Evidence is mounting to show that the nation’s K-12 teachers are facing increasing workloads and other issues that are leading to their unhappiness and decisions to leave the profession. A September poll by the Wall Street Journal indicates school teachers across the country are generally unhappy as a result of student behavior, low pay, high work expectations, and issues caused by A.I. and cellphones in classrooms. A recent poll of Texas teachers by the Charles Butt Foundation indicates Texas teachers face similar challenges.
According to the Texas poll, 91% of teachers in the state said they also need help to “manage the amount of non-instructional tasks and responsibilities” including lesson plan preparation, while 85% said they need “a schedule with more planning time.”
A report by Pew Research found that the practice of “overextending work hours” has contributed to “teacher burnout” and the high attrition rates of teachers leaving the profession.
Teachers say they have insufficient instructional time due to competing tasks, like lesson-planning, that contribute to their workload, according to an article on the issue in EdSurge. According to the article, teachers receive about 45 minutes of planning time on average, and only on a few days a week.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in a recent interview that this dynamic requires Texas teachers to spend nights and weekends prepping student lesson plans.
Research by Texas 2036, a non-profit research institute in Texas, found that teacher turnover has been “trending upwards” and hit a historic high of 13% in the 2022-23 school year.
In response to the concerns raised by teachers and to address declining performance in Texas schools, the Texas legislature passed House Bill 1605 during the 88th Legislative Session.
The bill, authored by a bipartisan group led by House Public Education Chairman Brad Buckley (HD-54) and Senator Brandon Creighton (SD-4), instructed the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to create “high-quality materials,” including textbooks and other instructional materials, to be made available to Texas teachers. The new materials are optional for teachers, who can also modify them. TEA says the materials are intended to help teachers with lesson plan preparation, and to improve student learning in Texas.
The materials, known as Bluebonnet Learning, are going through a review process before TEA asks for final approval by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). TEA says that the materials have been “built using the best evidence from cognitive science to ensure teachers have access to high-quality, on-grade-level materials, freeing up teacher time to provide the highest quality instruction and differentiated support for students.”
The materials cannot be made available until they have been approved by the SBOE, which is expected to vote on the materials at its November board meeting.
