The state is seeing teachers leave their profession due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The numbers are considered alarming. More than half the educators in a recent teacher attrition survey reported by AL.com say they were thinking leaving their jobs. Teachers cited burnout and low pay as major reasons for leaving or wanting to leave. Dr. Karen Spector is an associate professor of English education and literacy at the University of Alabama. She says that there are no quick fixes is this on-going problem.
“Because education is connected to so many other institutions like families, big business, state and local governments, national politics, I mean it’s connected to so many different things. And so easy answers are never going to come,” Spector said.
Spector says one path to a solution is to start at the top with school leaders who work in the trenches at campuses feeling the pinch when it comes to hiring and keeping teachers in the classroom…
“You know your best principals and best administrators are great at bringing everyone together for a common and affirmative purpose. So I think creating a culture of collaboration in the schools instead of top-down mandates is one of the ways that we can re-professionalize education.”
Spector also says that the cost of education and unpaid internships are keeping new teachers away. A similar survey by the National Education Association shows the burn out situation is especially acute in Baldwin County. Recent census data shows the population along the Eastern Shore spiked compared to the previous decade.
