North Texas teachers say lack of respect is driving them to quit: "The disrespect is real"
To see our extended report and interview with these former teachers, click here.
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — The pay is low. The work never ends. The stress can overwhelm you.
To get to the bottom of why a record number of teachers in Texas are leaving the profession, though, we found six North Texas teachers who quit within the last year to ask.
"It's the disrespect. The disrespect is real," said Myrianne Gable.
Traditionally a career reserved for women, teaching has historically come with less pay and less prestige than many other careers.
"When I was in college getting my bachelor's, I remember people saying, 'What are you in college for?' 'Elementary ed.' And they're like, 'Oh, those who can't, teach.' I got that a lot," recalled Aimee Rodenroth.
"It has to be seen as a respected profession. Just like a doctor or a lawyer. And if you think about it, we wouldn't have doctors or lawyers if we didn't have teachers," said Missi Crossley.
While the disrespect isn't new, these teachers say the disrespect they experience has, in recent years, grown much worse.
"It's the negative public propaganda against us. Are we indoctrinating people? I mean…" said Amy Schmidt.
"If I could indoctrinate students, they would show up on time every day. They would speak politely to me and the other students. They would do all of their work on time," said Megan Jackson.
As school board battles over masks, books, and diversity have heated up, teachers have become a political target.
"I have literally had people in my face screaming at me for being a teacher and how we're so greedy and we're doing all these horrible things to kids. But all I was doing was putting aside my life, my family, my friends, to give to these kids," said Jackson.
But, where is it all coming from? School districts, school boards, state leaders? Parents?
"It starts at home," said Derrick Spencer. "I'll give you an example. At the previous school I was at. Field day? Thousands of parents. I'm talking about packed house. You couldn't find parking spaces. But parent conference meetings? Calls all day long, nobody answers. Maybe three or four of the same parents."
"I somewhat agree with that, but on the other end…" said Jackson. "We have to be a community that actually understands an educated society makes us all better. If you're complaining about the cashier at the grocery store not understanding how to count your change, then you better be at that school, supporting those teachers, supporting those students, and you better be looking at the people you're electing and whether or not they support education."
These teachers say it's demoralizing the way state leaders talk about their profession.
"It's degrading. I mean, hello, you're our public...you're out there in the news saying that. How do you think that affects everybody?" said Crossley.
"I think it's the way a lot of politicians look at the profession. During COVID, even close family members say, 'Oh man, you guys are just glorified babysitters,' and that's offensive. Especially when you're trying to teach and you're trying to make a difference. But I think that's how a lot of politicians look at this field," said Spencer.
All that disrespect, they say, can even translate into physical violence.
A study by the American Psychological Association found 14% of teachers reported having been physically attacked by a student.
"My last year teaching—I had been out on leave twice for being attacked by students. One I had six months of physical therapy for," said Jackson. "And, I still wanted to be there. I still want to be with those kids. I still want to be with [them] today...It's just that the system not only doesn't work for us, it doesn't work for them."
"It just bothers me because we signed up to this. I did this because I love numbers. I love teaching kids numbers...It hurts me to know she was attacked. I've heard about my coworkers being attacked. Personally, myself, that was my last straw," said Gable.
To attract and retain more teachers, this group says the community and the leaders it elects need to start listening.
"Smaller classrooms, better pay, more support in the classroom," said Schmidt. "I think we're highly qualified to do our jobs. Let us do it. But give us the things we need."
All of these former teachers miss their kids, and they wonder who will be left to teach them.
"The kids made me stay so long," said Gable. "I wanted them to feel like they have someone in their corner."
"Will someone else be there? And that's hard. It's hard to walk away from that," said Jackson.
