By Elizabeth D. Steiner, Heather Schwartz, and Melissa Kay Diliberti, The 74, August 8, 2022
Schools have been trying to return to normal after three years of closures, disruption and setbacks, so it’s no surprise that the pandemic has taken a toll on educators’ morale.
Yet, thus far, public school educators nationally have not left their jobs at notably higher rates than before the pandemic began. Even so, poor morale among educators is concerning. Given how many teachers enter the profession through social networks, poor morale among today’s educators might dissuade tomorrow’s from entering the field. This sets up possible future teacher shortages in an already thin market. Moreover, teachers who are stressed out are absent often, and educator burnout can harm student achievement. Together, these factors could hamper students’ efforts to recover from pandemic-related disruptions to schooling.
But not all educators’ morale has been equally affected by the pandemic. In our nationally representative American Educator Panel surveys, morale has significantly declined among principals and teachers throughout the pandemic — but not among superintendents. As of spring 2022, 85% of superintendents said that, considering everything, they are satisfied with their jobs. Eighty-seven percent feel valued, despite most saying their job is getting harder. In contrast, only 44% of teachers and 60% of principals feel the stress and disappointments of their job are worth it—satisfaction levels far below what they were before the pandemic began.
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