‘It’s not sustainable’: Kansas teachers are facing backbreaking stress amid COVID-19
At first we wondered how long the COVID-19 pandemic might last. Now we have to wonder how long our teachers can.
After being thrust into teaching online last March, and into hybrid remote/in-person instruction this fall — requiring more prep time and new skill sets and methodologies — teachers’ backs are bowing from the crushing weight.
Even as they also carry the same health concerns and anxieties the rest of us do.
“It just becomes an overwhelming situation for our teachers,” says Marcus Baltzell, director of communications for the Kansas National Education Association. “There’s just so much uncertainty. And the additional layers of responsibility, I think, are becoming unsustainable. We’re hearing, ‘This is unsustainable. We’re burning out, here.’”
“I would agree that the workload is just overwhelming,” says Linda Sieck, president of NEA-Shawnee Mission. “Teachers are creating lessons for kids in-person and kids who are remote learning, and then sometimes they’re conducting class with kids in person while other kids are actually joining in via Webex. You are teaching to two different kinds of learning modes simultaneously.”
Imagine that juggling act of preparing for both remote and in-person teaching every day and, in some cases, actually doing both at the same time, with some students in the classroom and others joining by computer. Consider the drudgery of your own Zoom meetings, but spread out for the entire day. Think about all the planning and energy it takes to lead those sessions.
“That just gets to be really mentally challenging to wrap your head around,” Sieck says. “There’s incredible anxiety. There’s anxiety that you are not being the best teacher you can be. There’s anxiety that you’re going to get sick. There’s anxiety that you’re going to bring the illness home to your family or loved ones or that your students are going to be sick.”
“It’s unsustainable,” another KNEA representative, Greg Jones, told the Wichita school board recently. “We don’t think that things can continue as they are.”
While Blue Valley officials — including Blue Valley Education Association President Deb Hotujac — say folks are working well together and holding up under the strain, a lot depends on what the coronavirus does in the weeks and months to come.
“We’re aware that, if that thing turns in a different direction, I think that’s when it becomes unsustainable,” says Eric Punswick, Blue Valley chief human resources officer and former teacher.
“In my 40 years as an educator, this is the most difficult thing we’ve ever had to do,” adds Hotujac. “Trying to balance everything is just so difficult.”
Teachers are working all day, then spending hours at night getting ready for the next day while recording grades and responding to emails and calls.
“You just kind of are holding your breath until you get to Friday, and then you realize you’re spending a very significant part of your weekend either trying to catch up or to plan for the next week or both,” says Sieck. “It’s not sustainable, because our teachers are going to wear out.”
What can be done? Several things.
First, administrations and boards of education must continue doing all they can to help teachers and other school staff get through this. Parents must be patient and understanding — Baltzell says some have pitched fits over wait times for their kids to enter schools due to temperature checks.
The state also must be realistic in its expectations of what teachers can accomplish under these circumstances — and consider backing off a bit on state assessments in the spring. “We’re not hearing anything declarative on that front from the state level. All we hear is, there will be state assessments, and there will be expectations for student growth,” Sieck says.
Most importantly, teachers need to tend to their own health and sensibilities. Sieck says teachers need to be realistic in their own expectations of what they can accomplish. They need to make time for their families, for some fun and for their own self-care, starting with sufficient rest, and then shooting for a specific end to their workday, even if it’s just a two-hour dinner break before doing more work in the evening.
Along those lines, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools is offering a buffet of programs to help staff and their families navigate the pandemic, covering physical and mental health, trauma and resiliency, finances and even a 5k run.
It’s clear there are an unknown number of months remaining in this pandemic, and navigating them will take conscious thought on the part of educators and support staff to manage the juggling and the stress.
“You do wake up kind of panicked,” Sieck says. “You wake up thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, is today really Wednesday and am I ready for Wednesday?’”
Society has always issued platitudes about how they care about teachers. It’s never been more important for that concern to be real and evident.
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 9:35 AM.