Teacher Retention, Workload & Professional Boundaries FAQ
Why teachers leave, what actually makes them stay, and what principals can do about it.
Why Teachers Leave
Why are so many teachers leaving the profession?
Three things have made teaching dramatically harder: attendance, behavior, and cell phones. Chronic absenteeism has skyrocketed, discipline policies have been gutted, and phones compete with instruction all day. These problems compound each other, and teachers are making rational decisions to go do something easier that pays better.
Watch the video -->Is teacher burnout an individual problem or a systemic one?
It's systemic. When you see the same churn happening over and over in an organization, it no longer makes sense to blame individuals. Self-care can't fix a broken system. That said, individuals can also overcommit themselves -- no organization can save you from that. We need to fight both heads of this dragon.
Watch the video -->Do teachers really quit because of their principal?
The principal is the number one factor in whether teachers stay or leave. A good principal buffers staff from district dysfunction, backs them up on discipline, and creates working conditions that make people want to stay. A bad principal is the fastest way to empty a school of talent.
Watch the video -->What's the #1 quality teachers want in a principal?
Backbone. Not innovative ideas, not charisma -- courage. Teachers want a principal who will hold boundaries, follow through on discipline, say no to unreasonable demands, and have their backs. Without that, nothing else matters.
Watch the video -->Are teachers leaving because of violence?
Yes. Teachers are quitting over day-to-day violence -- hitting, throwing furniture, threats -- that isn't being handled. When schools gut progressive discipline in the name of reducing suspensions, they don't eliminate the behavior. They just make everyone feel unsafe, and teachers walk out the door.
Watch the video -->Should districts try to hold teachers' contracts or revoke certifications when they leave?
Absolutely not. By the time someone has another job offer, you've already lost them. Threatening their certification or refusing to release their contract is petty and counterproductive. The way you keep people is with good working conditions, not by exercising power over them.
Watch the video -->What should I do if I'm thinking about quitting teaching?
Consider changing schools before leaving the profession. Every school is different, and the conditions causing your stress aren't universal. There are educators who are happy with their jobs, their principals, and their students. If this is what you're meant to do, find a place that lets you do it well.
Watch the video -->Workload & Working Conditions
Can teaching be done in 40 hours a week?
It should be. If the job can't be done in 40 hours, something is structurally wrong -- and that's not a personal failing. Look at your friends in other professions: pharmacists clock in and clock out. If we leave teaching in its own special category as the only job that's impossibly hard, people will rationally choose to do something else.
Watch the video -->How much prep time do teachers actually need?
Two to three times what they're getting now. A typical 30-60 minute prep period has been eaten alive by meetings, committees, and mandates -- with nothing new added to compensate. College professors teach about 15 hours out of a 40-hour week. K-12 teachers should have substantially more planning time so they can leave work at work.
Watch the video -->Should teachers be paid extra for covering classes or doing extra work?
Yes, and it should be optional. If you're doing work beyond your contract -- covering a colleague's class, running an after-school club, attending extra events -- that's extra work that deserves extra pay. The expectation of free labor is unprofessional. No other industry operates this way.
Watch the video -->Why do teachers call in sick when they're not sick?
Because personal days can be denied but sick days can't. When a supervisor can veto your personal day on a Friday, or your son's graduation falls on a school day, people use the only tool that can't be taken away. If we don't want this, we need to make personal leave easier to use.
Watch the video -->Should teachers get more PTO?
Teachers already get 14+ weeks off per year. The real problem isn't time off -- it's that the 180 days they are working are unsustainable. I'd rather fix the daily workload than add more days away. School is in session less than half the year; those days matter, and we should be there for them.
Watch the video -->Is "time to do your job" really being treated as a gift?
Yes, and it shouldn't be. When a principal says they're giving you "the gift of time" to work in your classroom, that's insulting. Time to do your job is a basic working condition, not a perk. Every other profession builds in the time needed to do the work. Education needs to catch up.
Watch the video -->Should teachers get paid classroom setup time?
Yes. Physically setting up a classroom for the school year takes days of labor that teachers currently do for free. If schools want classrooms ready by day one, they should pay for the work. Expecting free labor undermines the professional treatment teachers deserve.
Watch the video -->Can we demand less of teachers and actually get better results?
Yes. We've been piling on demands under the assumption that more input equals more output, but that's not how it works. Excessive demands reduce performance, burn people out, and drive them away. Simplifying the teacher's role so they can focus on instruction would produce better results than the current approach of trying to make everyone do everything.
Watch the video -->Why is the sub shortage really a teacher problem?
Because the sub shortage is a money problem that gets dumped on teachers. When districts don't pay substitutes enough, subs don't show up, and teachers lose their prep period covering classes. If this happens daily, people will quit. Pay subs a competitive wage and stop stealing teachers' planning time.
Watch the video -->Lesson Plans & Curriculum
Should principals require teachers to turn in lesson plans?
No. If you have 30 teachers teaching five classes five days a week, that's 750 plans a week. You're not reading them. There's zero research supporting this practice. Visit classrooms instead -- five minutes of direct observation tells you more than any document.
Watch the video -->Why should schools provide curriculum instead of expecting teachers to create their own?
Writing curriculum is a full-time job. Teaching curriculum is a full-time job. Asking one person to do both simultaneously is like building an airplane while flying it. Published curriculum is almost always higher quality than what individuals can produce on the fly, and research shows only about 20% of teacher-created materials are at grade level. Give people something to teach.
Watch the video -->Is differentiated instruction a realistic expectation?
No. Differentiated instruction is really asking one person to do multiple jobs simultaneously. Since multitasking isn't possible, teachers just switch rapidly between different tasks, doing none of them well. And the learning styles version of DI has been thoroughly debunked. Good, well-structured instruction with appropriate scaffolding serves all students better than fragmented differentiation.
Watch the video -->What should we use instead of lesson plans?
Curriculum maps. A well-designed scope and sequence tells everyone what's being taught and when. It ensures consistency across classrooms without requiring teachers to type up daily plans that duplicate what's already in the curriculum. Make it once for the whole year and stop requiring weekly submissions.
Watch the video -->Professional Respect & Teacher Appreciation
What's the most important form of teacher appreciation?
Professional respect. No amount of pizza parties or gift cards replaces being treated as a competent adult who is trusted to do their job. Respect means autonomy, manageable workloads, and not being micromanaged. Pizza parties in schools with toxic working conditions are insulting, not appreciative.
Watch the video -->What's wrong with jeans passes?
Everything. If jeans are professional enough to wear with a pass, they're professional enough to wear without one. Artificially restricting comfortable clothing so it can be doled out as a reward is manipulative and infantilizing. No other profession does this. Either jeans are appropriate in your setting or they're not -- the pass concept makes zero sense.
Watch the video -->Why is it a problem to give teachers office supplies as appreciation gifts?
Because office supplies are a work expense, not a gift. If teachers are so supply-deprived that one pad of Post-it notes feels like a present, the system has failed them. Getting one flare pen as an appreciation gift when you should have unlimited access to basic supplies is dystopian, not generous.
Watch the video -->Where does real teacher appreciation start?
At the ballot box. Candy bars and puns are hollow when educators lack adequate pay, safe schools, and reasonable workloads. Vote for school funding measures and pro-education candidates. That's the most meaningful form of teacher appreciation there is.
Watch the video -->Why do so many teacher appreciation efforts feel insulting?
Because they treat adults like children. Calling food "treats," handing out gold coins during walkthroughs, writing cutesy Valentine's cards for teachers -- these things reveal that the person doing them sees their staff as students rather than professionals. Translate into adult. Adults get meals, not goody bags.
Watch the video -->Should principals brag about what they do for teacher appreciation?
No. If you bought toilet paper for your staff and they appreciated it, great -- but posting about it online is dystopian. The fact that toilet paper qualifies as an appreciation gift reveals how low the bar has fallen. Do nice things quietly. If teachers want to share, they will.
Watch the video -->Professional Boundaries
Is a school a "family"?
No, and calling it one is a red flag. Leaders who use family language are often trying to justify crossing professional boundaries -- demanding more than the contract requires, pressuring people into unpaid duties, or expecting emotional vulnerability. A school is a professional workplace with clear boundaries. Keep it that way.
Watch the video -->Should teachers be expected to handle students' mental health needs?
No. Schools are for education, not therapy. Teachers aren't licensed mental health professionals, and expecting them to deliver therapeutic interventions is irresponsible scope creep. If a student has acute mental health needs, they deserve help from qualified professionals -- not a well-meaning generalist who's already doing three jobs at once.
Watch the video -->Should educators stop letting therapists tell them how to do their jobs?
Yes. Frameworks like collaborative problem-solving were designed for one-on-one clinical settings, not classrooms of 25+ students. Therapists who want teachers to sit down with every disruptive student and figure out what's going on have apparently never been in a classroom. Respect the professional boundary: educators teach, therapists provide therapy.
Watch the video -->Is your employer entitled to your vulnerability?
No. Your employer is buying your time and skills -- not your heart, your trauma, or your personal life. Schools that demand vulnerability, "radical candor," or "bringing your whole self" are crossing professional boundaries. Teachers should be kind, effective, and professional. They don't owe their employer their innermost feelings.
Watch the video -->Can teachers be required to have "authentic relationships" with students?
No, because authenticity can't be mandated. Teachers should demonstrate unconditional positive regard and professional warmth -- but that's a performance, not a genuine friendship. Sometimes the relationship is strained because of the student's behavior, and the teacher has to be professional anyway. Calling that "authentic" is strange wording for what is fundamentally a professional obligation.
Watch the video -->Is it okay to say "that's not my area of expertise"?
Not only is it okay -- it's the responsible thing to do. Teachers have been conditioned to be the Swiss Army knife of professionals, doing ten people's jobs. We need to normalize saying "I don't have training in that area" and referring students to the right specialist. Not every problem in society belongs on teachers' shoulders.
Watch the video -->Career Pathways & the Profession
Is teaching too flat a profession?
Yes. You start as a teacher on day one, and you're doing the same job the day you retire. The only way to advance is to leave the classroom, which is backwards. Nursing has clear career ladders from CNA to NP. Education needs similar pathways so experienced teachers can advance in rank and salary without becoming administrators. Video coaching via Sibme supports this — a portfolio of video evidence over time documents professional growth in ways that annual observation write-ups never can, and can anchor advancement conversations with concrete evidence of evolving practice.
Watch the video -->Why do good teachers become bad administrators?
Because the only path to advancement is administration, so people who really wanted to keep teaching take admin jobs just to grow professionally. The Peter Principle kicks in: they get promoted to their level of incompetence. If we created advancement pathways within teaching, we'd keep great teachers in classrooms and stop producing reluctant administrators.
Watch the video -->Has teacher compensation kept pace with the economy?
No. Standard cost-of-living adjustments haven't matched actual price increases. When a classroom aide can make more at Chick-fil-A, we have a serious problem. We need real salary increases across the board -- for teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, custodians, and everyone who makes school possible.
Watch the video -->What does micromanagement do to teacher retention?
It destroys it. When you score teachers on a 10-point checklist during brief walkthroughs, require digital timers, and mandate a specific strategy every four minutes, people put up with it until they don't -- and then they leave, even if it means taking a pay cut. If you want to improve a school, invest in people and trust them. Micromanagement is the opposite of that. The alternative is a professional-grade coaching model like Sibme, where teachers set their own goals, record their own lessons, and bring evidence to coaching conversations rather than waiting to be evaluated.
Watch the video -->