“In our thirst for accountability, we’ve become micromanagers of a process that can’t be micromanaged,” CEA President Kate Dias told NBC Connecticut’s Mike Hydeck during an appearance on Face the Facts yesterday. She discussed the findings of a recent survey of CEA members that found 74% are more likely to consider retiring or otherwise leaving the profession early.
“At the end of the day, we deal with students, and they’re very diverse. Their needs really differ greatly from child to child,” Dias said. “And when we tie the hands of the educator, we make it impossible for them to meet the needs of their students.”
Nearly all educators surveyed (98%) identified teacher stress and burnout as their top issue, 96% acknowledged staff shortages, and 93% identified the lack of respect for teachers and students’ mental health needs.
“We can’t continue to ask more of the educators in the building. What we really need to do is give them the space and grace to do the good work of teaching, which is what they should be focusing on 100% of the time, as opposed to having to deal with the stressors of paperwork or redrafting curriculum,” said Dias.
Watch Dias on Face the Facts below, and click here for more media coverage of the CEA survey.
