Dear Commons Community,

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher… has been conducted annually since 1984.  The survey explores how teachers, parents and schools are working together to promote student learning and healthy development in the context of reduced budgets, reallocation of resources, and continued attention to improving teaching and learning. The latest survey was conducted in November 2011 and the results were released yesterday.

Among the major findings from this latest survey:

“teachers are less satisfied with their careers and that in the past two years there has been a significant decline in teachers’ satisfaction with their profession. In one of the most dramatic findings of the report, teacher satisfaction has decreased by 15 points since the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher measured job satisfaction two years ago, now reaching the lowest level of job satisfaction seen in the survey series in more than two decades…

This decline in teacher satisfaction is coupled with large increases in the number of teachers who indicate that they are likely to leave teaching for another occupation and in the number who do not feel their jobs are secure.”

The MetLife Report is required reading for anyone interested in the state of American education.  And congratulations to all the federal, state and local education policymakers who have contributed to this demoralization.

Tony

http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/american-teacher/MetLife-Teacher-Survey-2011.pdf