Gov. Gary Herbert, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson and Envision Utah CEO Robert Grow wanted to send out a survey asking why licensed teachers are no longer teaching. We were told they are interested in finding out the reason behind teachers no longer teaching.
Heidi Mathews, Utah Education Association president, was quoted saying, “If you don’t change the conditions that forced teachers to leave in the first place, what’s going to entice them to come back?”
I’m stunned they don’t know the answer to this question.
Granted, some teachers leave to have and raise children, move due to a spouse’s job or leave due to health problems. But aside from that, teachers have been saying for decades what is wrong with the system and the reasons they leave. I don’t understand why we as teachers aren’t being listened to. Band-aid fixes continue to be applied, but nothing is really done to address the real issue.
The issue is burnout because of large class sizes.
What teachers are asked to do for as many students as we are asked to do it for, to understate it, is exhausting. A Brookings Report was quoted stating, “There is one full-time teacher in Utah for every 18 students.”
Where? I have taught in two Utah school districts for over 17 years and have had my own children in Utah public schools for 48 combined years and I have never seen a core academic class at that small a number. I currently have 40 students at my school.
For 17 years of my career, I chose to work half-time so I could still have time to spend with my children. One of those years, I tracked how much extra time beyond my paid time I spent doing my job. I was working the equivalent of three extra months for free.
Since I changed to full-time this year, I am seeing a dramatic negative change in my physical and mental well-being, not to mention negative effects on my personal and family life. I tracked for 11 school days how much extra time I was putting in. I work an average of just under 10 hours per day, five days a week doing my job when I’m paid for a seven-hour day.
Don’t get me wrong. I love working with students and helping them learn and succeed. I work hard and I’m good at what I do. But please understand that this extra time does not mean I’m doing anything extra, grand or unique. I’m just trying to keep my head above water. I’m so exhausted doing my job that I don’t think I’ll last the traditional 30 years.
I don’t have words to express the frustration I felt when I heard that “millions of dollars” have been spent on the new RISE test for students. This is part of the problem. Was the previous test so bad as to warrant this amount of money spent on it instead of paying for more teachers?
For a long time, I blamed the Legislature. I have since come to understand that it really is both the Legislature and the public. Everybody wants a better education system, but no one truly wants to pay for what it will take.
Reducing waste would help, of course, but until the burnout issue is effectively addressed, teachers will continue to leave and college students will continue to choose other professions.
Lisa Jolley
Lisa Jolley, Eagle Mountain, teaches K-6 special education in Alpine School District.
