(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Several teachers took to national television on Teacher Appreciation Day to sound the alarm about the national teacher shortage, particularly as partisan politics continue to invade the education system.
According to Fox News, teachers Brook Ooten, Daniel Buck and Ramona Bessinger discussed matters of classroom politics and discipline and how they pertain to teachers leaving their jobs.
“Three-quarters of U.S. states now report that they are short on teachers,” said Ooten, a New York elementary school teacher. “We have teachers leaving the profession in droves and I think that puts a lot of stress on the teachers that are in the classroom teaching. They’re not as well staffed, classes are overcrowded, and that’s a big stressor on teachers today.”
Buck argued that the movements away from proper discipline of students also hurt teachers, as they school administrators and overbearing parents continually tie teachers up in red tape.
“There’s kind of a trend away from discipline, from standard punishments, consequences, and behavior is worsening across the country, and it’s affecting everything else in education, including teacher morale,” he said.
School districts across the nation are struggling to fill teaching positions since the pandemic, reportedly resulting from burnout and lack of certainty regarding their positions.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 44% of public schools report having full or part-time faculty vacancies. The survey also reported that 61% of schools attributed the vacancies to the COVID pandemic, as many teachers left their positions, as opposed to retiring.
Bessinger, a high school teacher in Rhode Island, suggested that partisan politics infiltrating school curricula is a primary reason for the teacher exodus.
“Teachers are being forced to adhere to these political ideologies in the classroom and contrary to what their personal beliefs are and contrary to what is even right or true,” she explained. “For example, this anti-American content that we’re seeing, this anti-girl, anti-boy content that we’re seeing.”
She explained that the moral dilemma is causing many teachers to simply opt out and leave their positions altogether.
“Sometimes they just elect to leave the profession or they’re pushed out, quite frankly, harassed and bullied,” Bessinger said.
