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50% of teachers surveyed say they’ve considered quitting, blaming pay, stress and lack of respect


By Abigail Hess, CNBC

From West Virginia to California, teachers across the U.S. have mounted large-scale strikes in recent years, demanding higher pay, better working conditions and better learning conditions for their students.

A report released this week captures just how extreme their frustrations have become. Half of teachers surveyed say they have recently considered quitting teaching.

PDK International, a professional association for educators, polled 2,389 American adults, including 1,083 parents of school-age children and 556 public school teachers — 50% of those 556 teachers say they have considered leaving the profession.

This is the 51st year PDK has conducted the survey but this is the first year teachers have been asked about their plans to quit. Joan Richardson, who oversaw the poll, says it’s clear that the teaching profession is becoming less attractive to Americans.

“We ask parents whether they want their children to become teachers and when we started asking that question in 1969 there was good support from parents for having their children enter the teaching profession,” she tells CNBC Make It. “But when we asked the same question in 2018, for the first time, a majority of parents said they did not want their children to become teachers.”

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