Georgia teachers don’t recommend career in education, survey says

Here are three takeaways from the report:

Teachers carry thousands in student loan debt

The majority of teachers — 66% of all teachers who responded to the survey and 74% who graduated in 2000 or after — have student loan debt. They carry an average of $31,000 in debt. And nearly half teachers who have student loan debt reported difficulty covering living expenses most or all of the time.

Roughly one-third of teachers reported having a second job, with even more taking on extra duties at their job for extra pay.

In recent years, local school districts have created pathways for some teachers to get free degrees. Cobb County has a program that covers the cost of master’s degrees for its existing teachers; DeKalb County started programs for people new to the profession to get master’s degrees in education, or paraprofessionals to get bachelor’s degrees. PAGE recommends that lawmakers restore cancelable loan programs for teachers or consider adding stipends for teachers in high-need fields.

Cellphones are a big problem in high schools

The use of cellphones and social media is a major concern for 47% of educators who responded to the survey. But it’s a huge issue at the high school level, where 85% of respondents reported it as a major concern.

Middle and high school teachers ranked it as their biggest challenge. It outranked chronic absenteeism, bullying, mental health needs and poor academic performance.

That will come to no surprise to the schools in Marietta, Atlanta and DeKalb County that are testing out cellphone bans this year in an effort to curb class time use and keep students focused on academics.

More than half teachers wouldn’t recommend education career

While most educators agreed or somewhat agreed that their jobs are fulfilling, only 21% of teachers said they were likely or very likely to recommend a career in education. More than half said they were very unlikely or unlikely.

It paints a slightly better picture than a 2015 statistic, when 67% of more than 53,000 teachers said in a Georgia Department of Education survey that they were “unlikely” or “very unlikely” to encourage high school graduates to pursue teaching. Georgia later created the Teacher Burnout Task Force, which in 2022 recommended state officials should work to reduce assessment requirements, reduce unrealistic expectations and provide a stable and supportive environment to improve morale for teachers.

Nearly three-quarters of the PAGE survey respondents agreed that their school administrators are supportive, and even more agreed that their colleagues are supportive.