Teachers have a notoriously hard, demanding job, and it’s no surprise that some of their work-related concerns keep them up at night.
But what, exactly, are the biggest stressors for teachers? To find out, the EdWeek Research Center asked a nationally representative sample of teachers to share what keeps them up at night in an open-ended survey question. From there, the research center analyzed all their responses and ranked them by theme.
Their answers show that while they’re worried about things like school funding and academic standards, teachers’ biggest concerns are directly tied to whether they and their students can show up to class ready to teach and learn.
Following is the official ranking of what is keeping teachers awake at night in 2024.
It’s no surprise that the materials and policies that determine what teachers must include in their lessons—and that teachers often complain they have little say in choosing—made the list. What, exactly, is being taught in public schools continues to be a major front in the culture wars, likely adding to educators’ anxiety over this area.
Student achievement and learning is, by the definition of their jobs, teachers’ primary concern. While every era and generation has brought unique challenges, the pandemic was an unprecedented shock to the education system that severely stunted students’ academic progress.
More than a year after the World Health Organization declared an end to the global public health emergency, many students are still lagging behind where they should be, and federal resources to address the issue are drying up.
When parents are engaged in their kids’ education, it can improve students’ academic achievement and motivation, research has found. So, it’s no surprise that parents being disengaged or unsupportive is a concern to teachers.
But many teachers also reported feeling like parents don’t respect them as professionals or value the importance of schooling. Specifically, several educators indicated in their responses that they wish parents were more involved in addressing behavioral issues with their children.
While several educators complained about poor leadership in general, many expressed frustration specifically over their administrators not backing them when they faced challenges related to parents and students.
“There have been multiple incidents with parents/guardians, students, or both that I have reported to my principal with no action being taken,” said a middle school English/language arts teacher in Iowa. “I reported an incident involving hateful destruction of my property in my classroom by a student and was told that there would be consequences, but there were none, and I teach that student again this year.”
“It seems like the students and parents have more rights and voice than the teachers and staff,” said a fine arts teacher in Florida.
School funding, the resources available, and staffing are three issues that greatly affect teachers’ day-to-day work, but teachers have little control over these areas—a frustrating combination, to say the least.
And as pandemic-era federal funding winds down, and teacher shortages, especially in hard-to-staff subjects and locales, remain persistent, these issues will likely be keeping teachers up for quite some time.
Heated debates over how—or whether—race, religion, gender, and sexuality can be taught or discussed in public schools have been raging across U.S. communities, with teachers perpetually stuck at the center of the storm. Plus, a growing political focus on “parents’ rights” and private school choice policies have left some teachers feeling villainized.
Teacher pay is a long-standing pain point for the profession, especially as inflation has driven up the prices of some essential goods. Half of teachers said in a survey by the RAND Corp. this year that their base pay is inadequate given their role and work responsibilities. Teachers make less than peers in other professions with similar levels of education, and nearly 1 in 5 teachers hold second jobs to supplement their salaries.
Pay is also a major reason why so many Americans—60 percent—said in a PDK International poll this year that they don’t want their children to become teachers. (A lack of student discipline was the second-most cited reason.) Teachers largely agree. Only 21 percent would recommend a career in K-12 teaching to their own children or the children of a close family member or friend, according to the EdWeek Research Center’s State of Teaching survey.
Rates of chronic absenteeism—commonly defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days for excused or unexcused reasons—have soared after the pandemic. Teachers are constantly competing with cellphones and social media for students’ attention in class. And, although the poor state of youth mental health is showing some signs of improvement, it’s still concerning, health experts say, with the U.S. surgeon general labeling it the “crisis of our time” last year.
This toxic mix of challenges makes teaching and learning nearly impossible, teachers tell the EdWeek Research Center again and again in its regular national surveys of educators.
Many of the issues that teachers said keep them up at night ultimately feed into this one: Trying to get students—many of whom are struggling with mental health challenges—to make up for lost academic time, often without support from parents, administrators, and policymakers, drives up teachers’ workloads and stress levels.
That’s not to mention other pressures and new responsibilities, such as changing academic standards, fast-evolving technology, the growing population of English learners, tricky social issues, and the edict to tailor instruction to a wide range of student abilities. The demands on teachers are high—and so are the stakes.
Another lingering and pernicious effect of the pandemic is the decline in students’ behavior and social skills—a problem many educators feel is exacerbated by students’ cellphone and social media use. In a Pew Research Center survey from last spring, half of teachers said their students’ behavior was “fair” to “poor.”
Said a middle school special education teacher in California: “As a teacher, our work does not stop when the bell rings. Student social and mental health issues are destroying the classroom. They act like they do not know how to behave—no manners or empathy. ... I lose sleep over the future of our nation.”
Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.
