INEQUITABLE CAUSES AND EFFECTS: Teacher Burnout and Care
INEQUITABLE CAUSES AND EFFECTS:
Teacher Burnout and Care By Alexander Rohrer ABSTRACT
Teachers have been leaving the profession (attrition) at alarmingly high rates, especially in recent years. What causes even greater alarm is the disproportionately high rate at which teachers of color are leaving the field. In Pennsylvania, Black teachers have the highest attrition rate with over 15% leaving the field as compared to Hispanic teachers (10%) and White teachers (6%). Teacher attrition is a critical challenge facing the education system, as classrooms need to be staffed to provide quality instruction to students, and staffing turnover is a costly endeavor for school districts. A root cause associated with teacher attrition is burnout, relating to teacher mental health. Upon investigation, care for teachers experiencing burnout is inequitable, with mental health providers mirroring the educational sector with predominantly White professionals providing care. Those engaging in mental health care often seek out professionals who share characteristics with them, including race and gender. However, with not enough mental healthcare professionals of color, a disparity emerges and further limits their ability to seek care in the same way that White individuals do. It is critical to diversify the teaching profession through retention of teachers of color, as the benefits extend to all students, regardless of racial/ethnic identity.
Attention has been brought to the challenge of teachers leaving the field (attrition), but the issue becomes even more concerning in terms of which teachers are leaving at the highest rates. When examining teacher burnout, inequitable causes and effects and subsequent care emerge as a specific area in need of discussion and action. Dr. Ed Fuller (2023) of Penn State studied teacher attrition in Pennsylvania and indicated the statewide teacher attrition rate, a metric that measures the number of teachers leaving the field, was the highest ever recorded in 2022-2023 at 7.7%. In 2023, approximately 9,500 teachers left the profession statewide. The mid-state region has some of the highest teacher attrition rates in the Commonwealth, with York, Lancaster, and Franklin Counties at 6.2% or above. Dauphin County surpasses the state average (6.7%), at a rate of 7.3%. The foregoing rates are in stark contrast to those in counties such as Mercer (4.7%) and Lawrence (4.1%). Black teachers have the highest attrition rate (over 15%) of all teachers, with Hispanic, Asian American, and Pacific Islander rates over 10% (Fuller, 2023). These rates are greater than those of White teachers, at approximately 6%. Moreover, districts with more than 65% students of color had double the teacher turnover rate of districts with less than 35% students of color. The School District of Lancaster (2024) has a student population consisting of over 77% students identifying as either Hispanic or Black. Alternatively, Mercer Area School District (in Mercer County, Pennsylvania) has a student population consisting of approximately 2.4% identifying as Hispanic or Black (U.S. News & World Report, 2024). Lancaster County’s teacher attrition rate was 6.3% as compared to Mercer County’s rate of 4.7% (Fuller, 2023). Higher diversity indexes indicate a greater population of persons of color. Therefore, diversity within each of these counties needs to be considered. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2020), Dauphin County had a diversity index of 58%, with Lancaster County at 35%. This is in contrast to Mercer and Lawrence Counties whose diversity indexes were 22.6% and 21.9%, respectively. Why does diversity within the teaching profession matter? Consider the power of students of color seeing themselves in their educators. In a 2016 report, Stuart Wells and colleagues discussed how diversity in the classroom benefits all students regardless of their backgrounds by expanding perspectives and offering increased critical thinking skills. Additionally, it specifically benefits students of color academically and encourages them to pursue pathways in education themselves (Stuart Wells et al., 2016). Teacher attrition, or when teachers leave their profession, is an important issue because schools need enough teachers in the classroom to provide quality instruction to students. Teachers leaving at high rates can impact student academic achievement and be costly to school districts that constantly have to find replacements (Ronfeldt et al., 2013). The American Psychological Association defines burnout as “physical, emotional or mental exhaustion, accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and negative attitudes towards oneself and others” (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). In order to address the challenge of teacher attrition, the root causes of teachers, especially people of color, leaving the profession must be investigated. Burnout has been associated with working more than one’s scheduled hours and feelings of inadequate salaries (Doan et al., 2024), among other things such as mental health (Marken & Agrawal, 2022). A 2022 Gallup Poll found K-12 educators had the highest burnout level (reported “always” or “very often” feel burned out at work) at 44%, which is much higher than the average of all other industries (30%) (Marken & Agrawal, 2022). Doan and colleagues (2024) reported an even higher burnout level for teachers (60%) compared to the general population of working adults (45%) or those with a bachelor’s degree and working 35 hours per week E n g a g e for C h a n g e | S P R I N G 2 0 2 5
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