Teachers Are Still Stressed and Underpaid Post-COVID

American teachers are burned out. Stressed out. Nearly one in five shows symptoms of depression. Nearly a quarter say they want to leave their job.

For years now, researchers at RAND have been surveying teachers about their working conditions and well-being. And for years, they have found that teachers work longer hours, earn lower salaries, and report higher levels of job-related stress than other working adults. Three-quarters say they no longer have as much enthusiasm for the job as they once did.

That's not just a problem for teachers. Nothing else that schools do has as lasting an impact on student achievement as teachers do. A good teacher can drive up test scores, increase graduation rates, and set students on a path to higher earnings later in life. But teachers right now are struggling.

“We shouldn't just be concerned about teachers who leave,” said Elizabeth Steiner, a senior policy researcher at RAND. “We also need to pay attention to teachers who stay. There's some evidence that teachers who are experiencing depression or high levels of stress don't give as high-quality assignments or as detailed feedback. What support do those teachers need?”

This school year will be the fifth since COVID emptied classrooms and upended education as we knew it. It's easy to look around, see kids waiting at bus stops, see school parking lots full, and think that everything has returned to normal. But it's becoming clear that normal itself has changed.

Student test scores in math and reading have not recovered. School districts nationwide report lingering staff shortages, especially of substitute and special education teachers. A RAND study last year found that teachers are resigning or retiring at rates several percentage points higher than before COVID. Another RAND survey found that nearly 40 percent of high-poverty school districts are bracing for cuts when COVID-era federal funding expires this year.

RAND's most recent survey provides more evidence that all is not well in American classrooms. Nearly 1,500 public K–12 teachers participated. Nearly a quarter of them said they have difficulty coping with the stress of their job. Sixty percent were burned out. Almost that many said the stress and disappointments of teaching were not worth it. Those numbers have barely budged since the most difficult days of COVID schooling.

The researchers found one possible bright spot. Around 59 percent of teachers said they experience frequent job-related stress. That was nearly twice the rate of similar working adults—but it was down sharply from 78 percent in 2021. Yet even that might not be as positive as it might seem.

“I don't know that we can say that levels of stress have gone down,” said Audra DeRidder, who teaches fifth-grade math and science in Michigan's upper peninsula. “It might just be that we've all evolved and adjusted to dealing with that level of stress as the new normal.”

Black teachers were less likely than White and Hispanic teachers to report high levels of stress or difficulty coping. Other surveys have also found that Black teachers tend to have higher morale and a greater sense of purpose. That's good for students: Previous studies have linked Black teachers and other teachers of color with positive academic, social, and behavioral outcomes for all students.

Yet RAND's survey also found that Black teachers were much more likely to say they intend to leave their job. One likely reason: pay. The average Black teacher reported making a base salary of around $65,000. The average White or Hispanic teacher made around $70,000. The difference could not be explained by years of experience or level of education, researchers found.

The pay gap was even more stark for female teachers. Their average salary was around $68,000. The average male teacher made nearly $10,000 more. And among middle school teachers, the gap was closer to $16,000. Female teachers also reported much higher rates of stress and burnout than did their male colleagues.

Teachers overall reported working more hours in an average week (53) than similar college-educated workers. Most thought they could make more money if they left teaching. The difference between what they think they should make and what they actually do: $16,000.

Around 22 percent of all teachers in the survey said they were somewhat or very likely to leave their job by the end of the school year. Around 17 percent said they planned to leave the profession entirely. That's not necessarily a flashing-red warning of a coming wave of teacher resignations. Previous studies have estimated that around a third of teachers who say they plan to leave actually do so within a year. What it does show, researchers said, is a deep undercurrent of discontent.

“Pay is an important part of how teachers feel about their jobs and whether they decide to stay or go,” policy researcher Sy Doan said. “It's one lever you can pull when thinking about policy solutions. But making the process of teaching more rewarding, more enjoyable, less stressful—these are other things that policymakers should look at to improve conditions for the teaching workforce.”

In fact, the most commonly cited source of stress among teachers in RAND's survey had nothing to do with pay. Forty-five percent of teachers overall—and 66 percent of new teachers—said managing student behavior was the most stressful part of their job. Low pay came in second, followed by administrative work like teacher evaluations. A quarter of the teachers said their top stressor was helping students make up the learning they lost to COVID.

For Audra DeRidder in Michigan, a bad day in the classroom might involve a student getting angry or emotional and throwing over a desk. While she's trying to prepare her class for another round of standardized testing. While parents are second-guessing her decisions about how to teach. She's been a classroom teacher for five years. The word she would use to sum up how she and her colleagues are doing? Tired.

“It's really not the fault of the kids,” she said. “The public school system is not set up to provide the support that some of these kids need. We work with these students every day, because we love our students, but there's just not enough time in the day with all of the other things we're mandated to do.”

“Everyone has a point at which they might have to walk away because it's too stressful,” she added. “I don't always love the day-to-day stress or some of the things that happen. I think you have to recognize that and say there are things about this profession that are physically and mentally draining. But I'm glad I became a teacher. I love teaching.”

That, too, is consistent with what RAND found in its survey. Seventy-two percent of teachers said they were glad they chose teaching as a career. Despite the long hours, the low pay, the stress and the burnout, that number has barely changed in all the years RAND has done its survey.