Teachers are leaving the teaching profession because of lack of support and stress.

It’s probably no surprise that many teachers feel a lack of support from their students.  However, they may also need more reinforcement, encouragement and assistance from their co-workers and the people above them (administration).

Last year, former Winter Springs High School teacher, NoahDavid Lein, resigned from teaching at the age of just 32. Lein’s reasoning for why he resigned had to do mainly with the lack of support from the Florida Department of Education.

Lein did an interview with the Orlando Sentinel and stated, “I’m exhausted, I’m bitter, and I’m grasping for something to be hopeful and positive about.”

Lein is not the only teacher to feel this way, in fact, he is actually one of many teachers.

According to Orlando Sentinel “Florida’s attrition rate for new teachers is 15-20 percent higher than the national average, depending on the year.”

How the teachers are feeling can affect students in a negative way.  During this school year, there have been several incidents where teachers and staff have actually been accused of lashing out at students. From the outside looking in, it could seem that students are stressing most of their teachers out, but there could be more.

All students interviewed said that they can tell when their teachers are stressed. The issues they felt led to their teachers’ frustrations were all different. Some said they thought their teachers were stressed because of preparations due to testing, while others said that the students were driving the teachers crazy.

“Although it may seem as though many students aren’t paying attention in class, they’re always able to sense the attitude their teacher may have.” Said WSHS Sophomore  Amya Barahona.

The reality is that many students are able to catch on to their teachers’ attitude. Many teachers feel that the reasoning behind why they may be feeling frustrated is due to the lack of technology and necessary resources for classrooms. This includes WSHS 10^th  grade teacher Ms. Carrie Crowe.

This year Ms. Crowe is teaching five intensive reading classes and two electives.

Crowe stated that she “get[‘s] lots of support from my AP[Assistant Principal Kristi Draus]…but in the State sometimes as a standard teacher it seems that we get less resources and technology”.

Crowe went on to say that “as a teacher it is hard to have so many students, and no technology, it’s hard to get them under control.”

There are no straightforward answers as to why teachers are rapidly leaving and why they are so frustrated, but it’s safe to say that the profession is very difficult, and teacher stress impacts students.