Are teachers leaving in droves because of pandemic conditions?

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“Is it true that teachers are resigning because of teaching conditions during the pandemic?”

There’s no question that more teachers have resigned or retired this year than last year or the previous year. In Broward over the past six months, there have been 665 “separations,” which would include retirements, resignations, terminations or leaves of absence. The previous year there were

428, and the year before that, 540. That’s out of about 14,000 total on the force.

The largest category in Broward during this year of COVID-19 was retirements, with 340. But 93 said they got a new teaching position, 14 were dissatisfied with pay or working conditions, 60 relocated and 143 called their reasons “personal.”

Palm Beach County has also had a higher than normal number of resignations and retirements in the first six months of this school year, totaling 473, up from 268 the previous year and 350 the year before that. The district has 13,240 instructors.

It’s been a tough year for teachers all over the country, and tensions have been mounting, especially in Broward, where teachers on Jan. 7 filed a lawsuit to allow 1,700 with severe medical conditions to continue to work from home.

Students learning from home allow teachers the opportunity to work from home, but the school district is trying to get students to return to school buildings and says they need more teachers in classrooms, thus creating an ongoing conflict that may not abate until we are done with this pandemic.

“My child’s elementary school teacher said the kids might all have to return in person for standardized tests. We are online only because we don’t want to get sick. I refuse to send my children back until we have a vaccine, and it’s not looking like we’ll have one in time for the FSA test scheduled in a couple months. What gives? Entire classes are being quarantined at my school in Coral Springs and they have the nerve to THINK about us coming back? For a test?” — Broward parent

It’s clear that parents of students learning at home don’t want to send their kids back to school buildings to take the state standardized tests that are given each spring. But at the moment, the state Education Department says they must come back.

According to the Broward school district: “Current guidance from the Florida Department of Education indicates that state examinations, including FSA and End-of-Course exams, will require students to be at school for the examination administration.”

The state says the Florida Statewide Assessments, which measure student progress in core subjects, will proceed in April and May as scheduled. But a protest movement against in-person exams seems to be building: Organizers objecting to in-school tests for the state’s 250,000 English language learners are getting signatures for a petition to be sent to Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. Those exams are scheduled for Jan. 25 to March 19.

In the meantime, there aren’t many options for families who want to avoid re-entering a school building. Students with disabilities can take alternative tests, or check with the Opt Out Florida Network, which opposes standardized exams, for their suggestions.

“A teacher at South Broward High was caught watching porn during my daughter’s class. She informed me he is still teaching, with the only change being he is being monitored. How is it possible he still has a job? What kind of message does that give the kids in his class as well as the school?” — David McElwee, Dania Beach

Students and teachers have been reporting lots of unexpected intrusions during class now that so much learning is online.

That includes pornography, which students or even teachers can stream in through the Internet.

In this case, a Global Perspectives and Research class at

South Broward was interrupted in December by the sound of a woman screaming in ecstasy.

Two videos, widely circulated on Twitter, show the teacher looking down without a clear reaction while the sounds are heard.

The Broward school district reviewed the case and cleared the teacher, according to the district’s communications office.

“When school leaders were made aware of the alleged incident during a virtual class, they took immediate actions to investigate the situation,” the district said. “The incident was also reported to the District’s Special Investigative Unit. Following a review, there was no evidence to substantiate the accusations.”