Burnt out: teachers overwhelmed and

resigning
1 image

Amber Riccinto / Daily Commercial

Patricia Hart helps Elisamuel Hortas-Morales with a word problem as she teaches a math lesson to her firstgrade students at Leesburg Elementary School on Thursday in Leesburg.

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By Livi Stanford livi.stanford@dailycommercial.com | Posted 2 days ago

Editors note: A few of the teachers quoted in this story asked that their real names not be
used.
Teaching for more than 15 years in the field, Amanda, had reached her breaking point in
Lake County schools and announced her resignation.
The day-to-day teaching environment was chaotic and unproductive because students were
not held accountable for their actions, she said.
There is a lack of discipline, Amanda said. Administration is scared of parents filing

lawsuits. I have had principals say, If this is what the parent wants, do it. It is not worth the
parent going to the School Board.
At the same time, the work load continued to grow as she was expected to learn new
programs, create curriculums to adhere to the Florida Standards and attend numerous
meetings.
As a result, Amanda said, there was no time for class planning or to speak with parents or to
simply breathe.
It is go, go, go, and before you know it, the period is over and you are still in the middle of
teaching, she said. I was emotionally exhausted.
Oftentimes, Amanda would work hours into the evening to plan lessons for the next day,
while juggling her own parental responsibilities.
Her morale also remained low, she said, because her freedom and creativity in the
classroom has been squashed by excessive testing and an emphasis on drilling students on
the Florida Standards.
The standards have become the main focal point, Amanda said. You have to have them
on your board. The kids have to be able to recite them to an administrator or observing
adult. We need to be teaching kids instead of teaching standards.
Amanda is not alone. Numerous teachers across the country and in Lake County are leaving
the education field because of the implementation of the standards, an impossible work
load and lack of support from administration.
About 30 percent of new teachers flee the profession after just three years and more than
45 percent leave after five, according to the George Lucas Educational Foundation.
Further, a survey of 4,400 current and former public school teachers found about 51 percent
who left teaching in 2012-13 reported their work load was better in their current position
than in teaching, according to the National Center For Education Statistics.
While the retention rate of teachers remains at 97.9 percent in Lake County, the number of
teachers who have resigned has increased in 2015 compared to the previous year by more
than half a percent.
From July 1, 2014, to Nov. 5, 2014, school district documents show 36 teachers resigned. In
the same time period this year, 62 teachers resigned, according to the data.
Data showing resignations for the previous five years were not available.
Since August, seven teachers resigned and one teacher retired from South Lake High School
alone.
While five teachers resigned for personal reasons, according to school district documents,
South Lakes Principal Rob McCue said the majority, with the exception of one, left for other
schools.

McCue said he did not believe there are more demands placed on teachers.
It is different demands, he said. We expect teachers to (require) more rigorous work from
their students. You have to keep up with the demands of the standards so that the students
can be academically successful.
There is a supportive environment for teachers at South Lake, McCue said. For example, he
said he has created more planning time for teachers in testing areas.
But Susan, another Lake County teacher who resigned, did not feel the support of
administration at her school in another part of the county.
The administration is never on campus, she said, adding any time there is a maintenance
issue she has to contact the school district herself to get help.
Any maintenance issue can take weeks to get resolved, Susan said.
I did not have seven lights for several weeks for teaching, she said.
Further, Susan described deplorable conditions in the portables she taught at, where there
was food rotting on the window sills and chairs had no armrests, leaving the metal exposed.
She also said the air ventilation system did not work, causing her to become sick numerous
times.
Like Amanda, Susan spoke of the overwhelming work load.
I never left before dark, she said. I have been there until 2 a.m.
Gabriel Fielder, a teacher at Leesburg High School, spoke of the overwhelming workload put
on teachers by the state.
There is so much jargon, so many acronyms, so much different type of paperwork to keep
up with, that it is nearly impossible to spend any contracted time during the day actually
planning for your class, he said
The lack of motivation from students as they are drilled on the standards also creates
difficulties, Susan said.
The way we are teaching, makes a child hate school, she said.
Stuart Klatte, president of the Lake County Education Association, knows the pressure that
teachers face.
Lake County teaches 300 to 400 hours per year (more) than the state requires, he said.
We have maximized every minute of the school day for student/teacher interaction to the
point some of the elementary schools dont have recess.
Teachers are squeezed beyond their limits, according to Klatte.
They end up spending three to four nights a week grading homework and planning for their

own personal lessons, he said. They come to work an hour before school starts and after
school stay for a parent meeting.
School Board member Marc Dodd said the number of tasks required of teachers has
increased over time.
Yet we have taken free time away from teachers to complete those tasks, he said There is
no question that teachers have been pushed beyond their limits.
Solving the problem is not based on one answer, Dodd added.
One way to provide teachers more planning time is changing the bell schedule, which is
standardized, Dodd said. The standardization takes away an average of 30 minutes a day
for planning time, he said.
Providing support for teachers also is essential, Dodd said.
There is a stigma and perception out there that teachers say if I am the squeaky wheel,
when the administration comes in to observe me, it is going to be an unfavorable
observation, he said.
Leesburg Elementary Principal Patrick Galatowitsch said he understands the frustrations of
teachers.
He currently has four vacancies he cannot fill.
Yes, morale is low, he said. It is difficult right now. We see a silver lining. As we continue
to do the work, if the state stops changing the standards, we are going to see less stress on
teachers. A teacher cant do it (alone). We create opportunities for planning during the
school day for our teachers.
Whats more, Galatowitsch said the state does not support education, which is why teacher
salaries in Florida are among the lowest in the country.
Author
livi

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