What Worries Educators Most? It Depends on Their Jobs

Those who work in education aren’t exactly sleeping soundly these days.

There are a host of challenges facing K-12 schools that can keep educators awake at night—but what, exactly, they are losing sleep over varies a lot based on their job titles.

The EdWeek Research Center recently asked a nationally representative group of teachers, principals, and district leaders to share their thoughts on this question: “What’s the one thing that’s work-related that is keeping you up at night right now?”

From there, the research center categorized their answers and ranked the 10 most common responses for each of the three groups.

The results give insights into how common trends and challenges in education this year are affecting educators differently. For example, several issues, such as politics and student behavior and discipline, weighed much more heavily on teachers than school and district leaders.

You can read about the top worries of teachers, principals, and district leaders and see how those concerns rank in this series of articles:

District leaders were more likely than principals and teachers to say that the divisive political climate, including state and national politics, was a top concern. A North Carolina superintendent wrote that the No. 1 concern is the “vilification of public education and a clear message that it will be dismantled unless we change course.”

Meanwhile, issues related to student behavior and discipline were far more likely to be the problem most likely keeping teachers up at night compared with district leaders. Twenty-one percent of teachers said this was a top stressor for them, compared with 16 percent of principals, and 9 percent of district leaders.

“Student social and mental health issues are destroying the classroom,” said a middle school special education teacher in California. “They act like they do not know how to behave—no manners or empathy. … I lose sleep over the future of our nation.”

The following chart compares the percentages of teachers, principals, and district leaders who indicated a particular challenge was the one most keeping them up at night.

The largest discrepancy among educators was in the area of school funding, resources, and staffing: 33 percent of district leaders and 27 percent of principals said this is the No.1 reason they lose sleep at night, compared with 7 percent of teachers.

“With the way politics are going, it is getting harder and harder to staff classrooms with qualified educators,” said an elementary principal from Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, “all of the new laws that are being passed and no way to fund them” is what keeps an elementary principal in Utah awake at night.

However, there were areas of alignment among the three groups. For example, they seem to be on the same page that they do not worry too much about curriculum and standards. That’s not to say educators aren’t worried about those things, but few teachers, principals, or district leaders ranked curriculum and standards as the No. 1 issue keeping them up at night.