AUSTIN, Texas — Almost two-thirds of Texas teachers seriously considered leaving education for good at the end of the 2023-24 school year, a new survey found.
The Texas State Teachers Association surveyed 840 teacher members of its organization as part of a study in collaboration with Sam Houston State University. The survey found that 65% of teachers considered leaving the profession last spring, according to a press release from the association.
The survey responses are anonymous, making it difficult to track how many of these teachers actually quit, Ovidia Molina, president of the Texas State Teachers Association, said in the release. The findings indicate that teachers are unhappy with the political climate and attitudes toward public education, the release states.
"I fear many of them have left the classroom or will be leaving the classroom soon if our state leaders don’t start supporting public education and educators and stop making political attacks against schools,” Molina said.
About 87% of the teachers surveyed reported disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with the statement that "legislators and other state leaders have a positive opinion of them," the release states. Just 4% of teachers felt that politicians had positive opinions of them.
Just over half of respondents, 57%, did not think the public has a positive opinion of teachers.
Sam Houston State University has been gauging the sentiments of Texas teachers for 40 years, the release states. Surveys in 2022 and 2023 found the highest-ever percentage of teachers seriously considering leaving education for other jobs, according to the association.
The average Texas teacher earns $62,463, trailing the national average by $9,000, the release states. The state has not boosted its basic budget allotment for public schools since 2019, forcing districts across North Texas to make changes to staffing, class sizes and program offerings, WFAA found.
The survey also measured the number of teachers who take extra jobs during the school year to make ends meet. One-third, 33%, of surveyed teachers took extra jobs during the school year, spending an average of 13.5 hours per week on their jobs.
Of the teachers with a second school-year job, 74% believed it hurt the quality of their teaching, but the income was necessary, the release states.
The survey is conducted every two years, and the responding teachers work in urban, suburban and rural school districts with an average classroom experience of 16.7 years, according to the release.
