As many schools across the US have resumed classes, the country is confronted with a big issue — a national teacher shortage.
Since March 2020, over 300,000 teachers have quit their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Last week, 12 public school educators told us what made them quit their jobs, which prompted many more teachers in the BuzzFeed Community to share their own horror stories.
Here's what 10 more teachers had to say about their experiences in the field:
1. "I quit teaching after 23 years. I miss it very much, but I don’t miss administration, ridiculous policies, and 24-hour stress."
2. "My mom was a teacher and has many horror stories. She had a parent who expected her to pick up the child, drop them off, buy them school supplies, and 'just give her a granola bar or something.'"
3. "It is a lot of pressure and it’s like carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. We are the ones to blame if a student is not showing progress, misbehaves, or is hungry, etc."
4. "I left education for tech and do not regret it for a minute. I make almost double what I used to (and it's only my first year in the field) and the reduced stress level is beyond compare."
5. "I am starting year 18 as a public HS school English teacher this fall. I have always loved my job because I operate under the mantra of “just shut your classroom door and teach,” but that has become increasingly more difficult each year as the school board and admin cave to pressure and attempt to dictate curriculum and policies that have less to do with what is best for kids and more to do with pleasing parents and politicians."
6. "If I knew of a job that paid the same as what I make, I would quit teaching."
7. "I left after three years because I was tired of getting cussed out by my students every day, tired of the admin who always put it on teachers to deal with consequences for bad behavior, and tired of parents who always backed their kids up and sometimes cussed me out, too."
8. "I left 10 years ago. I had no support from my admin. I didn’t have a classroom (I traveled throughout the day). When I tried to discipline the kids they got sent back. The evaluations were super biased, and to top it all off, I was making $32K. I switched to retail and have no regrets."
9. "I’m in year 19. Admin sucks. No one should be allowed to be a principal if they don’t have at least 15 years in the classroom. Don’t tell me what to do when you were only in the room for six years."
10. "I have taught in Texas for 28 years in Title I schools — over 85% of kids live below the poverty level. I mailed in my retirement papers this weekend. I am 55 years old and thought I would teach until I was 65. COVID broke me — three teachers in my district died."
To read another educator's full perspective on the teacher shortage, check out this interview.