Lecturers nonetheless really feel overworked and underpaid, however some indicators counsel issues could also be slowly enhancing.
A nationally consultant survey from the RAND Company launched June 24 revealed that whereas academics proceed to obtain decrease pay and really feel extra burnout than adults in different professions, the share of academics reporting burnout has declined.
The share of academics intending to go away their jobs fell to 16%—a six-point drop from final yr. Nonetheless, Black academics stay much more more likely to say they plan to go away than white academics, and so they report decrease pay and extra signs of despair than their white counterparts.
Ashley Woo, an affiliate coverage researcher with RAND who has labored on this annual survey since its 2021 launch, stated that the disparities in intention to go away the career increase “loads of considerations.” Analysis exhibits that every one college students, particularly Black college students, profit from having Black academics, Woo famous.
“Not everybody who says that they’re more likely to go away is definitely going to go away,” Woo stated. “Despite the fact that it’s not essentially an indicator of attrition, I believe it’s an indicator of potential attrition and in addition simply basic dissatisfaction.”
The survey, carried out between January and early March this yr, gathered responses from over 1,400 Ok-12 academics and 500 equally employed adults—outlined as bachelor’s diploma holders, ages 18–65, working full-time in different fields.
The findings come amid ongoing considerations over instructor burnout, retention challenges, and stagnant pay.
Racial and gender pay gaps persist
On common, Black academics earned $4,400 lower than white academics, and feminine academics earned $7,000 lower than male academics. The racial pay hole persevered even after controlling for years of expertise, gender, and schooling degree.
“One of many causes that we see this sort of racial disparity is probably due to how Black academics are geographically distributed,” Woo stated.
One seemingly contributor: Black academics usually tend to reside in states that prohibit collective bargaining. Their salaries are almost 30% decrease than academics in states that require collective bargaining.
Whereas Black academics make up 6% of public college academics nationwide, they account for as much as 20% of academics in some Southern states—similar to Georgia and North Carolina—that prohibit collective bargaining, based on a 2024 report from RAND.
Lecturers in states that prohibit collective bargaining additionally reported decrease pay raises, RAND reported.
Black academics have been additionally much less more likely to say that their pay was ample. Nonetheless, their intent to go away decreased seven proportion factors from final yr.
Three research cited within the report counsel that low pay and dissatisfaction—greater than well-being—drive Black academics’ increased intent to go away. In truth, Black academics usually reported comparable or higher well-being than their friends.
Whereas low pay will be the major issue, Woo famous that different elements, similar to working situations, additionally affect instructor retention. Faculties want to make sure academics are pretty compensated and adequately supported, she added.
The 2024 Schooling Week State of Instructing survey discovered that Black academics reported the very best morale of any racial group, but in addition labored extra hours and have been much less more likely to see themselves as profession educators.
RAND discovered that Hispanic academics additionally confirmed a better intent to go away than white academics, in line with their decrease well-being throughout each measure.
Low pay drives stress and attrition
Throughout all teams, instructor base salaries elevated barely from final yr. The common pay reached $73,000—nonetheless about $30,000 lower than equally educated working adults. This so-called “instructor pay penalty” has widened over the previous a number of a long time.
The rising hole is partly on account of smaller pay raises. Lecturers obtained a mean enhance of $2,000—about 3%—barely outpacing 2024’s 2.9% inflation fee.
In the meantime, many districts are struggling to pay academics to financially compensate them for participation in grant-funded applications on account of federal funding cuts.
Low pay stays a major stressor, together with pupil conduct, low salaries, administrative work, supporting college students’ psychological well being, and dealing past instructor contract hours.
For varsity leaders, Woo emphasised the significance of serving to academics full their work inside contracted hours. Greater than 80% of academics work past their contracted hours, averaging 10 additional hours per week—but solely half have been happy with their workload.
If academics spend much less time on unpaid labor, Woo stated they’ll “deal with the core elements of their job.”
Trainer burnout has decreased, however continues to be worse than different jobs
The share of academics reporting burnout fell from 60% in 2024 to 53% this yr. However stress and despair signs remained largely unchanged, and extra academics reported frequent job-related stress.
In a 2024 working paper from Brown College, researchers instructed that the educating career is in its worst state in 50 years. Nonetheless, the 2025 Schooling Week State of Instructing survey and different surveys counsel instructor well-being has stabilized since 2023.
Lecturers proceed to fare worse than different working adults on all 4 well-being measures, a pattern that has persevered in recent times.
Decrease well-being is intently linked to increased intent to go away, Woo stated.
Feminine academics—who make up the vast majority of the educator workforce—reported decrease well-being than male academics on three of 4 metrics. RAND plans to review these persistent gender disparities in upcoming analysis.
