Teachers battle burnout amid pandemic
Many nights this fall, Jessica Iannacone hasn’t logged off her computer until 10 or 11 p.m.
The Greenwich science teacher, on staff at Eastern Middle School, has all the normal tests to grade, lessons to plan and questions to answer from her students and parents.
But, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, she also has to rewrite exams and assignments, adapt her curriculum to both her in-person and remote students, upload worksheets to software that she and her colleagues learned for this year, and meet with other staffers via Zoom.
And she has to track down kids who didn’t show up virtually to class, or cut out early, or, perhaps owing to a technical difficulty, haven’t turned their work in.
The additional tasks are cutting into the time Iannocone would normally spend with her family, including her young daughter.
In a strange way she is thankful the pandemic has limited what her family can do.“Thank God ... my family isn’t busy because I have to work a lot on the weekends,” Iannacone said. “We’re not doing a lot of things we normally would so I have a lot of extra time to work.”
The extra hours take a toll. And so, too, do the constant fears of becoming ill and infecting family.
Iannacone isn’t alone. Many teachers in Greenwich and
Stamford described similar circumstances this week. The job has become exhausting, they said, and perhaps not doable for long.
Compounding it all is a feeling that Iannacone and some teachers describe as disrespect. When teachers have asked for better protection, or for a shift to remote learning, the response from the public has often been hostile.
Teachers are called lazy, selfish, overpaid.
Increasingly, teachers are suffering from burnout. Many are contemplating leaving the profession altogether.
A statewide movement
Last week, members of educators’ unions throughout Connecticut gathered in Hartford to deliver a petition to Gov. Ned Lamont outlining concerns.
Specifically, the petition, which had nearly 15,000 signatures as of Saturday, asks for consistent, statewide enforcement of safety measures outlined in the “Safe & Successful Schools Now Report,” which was compiled by a coalition of educators’ unions, and “uniform transparency in reporting and responding to COVID-19 cases.” Barring the satisfaction of those requests, the petition calls for remote schooling.
The petition was signed by members of the Connecticut Education Association — of which the Greenwich Education Association and Stamford Education Association are local affiliates — and the AFT CT, among others.
“Many of our members — and many of their students — are scared, frustrated and anxious,” said Jan Hochadel, president of AFT CT.
CEA President Jeff Leake said he fears early retirements and resignations might become prevalent. A National Education Association survey of its teachers, quoted in the New York Times, found that nearly 30 percent of teachers are considering leaving.
“Without a doubt I hear about teacher burnout and I’m nervous about it,” Leake said. “What we don’t want to do now, especially as we go forward the next couple years, is lose the experience of our teachers.”
Walking a tight rope
This school year, more than others, has been a balancing act, not just for teachers, but for school administrators.
“You’re leading a school district where you’re trying to balance providing students with a quality education, while making sure you have a healthy and safe environment for staff,” Stamford Superintendent of Schools Tamu Lucero said Friday. “And you want to be able to do both.”
There is data suggesting that students are relatively safe in school, and support from the state for school buildings to remain open. There also are studies highlighting academic risks posed to students, especially those from vulnerable populations, by remote learning. On the other hand, the safety concerns of staff and teachers are legitimate, Lucero said, and the claims of extra work caused by the pandemic — not just for teachers, but all educators — are not contested, at least internally.
On Friday, citing staffing challenges, Lucero announced the district would close for a month beginning Dec. 21, with an eye toward reopening Jan. 19.
Prior to the decision, Lucero said the district had implemented additional professional development days, shifted to a hybrid model to allow for distancing in school and shortened the school year by three days. Through its insurance provider, the district has also instituted “Mindful Mondays.” Staff can virtually access mindful, stress-releasing resources. On Thursdays, employees have access to free virtual yoga and Pilates classes. And COVID testing is available to Stamford Public Schools staff Tuesdays and Thursdays, Lucero said.
Greenwich Board of Education Chair Peter Bernstein noted that the district had implemented occasional early release days, designed to give staff and students a break, and had added professional development. He also said there had been, and continues to be, regular dialogue between the administration and staff about how to “support optimal teaching and learning as we navigate these time.”
Greenwich Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones also noted the professional development days the district added.
“Teaching in a pandemic is incredibly difficult, and our teachers, administrators, custodians, food service workers, and entire staff are working harder than ever ... and they are tired,” Jones said. “We are all looking forward to the December break, which will provide us all some respite.”
The insults teachers described — that they’ve been lazy, selfish or opportunistic during the pandemic — are wholly unfounded, Lucero said.
“I don’t think that that’s a fair description of the teachers in Stamford,” Lucero said. “I think we have very hard-working people who want to do the best for our children. Whether or not they want to be remote or hybrid, I never question the wonderful work they do with children. ... It disappoints me that anyone would describe them that way.”
A problem of mutual exclusivity
Teachers are anticipating the upcoming break. But there is another half of the school year around the corner and no immediate end to the pandemic in sight. Morale, teachers and union leaders agreed, is low.
“Teachers are tired and worried,” said Carol Sutton, president of the GEA. “Worried about the health and well-bring of their school families and their own families, worried about whether they are doing enough for their students even as they put in longer hours than ever, and worried about the longterm impact of pandemic education.”
Lori Mulligan, a Greenwich High School math teacher, said some weeks she’s worked as many as 85 or 90 hours, much of the time spent rewriting lessons to fit a virtual format. Barbara Freedman, a music teacher at Greenwich High, said persistent confusion about the district’s contact tracing policy and poor communication has led to teachers feeling “deceived and lied to.” And insufficient training on virtual teaching methods has left educators to founder at home, or in a classroom with both in-person and remote students, Freedman said.
Tracy Faricker, a special education teacher at Toquam School in Stamford, said the district has often given safety instructions that can’t reasonably be implemented. She is told, for instance, to maintain six feet distance from her students. But in her small, windowless room, such expectations are not realistic. The job, by nature, requires her to defy the precautions set by administrators who, she suspects, are slightly out-of-touch with the daily struggles faced by teachers.
“Everyone’s exhausted, I’ve never seen it like this, when you pass people in the halls, they just sort of groan at each other,” Faricker said. “It’s like no one can think anymore, it’s really bizarre. It’s an overwhelming sadness that’s going on. People feel very defeated.”
Stephanie Cahill, an English teacher at Stamford’s Westhill High School, said she’s felt ridiculed for voicing her concerns. On top of the health fears she has about being in school, the public’s response to teachers’ concerns amounts to a form of emotional abuse, she said.
“Essentially, we’re made to feel like we’re not allowed to be concerned,” Cahill said.
Many — though not all — of the roughly 20 teachers interviewed for this story advocated closing school buildings during the pandemic. But universally, they said they wanted the challenges posed to them by the coronavirus crisis acknowledged and addressed.
Joy Colon, a special education teacher at Stamford’s Academy of Information & Technology, said not since her first year teaching has she worked as many hours as she’s logged this year.
Colon said she loves her job and values her health. Like many, she’s struggling with the idea that the prioritization of those two things might be mutually exclusive during a pandemic.
“I love what I do, I love my students,” Colon said. “I never imagined we’d be in a position where the love of what I do and my love of the students comes in direct conflict with my safety.”