Teacher burnout drives many from profession + CSBA urges Newsom to sign teacher housing bill

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

NEW CTA REPORT FINDS TEACHER RETENTION IS A TOP CHALLENGE

A new California Teachers Association survey finds that burnout is a top problem for the state’s teachers, with many considering leaving their job or even education entirely.

This summer the CTA surveyed more than 4,600 members, from transitional kindergarten to 12th grade, as well as former and aspiring teachers.

Respondents said that burnout from stress — driven by heavy workload, low pay, student apathy, behavioral issues and the lack of support from administrators — is the top reason they are considering leaving teaching. Political attacks ranked second.

Four out of 10 current teachers said that they are considering leaving the classroom and possibly even education entirely, while one in five said that they will likely leave the profession in the next three years.

Teachers 55 and older are the most inclined to leave , though more than one-third of younger teachers had a similar outlook, according to the survey.

LGBTQ teachers and teachers of color said that they have experienced discrimination and do not feel comfortable expressing themselves.

Survey respondents offered a variety of solutions to address the problem of burnout.

What’s the solution?

“Current and former teachers’ top priority for state and local officials is better pay,” according to the survey’s executive summary. Second-tier priorities are all the above-mentioned factors fueling stress.

CSBA URGES NEWSOM TO SIGN AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR TEACHERS BILL

This Friday marks the deadline for Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign or veto legislation, and he still has a number of high-profile bills sitting on his desk.

AB 2295, by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, would empower school districts to develop surplus school property into teacher housing by removing administrative barriers and shortening the timeline for local educational agencies to build.

“Teacher quality has the greatest impact on student achievement of any on-campus factor, and support staff are essential to the proper functioning of schools. So, it’s essential that we pursue measures to attract and retain a high-quality education workforce,” said California School Boards Association President Susan Heredia in a statement. “AB 2295 facilitates this goal by making it easier for faculty and classified staff to live close to the schools and in the communities they serve.”

Assemblyman Bloom said in a statement that teachers and staff are leaving the profession because of skyrocketing living costs and stagnant salaries.

“We are hemorrhaging talented teachers, which ultimately negatively impacts the quality of a public education for our kids. We can do better,” Bloom said.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Fascism gaining power in Italy... after global pandemic... are we really redoing this whole greatest atrocities of the 20th century thing? If common sense isn’t enough, history should teach us how imperative it is to readily fight fascism and explicitly adopt anti-fascist policies & strategies.”

- Assemblyman Alex Lee, D-San Jose, via Twitter.

Best of The Bee:

• Mental health therapists rejected Kaiser Permanente’s latest contract offer by a vote of 1,349 to 222, opting to remain out on strike rather than accept what they described as incremental changes that will not remedy patients’ long waits for treatment, via Cathie Anderson.

• No elected official delivers all that’s been promised, and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s record is filled with hits (creation of a sanctuary state for abortion) and certain misses (3.5 million new homes by 2025). Some goals (eliminating child poverty and abolishing chronic homelessness) were never truly attainable to begin with, at least not in a single, four-year term, via Maggie Angst.

• Strict rules for hiring and promotion tend to shut out apprenticeships from California government employment, but one state employee union has made the arrangements work, ushering employees into higher-paying jobs, via Wes Venteicher.

• The Bay Area Receivership Group operates around Northern California to repair blighted properties at the request of city governments, including Sacramento. The company is supposed to return homes to their owners after fixing the code violations, but its fees can grow so high that the homeowner cannot afford to pay them, according to people whose properties went into receivership. The situation can result in BARG selling the house to pay its own bill, and the homeowner receiving little to no profit. The company is operating in a little-regulated field — and business is growing, via Theresa Clift.