren’t commensurate with the time and effort they dedicate to their jobs. 

On average, teachers work longer hours and get paid less than any other professionals holding a bachelor’s degree who work 35 hours a week or more. And, 77% of teachers in K-12 schools are female and have lower salaries than their male counterparts who make up 23% of the teacher workforce. Research shows that female teachers make $2,200 less than male teachers.

Managing student behavior

In a RAND survey, 45% of teachers overall and 66% of new teachers report that managing rowdy students is the most difficult part of their job. Cellphone use and disrespecting teachers are just a couple examples of the behavioral issues teachers have to manage. A teacher in Michigan spoke about how one of her biggest stressors as a teacher is worrying about whether a student will come into the classroom, throw a tantrum and flip over a desk.

Lack of mental health support

Forty eight percent of teachers say poor mental health from burnout affects their ability to teach. Additionally, 16% of teachers reported that schools don’t provide them with adequate support for their mental health. 

A public school teacher shared how taking on multiple roles in the classroom similar to those of a social worker, psychologist, parent, and nurse led to extreme stress and exhaustion that caused a leave of absence. A private school teacher from Pensylvannia called the American school system hypocritical because they only spoke about providing mental health services to teaching staff without actually realizing any plans.

Lack of safety

Almost 60% of K-12 teachers say they worry about a school shooting happening where they work. Teachers also play an important role as frontline workers and provide essential services to the students they serve. These can include potentially life-threatening interactions — a source of anxiety for elementary, middle school, and high school teachers. 

Impact of teacher burnout on academic success

Teacher burnout has serious implications for student performance and the overall quality of education teachers can provide. Here are some ways the problem affects both teachers and students.

Declining engagement with students

Burned-out teachers begin to lack enthusiasm and motivation for their job, hindering academic achievement and ability to engage students in the classroom. A study found that students with burned out teachers had high levels of cortisol. 

Taking sick leave is also common for teachers experiencing burnout. If a teacher is absent for more than 10 days, this disrupts learning in the classroom.

High turnover and attrition

Teacher burnout leads to turnover and teacher shortages in the education system. This has financial and operational repercussions for schools and school districts. About 35% of teachers say that they are “fairly likely” to leave the teaching profession due to job-related stresses including low-pay and disciplining students. There are also severe shortages of special needs teachers. 

Replacing teachers involves hiring, training, and recruiting teachers which is expensive. Sometimes schools hire uncertified teachers to urgently replace the teachers who have resigned. Not only does this affect instructional quality, but unqualified teachers are 25% more likely to be affected by turnover. 

High turnover also leads to school closures, discontinuation of classes, and overcrowded classrooms where students receive less personalized attention from the teacher. 

Poor mental and physical health

There is a strong link between occupational burnout and the poor mental and physical health of teachers. Stress from burnout makes teachers susceptible to various illnesses, including headaches and cardiovascular diseases. Burnout also leads to poor mental health. Twenty eight percent of educators have experienced depression at least once as a professional teacher and have found it difficult to cope.

Solutions to the teacher burnout problem

The teacher burnout issue is clear, and we need solutions that target the source of the problem. Here are some approaches to progress.

Support from school leaders

Experts emphasize that school administrators must devise a plan to reduce the burden on teachers who are taking up additional tasks that are not a part of their job. Extra tasks like tutoring students after school, watching hallways, or lunch duties adds to their core responsibilities, including grading exams and making lesson plans.

Providing mental health support

Schools need to provide services and facilities to support teachers and boost their mental wellbeing. Here are some proposed suggestions on how to achieve that.

Expand support systems to help teachers cope 

Public health professionals argue that school-based support systems must be put in place to help teachers cope with stress. One example is offering mindfulness therapy which is scientifically proven to reduce stress and anxiety among teachers. 

Another program is CARE — Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education. This is a collaborative exercise which helps adults, particularly teachers, in regulating their emotions. Researchers also argue that teachers need to feel appreciated and encouraged for the work and effort they put in to boost their mental health.

Compassion-based approaches

Teachers deal with students who have been impacted by a lot of trauma and adversity. This affects their own mental health and leads to burnout. Sometimes teachers don’t have the adequate training and support to handle students from difficult backgrounds.

Studies show shifting from an empathy-based approach to compassion-based approaches supports teachers who have students struggling with mental health challenges. Research also emphasizes self care as another technique that is used to treat burnout.

Raise teacher salaries

Research shows the link between low wages and teacher burnout. The National Education Association (NEA) and other advocates have made several efforts to increase teacher salaries to support their mental wellbeing. Inadequate salaries also lead to issues of teacher shortages and high turnover. 

Teachers are also using their own money to buy school supplies and support their own classrooms. As the largest teacher trade union, the NEA can lobby for increased teacher salaries. One way is through collective bargaining, where schools and the NEA can come up with an agreement to implement this. Research also shows that increasing federal funding could also help to alleviate issues of teacher turnover. 

Help with managing student behavior

Statistics show that classroom management is the number one cause of job related stress among teachers. Studies emphasize the need to have effective strategies to support teachers in managing disruptive students. This will lead to better student-teacher interactions, a healthier work environment for teachers, and better educational outcomes for students.

Advocacy and raising awareness

Advocacy is a powerful tool to highlight and bring actionable change to the teacher burnout issue. One tactic is to use a petition as a tool to raise awareness and build support for teacher well-being.

For example, here are some Change.org petitions that address these concerns.

Addressing the shortage of Special Education teachers

This petition started in August 2024 highlights the issue of teacher turnover among Special Needs (SE) teachers. It notes that in the 2023-2024 school year, 21% of special needs teaching positions remain unfilled. This is particularly problematic for students who have learning disabilities. The shortage is exacerbated by issues of low salaries and precarious contracts.

The petition calls to bring reforms to the compensation packages of SE teachers as well as designing a new contract for them that gives more days off to prepare lessons for students. This would also help alleviate the workload for teachers. It currently has close to 150 supporters.

Increasing the minimum salary of teachers in California

This 2022 petition advocates for higher salaries for teachers in California. The petition calls for making the salary of a first-year teacher $70,000 a year, and $80,000 in their second year. Teachers with 6+ years of experience and an MA should earn more than $90,000. All of these figures are adjusted to inflation rates.The petition currently has 678 signatures.

The future of teacher burnout in the education system

A range of factors contribute to unmotivated, stressed, and unhappy teachers, from low wages, to toxic work environments, and fear of school shootings. We can begin to see improvements once federal funds begin to flow into schools and school districts begin to strengthen their mental health programs and increase compensation for teachers. 

Petitions also play an important role in raising awareness about concerns associated with teacher burnout. If you would like to be an advocate for change or push for reform, learn how to start your own petition.