State of Texas: Low Pay and Greater Expectations Have Texas Teachers Singing the Blues

While school was out this summer, teachers across Texas were sounding off about why their jobs have become so hard. Years of high-stakes testing, chronic under-funding and news stories about failing schools have made classrooms an especially thankless place to work. Last year, the Texas Legislature commissioned a survey to get teachers’ honest opinions about their jobs. Fewer than a fifth of the state’s teachers bothered to reply—a signal, some unions said, of just how deep teachers’ mistrust for lawmakers runs.

Sources: Texas Education Agency, Dallas Morning News, TELL Texas Survey, and National Center for Education Statistics.

Illustration by Joanna Wojtkowiak