Mississippi First Releases Pivotal Report on Teacher Turnover
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mississippi First
Krystal Cormack
Director of Communications
krystal@mississippifirst.org
601.398.9008
Jackson, Mississippi—Today, Mississippi First released its newest report, The Weight They Carry: Life as a Teacher in Mississippi, an analysis of the conditions shaping Mississippi teachers’ day-to-day experiences and their decisions about whether to remain in the classroom. Based on survey responses from nearly 1,000 Mississippi teachers across more than 120 districts and charter schools, the report examines the cumulative pressures teachers face and how those pressures are driving the state’s ongoing teacher shortage.
While much of the public conversation around teacher shortages focuses on pay, The Weight They Carry finds that compensation is only part of a broader set of challenges. Teachers consistently point to overwhelming workloads, student behavior concerns, and unstable or unsupportive school leadership as major contributors to burnout and attrition risk. Together, these factors create a profession that many educators describe as unsustainable.
“This report makes clear that Mississippi’s teacher shortage is not just about recruiting more educators into the profession, but is also about whether the conditions of the job make it possible for them to stay,” said Grace Breazeale, Director of K-12 Policy at Mississippi First. “Teachers are carrying an enormous weight every day. If we want experienced, effective educators to remain in our classrooms, we must take seriously the realities of their working conditions and respond with policies and practices that reduce that burden.”
What Teachers Are Carrying
The report highlights several interconnected challenges facing Mississippi teachers, including:
- Compensation pressures, which have become increasingly acute in recent years, given high inflation, increasing health insurance costs, and the lack of statewide teacher pay raises.
- Unmanageable workloads that do not account for the amount of time in the school day.
- Student behavior challenges, which have worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic.
- School leadership, which strongly influences whether teachers feel supported, respected, and able to succeed in their roles.
Who Is Most at Risk
Using survey data and statistical analysis, the report identifies groups of teachers who face heightened risk of leaving their positions:
- Early-career teachers, who experience intense workload demands with limited support.
- Teachers in school districts with low salary supplements, which pay teachers a lower amount for doing the same job as teachers in other, wealthier school districts.
- Teachers in high-poverty school districts, where staffing shortages, student needs, and leadership instability are often most acute.
Policy Recommendations
The Weight They Carry calls for a more comprehensive approach to teacher retention, including:
- Improving teacher compensation through an across-the-board salary increase and redesigning school staffing models to allow opportunities for teachers to be promoted within the profession.
- Reducing workload and time burdens by implementing practices that cut unnecessary tasks and allow teachers to focus on teaching.
- Strengthening school leadership pipelines to improve leadership quality and stability, particularly in high-need schools.
- Expanding access to student behavior supports so teachers are not asked to manage complex challenges alone.
Mississippi First plans to continue this work by further examining workload, leadership, and student behavior in future research projects.
The full report, The Weight They Carry: Life as a Teacher in Mississippi, is available at mississippifirst.org.
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