Poll: 77 percent of TX teachers seriously considering changing careers

Hou News by Michael Murney / September 08, 2022 at 04:17PM

A new poll shows a growing morale crisis amongst Texas public school teachers.  REUTERS/Mikala Compton

Nearly 80 percent of public school teachers in Texas are seriously considering changing careers, a new poll found.  

The survey, first reported by the Houston Chronicle's Edward McKinley, was conducted by the Charles Butt Foundation, the philanthropic organization founded by the grandson of H-E-B founder Florence Butt. After collecting responses from a random sample of Texas public school teachers, the Foundation found that 77 percent of all teachers are considering a job change. Seventy-two percent have gone further by taking concrete steps such as preparing resumes and arranging job interviews. 

The Charles Butt Foundation survey aligns with other recent teacher job satisfaction assessments from other organizations that show a ballooning morale crisis among public educators in Texas: The Texas State Teachers Association found in an August poll that around 70 percent of teachers were thinking about quitting, up from the 53 percent who said the same in 2018, the last time the Association conducted its biennial poll.     

The Foundation's own polls from the past few years depict a similar trend: its 2020 poll found that 58 percent of teachers were considering quitting, compared to 68 percent in 2021 and 77 percent in 2022. 

The survey showed that pay is a key contributor to declining morale amongst Texas teachers. Eighty-one percent of teachers statewide say their pay is unfair, compared to 69 percent last year. 

Feelings of being undervalued by the public at large have shot up in the past few years as well, according to the Foundation's polls: 44 percent of Texas teachers felt valued by Texans in general in 2020, while only 17 percent feel the same way in 2022. 

The Foundation also collected responses indicating some potential strategies for keeping teachers from quitting their jobs. Ninety-one percent said a significant bump in salary would be a "very important" factor in their decision-making;  80 percent also said increased input into administrative policy at the school and district levels would encourage them to stay.