Nearly 65% of Texas teachers said they were seriously considering leaving the education profession at the end of the 2023-24 school year.
In a recent survey conducted by the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA), two-thirds of Longhorn State teachers were so fed up that they were ready to quit teaching once and for all. The study, conducted online by 840 teachers from urban, suburban, and rural school districts, was conducted by the TSTA in partnership with Sam Houston State University. The average classroom experience of respondents was 16.7 years.
“I don’t know how many of these teachers actually quit or retired early because their responses were anonymous,” TSTA President Ovidia Molina said in a press release. “But I fear many of them have left the classroom or will be leaving the classroom soon if our state leaders don’t start supporting public education and educators and stop making political attacks against schools.”
Molina was likely referring to the groundswell of support school choice has been gaining in Texas in recent years, a policy that many Republican lawmakers have been championing due to the poor student achievement outcomes and perceived politicization of curricula at school districts all over the state, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
A bloc of Republican lawmakers in the Texas House worked with Democrats to kill school choice legislation last year, a move that prompted Gov. Greg Abbott to back their challengers last primary season. Polling shows that school choice is widely popular across most demographics in the Lone Star State.
The teacher survey has been conducted every two years for the past 40 years. The past two surveys recorded the highest-ever percentage of Texas teachers seriously considering leaving the profession.
Teachers who responded to the survey were paid an average salary of $62,553. According to the National Education Association, the average Texas teacher salary for the 2023-24 school year was $62,463, while the national average teacher salary is $71,699.
One-third of the surveyed teachers said they were forced to take extra jobs during the school year to make ends meet. Those teachers spent an average of 13.5 hours per week working their extra jobs while spending the same hours outside the classroom each week on school-related work.
The majority of teachers with extra jobs — 74% — said they believe the additional work hurts the quality of their teaching but that the extra income was necessary. Additionally, 52% of surveyed teachers worked summer jobs.
Per the study, Texas teachers spent an average of $856 per year out-of-pocket for school supplies and $405 a month for health insurance.
The study comes after the Texas Legislature failed to increase state funding for education or raise educator pay despite a record $33 billion budget surplus. The measure had been tied to a school choice proposal, which Democrats and the anti-school choice Republicans in the House worked to spike.
According to the TSTA, Texas spends less per public school student than most states, and teacher pay trails the national average by more than $9,000, making it the largest salary gap for Texas teachers in recent history.
When asked whether legislators and Texas leaders have a positive opinion of them, 36% of surveyed teachers disagreed, 51% strongly disagreed, and only 4% strongly agreed.
When asked whether the public has a positive opinion of teachers, 37% of the respondents disagreed, 19% strongly disagreed, while only 22% agreed or strongly agreed.
Additionally, 88% of teachers disagreed or strongly disagreed that a student examination should be a part of a teacher’s evaluation.