As a teachers strike in Los Angeles begins, I am struck with the notion that the demands of UTLA are really about self-care and resilience for both students and adults. The union has repeatedly rejected the district’s offers, even when they could possibly agree on the salary, because it didn't meet the important demands of reduced class size and additional student support staff such as nurses, social workers and counselors. While the financial woes at the district level are real and complex, as Pedro Noguera outlined in his recent Op-Ed in the LA Times, lowering class sizes and funding adequate support positions is essential for the health, well-being, and success of children, teachers and administrators in our public schools .
Almost half of young people in our schools have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Experts agree that the primary key to creating a buffer and building resilience is a stable committed relationship with a caring adult. This vital, potentially life-changing connection is accomplished through building relationships and creating a sense of belonging. Almost every educator I have ever known entered the classroom with this desire to connect to young people and be that person for as many students as possible. Like many teachers, I became a teacher because of those special teachers in my life and wanted to pass that on. It is more than challenging to build relationships and forge an authentic connection with students when you have 35-40+ students in your class. Positive relationships, an atmosphere of harmony and wellbeing, and a strong sense of community and belonging not only benefit student learning in the classroom, they build resilience for the adults as well. Staff are excited to come to work, they look forward to seeing their students, they feel a sense of accomplishment and joy — all buffers to burnout.
Teaching is one of the most stressful jobs in the nation, right up there with nurses and emergency personnel, with almost half of teachers reporting high daily stress, leading to high rates of burnout and teacher turnover. High rates of teacher turnover are closely linked to poor overall school performance. In a research brief from The Pennsylvania State University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, some of the key findings highlight the negative consequences not only for teacher well-being and job satisfaction but student academic and social emotional outcomes as well. Stressed teachers result in lower achievement for our youth. Interventions at the organizational level, such as adequate staffing and student supports, are critical to reversing this trend.
Teachers and administrators are acting as first responders yet do not receive training on such things as vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, burnout and the importance of self-care as most social workers and emergency personnel do. It is an ethical imperative that educators not only are provided training on such topics but that they exist within a system that supports their social-emotional well-being, a system of collective care.
I have been working with LA public schools for the past 5 1/2 years in different capacities. I have been in schools at the top of the Student Equity Need Index with 2000+ students that have a psychiatric social worker one day a week and a nurse two days a week. We all know that student health and mental health emergencies do not occur on a schedule and cannot possibly be met with that level of staffing. This leaves administrators and teachers as the caring adults standing in the gap. We are asking them to step outside the role they were trained for and address very serious situations such as students threatening self-harm or attending to injuries and immediate health concerns. When I attended one of the highest ranked teacher education schools in the country, at no time did anyone ever prepare me for that. Asking teachers and administrators to fill this gap not only asks them to step into a role they aren't prepared for, it leads to feelings of inefficacy, which is a predictor for burnout. It also diminishes the vital skills and training the professions of social work, counseling, and nursing bring to the table. It assumes that we can somehow 'wing it' without them.
A few LAUSD teachers tell their stories here as to why they are heading out to the picket lines. They are fighting for the conditions that allow for meaningful connections, that inspire deep learning, that create workplace conditions that promote collective self-care, and that provide adequate student supports to address unmet health and mental health needs. The teachers I have worked with in LAUSD are committed, professional, and care deeply about their students and would rather be with them than on strike. But my friends, they are tired; not just tired but exhausted. They have had enough. Regular exposure to vicarious trauma, the daily struggle to stand in the gap of unmet needs, the unreasonable class sizes all take their toll. In a serving profession if our own 'buckets' are empty, we have nothing to give those we serve. It is time to fill the bucket.
I believe that fully funded public schools are the foundation of our democracy and of a healthy economy; as some say 'teaching is the profession on which all other professions rely'. Public education is one of our best weapons in the fight for equity. This strike is about our core values and collective vision for the future of public education. Almost everyone I have ever asked has had a teacher, coach, or principal be that special someone for them — that one human connection that helped them overcome adversity. Now it is our turn to be there for them, to be their champions, to stand with them as they demand schools that foster resilience and nourish the soul.
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