Lisa Johnson
© Provided by Edmonton Journal Alberta Teachers’ Association
president Jason Schilling.
A new survey suggests the number of Alberta teachers planning to leave the profession for another job next year has more than doubled.
A summary of a pandemic pulse survey from the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) conducted at the end of November suggests more than 37 per cent of respondents reported they probably won’t be teaching in Alberta next year.
Compared to an annual member opinion survey done last March, the number of teachers planning to retire was similar, at 16 per cent, but the percentage who said they are leaving for another job has doubled, increasing to 14 per cent. Seven per cent said they plan to leave the province to teach elsewhere.
ATA president Jason Schilling said in an interview Tuesday the numbers reflect what he’s already heard from teachers, some of whom plan to retire early because they are being asked to do more with the bare minimum, which is “stretching everything.”
“They feel like this government doesn’t care about them, and they feel like this government doesn’t support the work that they’re doing in the middle of a pandemic,” said Schilling, adding the percentage of teachers who continue to feel high levels of exhaustion, stress and anxiety after two years of the pandemic is worrisome.
Ninety-two per cent of respondents reported exhaustion, while 88 per cent reported high stress. The ATA said its survey provides a representative sample of more than 1,300 teachers and school leaders, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent 19 times out of 20.
Katherine Stavropoulos, press secretary to Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, questioned the validity of the survey’s findings in a statement Tuesday. However, she said the ministry recognizes the past two years of the pandemic have been challenging.
“We continue to explore options to attract and retain teachers and teacher leaders to Alberta schools and look forward to sharing more information when it is available,” said Stavropoulos.
At a news conference Tuesday, NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman blamed the results of the survey on the UCP government’s refusal to give schools the resources they need.
Sue Bell, a recently retired Edmonton principal and teacher who worked in schools for almost 30 years, said at the NDP news conference she felt forced to leave the job to preserve her own physical and mental health.
“The breaking point began last year around Sept. 20 or so when we had to take on the job of contact tracing at schools because, from that point on, I did not have a day off until we went online in December. I was on call 24 hours a day – no switching off, no downtime,” said Bell.
The survey suggests more than 80 per cent of school leaders have had to do contact tracing for COVID-19, but only 22 per cent said they felt comfortable doing that work.
“The absolute lack of support this government has given schools during COVID has really made it difficult to be a teacher in this province right now,” Bell said, adding that mental health issues are a serious concern, and sending students back to school is not enough to support their mental health.
lijohnson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/reportrix
A new survey suggests the number of Alberta teachers planning to leave the profession for another job next year has more than doubled.
A summary of a pandemic pulse survey from the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) conducted at the end of November suggests more than 37 per cent of respondents reported they probably won’t be teaching in Alberta next year.
Compared to an annual member opinion survey done last March, the number of teachers planning to retire was similar, at 16 per cent, but the percentage who said they are leaving for another job has doubled, increasing to 14 per cent. Seven per cent said they plan to leave the province to teach elsewhere.
ATA president Jason Schilling said in an interview Tuesday the numbers reflect what he’s already heard from teachers, some of whom plan to retire early because they are being asked to do more with the bare minimum, which is “stretching everything.”
“They feel like this government doesn’t care about them, and they feel like this government doesn’t support the work that they’re doing in the middle of a pandemic,” said Schilling, adding the percentage of teachers who continue to feel high levels of exhaustion, stress and anxiety after two years of the pandemic is worrisome.
Ninety-two per cent of respondents reported exhaustion, while 88 per cent reported high stress. The ATA said its survey provides a representative sample of more than 1,300 teachers and school leaders, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent 19 times out of 20.
Katherine Stavropoulos, press secretary to Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, questioned the validity of the survey’s findings in a statement Tuesday. However, she said the ministry recognizes the past two years of the pandemic have been challenging.
“We continue to explore options to attract and retain teachers and teacher leaders to Alberta schools and look forward to sharing more information when it is available,” said Stavropoulos.
At a news conference Tuesday, NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman blamed the results of the survey on the UCP government’s refusal to give schools the resources they need.
Sue Bell, a recently retired Edmonton principal and teacher who worked in schools for almost 30 years, said at the NDP news conference she felt forced to leave the job to preserve her own physical and mental health.
“The breaking point began last year around Sept. 20 or so when we had to take on the job of contact tracing at schools because, from that point on, I did not have a day off until we went online in December. I was on call 24 hours a day – no switching off, no downtime,” said Bell.
The survey suggests more than 80 per cent of school leaders have had to do contact tracing for COVID-19, but only 22 per cent said they felt comfortable doing that work.
“The absolute lack of support this government has given schools during COVID has really made it difficult to be a teacher in this province right now,” Bell said, adding that mental health issues are a serious concern, and sending students back to school is not enough to support their mental health.
lijohnson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/reportrix
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