By Adam Clark, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
America’s teachers feel over-stressed and under-appreciated, and only about half of them identify as enthusiastic about their jobs, according to a new poll conducted by the American Federation of Teachers.
The survey of more than 30,000 teachers and school employees released Tuesday also reveal teachers primarily blame elected officials and the media and for their anxiety.
“Right now the stress is so staggering and so troubling that what we are seeing is 96 percent of teachers or educators are physically or emotionally exhausted at the end of the day,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said.
The AFT conducted the survey along with the Badass Teachers Association, a group that aims to reduce the use of high stakes testing and increase teacher autonomy in the classroom.
The poll is not scientific, but Weingarten called on the U.S. Department of Education and the The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct a peer-reviewed study of teachers’ working conditions.
“It is an SOS call and a clarion call to do something,” she said. “If we don’t deal with this we will lose a generation of teachers. And if we lose a generation of teachers we will lose a generation of students.”
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