© 2026 ABC News

Describing the workload she and other teachers are facing this year, Castillo said, \"I think it's beyond the typical teacher burnout that people talk about. I describe it as trying to come up for air and there's no chance to catch your breath because more and more just keeps coming at you.\"

Shortage likely to continue without support, experts say

Education experts including Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, say they worry what will happen to the education system long-term if teachers are not supported now.

A study conducted by the AFT with the Rand Corp. earlier this year found one in four teachers were considering leaving their job by the end of the school year. Teachers were also more likely to report experiencing frequent job-related stress and symptoms of depression than the general population, according to the study.

\"What COVID has done is exacerbated all the inequalities and the inequities [of education], but teachers will always attempt to do what's asked of them, which covers up some of the inequalities and some of the inequities,\" said Weingarten. \"We need to give them the conditions in which they can teach and kids can learn if we're serious about having kids not only survive past COVID, but get their mojo back and thrive.\"

Kim Anderson, executive director of the National Education Association, says the solution needs to start with better pay for teachers and go beyond that to offer better working conditions and more autonomy and respect for teachers.

\"Delivering a world-class public education to every single student in America requires more than short-term Band-Aids,\" she said. \"It requires a unified, non-politicized, authentic attempt to address the reinforcement of and transformation of one of the most important institutions in our country, and that is our public education system.\"

Anderson pointed to a survey of NEA members conducted in June, before the start of this school year, that found nearly one in three educators said the pandemic was likely to make them leave the profession earlier than expected.

She said now more than ever, America's education system needs more investments in teacher recruitment, preparation, support and compensation.

\"We need mentoring and professional learning communities that are led by educators, for all educators. We need strategic partnerships with teacher preparation programs for new educators, as well,\" she said. \"We need teacher residency programs within school districts to build a long-term pipeline.\"

Nieka Richard, a California teacher who went viral when she posted on TikTok about quitting her role, said she wants people to know how important teachers are and warns what may happen if teachers aren't supported.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nieka | Plus Size Influencer (@nieka_richard)

\"If teachers are stretched really thin, then the education cannot be as robust as it should be,\" said Richard. \"And we as a country are going toward even more detrimental times because people are not properly educated and it starts in the classroom. It starts with the teachers.\"

ABC News' Kaila Nichols contributed to this report.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Living/teachers-find-middle-paid-leave-debate-face-burnout/story?id=80970044","legacySlug":"/living/story/teachers-find-middle-paid-leave-debate-face-burnout-80970044","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"09:00","publishDate":"11-08-2021","updatedTime":"15:52","updatedDate":"11-08-2021","socialImage":{"alt":"Pamela Wilson, a second grade teacher in Washington state, reads to her students.","credit":"Courtesy Pamela Wilson","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/washington-state-2nd-grade-teacher-reading-students-01-ht-llr-211104_1636055916323_hpMain_v5x4_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"11/8/2021 09:00:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":80970044,"headline":"Teachers describe burnout, shortages","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_Teachers describe burnout amid shortage_211104","description":"Every state is facing a teacher shortage, says the Department of Education.","duration":"3:55","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/08/210817_gma_worley_0849_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["69798658","72025883","74612003"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"March 26, 2020","headline":"The sadness is real: An open letter to teachers","section":"family","slug":"/family/story/sadness-real-open-letter-teachers-69798658","id":69798658,"image":{"alt":"The sadness is real: An open letter to teachers","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/back-to-school-02-as-gty-190801_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Skynesher/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 29, 2020","headline":"Teacher's emotional video shows attempt to set up a classroom amid COVID-19","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/teachers-emotional-video-shows-attempt-set-classroom-amid-72025883","id":72025883,"image":{"alt":"Teacher's emotional video shows attempt to set up a classroom amid COVID-19","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/teacher-covid-classroom-ht-MAIN1-np-200729_1596049851455_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Katie OConnor","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"May 4, 2021","headline":"Why teachers are putting stickers on their faces during remote learning ","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/teachers-putting-stickers-faces-remote-learning-74612003","id":74612003,"image":{"alt":"Why teachers are putting stickers on their faces during remote learning ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/teacher-stickers1-ht-ml-201209_1607521867478_hpMain_v12x5_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Courtesy Diane Moon","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Teachers describe burnout, shortages","description":"Every state is facing a teacher shortage, says the Department of Education.","duration":"3:55","uploadDate":"11-08-2021","publication":"11-08-2021","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/08/210817_gma_worley_0849_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/08/210817_gma_worley_0849_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/teachers-find-middle-paid-leave-debate-face-burnout-80970044"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132281378","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132283010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132273278","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132231169","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132206748","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132200241","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054443","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054798","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132033010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131912713","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131830583","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131834976","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554815","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131543053","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131432442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131121474","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131247079","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131228784","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131178806","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:living:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"living","title":"Teachers describe burnout, shortages","pubTime":"04:00","pubDate":"11-08-2021","modTime":"10:52","modDate":"11-08-2021","taxonomyTags":"none","id":80970044,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Teachers describe burnout, shortages","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_Teachers describe burnout amid shortage_211104","videoId":80970044,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/living/story/teachers-find-middle-paid-leave-debate-face-burnout-80970044"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/80970044","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/80970044","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};