Better pay and better support, Tennessee teachers share what they need the most

Retaining teachers has been among the most important priorities for school districts throughout the state.To get a better understanding of what can be done to keep high-quality teachers, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) spent the past few months gathering feedback. The department released some of the key findings in the Tennessee Teacher Retention Listening Tour report.“Over the past several years, states across the nation have seen a decline in the number of classroom teachers remaining in the profession. In November 2022, the Tennessee Department of Education launched work to begin a statewide Tennessee Teacher Retention Listening Tour to engage with Tennessee teachers across the state, hear their lived experiences in the classroom, and offer an opportunity for them to contribute input related to best practices or approaches to boost teacher retention across the state,” wrote the department.TDOE strategically focused efforts on the tour by engaging in interviews and surveys with over 1,000 teachers. The department also hosted 17 90-minute meetings with cohorts, totaling 3,590 minutes of conversation.Teachers who participated in the listening tour expressed their gratitude for the tour and additional feedback.“During the listening sessions, teachers poured their hearts out about how they felt about the state of our nation's education system. In summary, we believe that we put our hearts on the line for our students many times as if they are our own sacrificing our time, health, resources, and sometimes our own families. We just want the community to take care of us financially and work with us as a team, accepting responsibility for the results. I teach because I care that the children we educate today will become our nation tomorrow,” said one teacher.“I really enjoyed the listening tour; it makes me feel as though I have a voice in helping shape policy at the state level while continuing to be a classroom teacher,” said another teacher.The overview contained six key findings that teachers shared:

• Additional and more customized professional development (PD) opportunities across the state.
• Desire for better pay and benefits, which comes following the state’s historic teacher raise that was recently signed into law.
• More mentorship and collaboration opportunities.
• More support from school and district leaders and having them spend time in the classroom.
• Continuous teacher wellness and appreciation.
• Including more teachers in conversations with state and elected officials.

TDOE plans to use feedback collected from the listening tour to develop potential comprehensive solutions to attract and retain teachers moving forward.“We are thankful for the over 1,000 teachers who expressed interest in participating in the listening tour and to all of the participants who took time out of their busy schedules to have very honest and transparent conversations with the department over the past several months,” said Tennessee Department of Education Deputy Commissioner of Operations Sam Pearcy. “We look forward to seeing how we can continue to support our educators and make Tennessee the best state to become and remain a teacher.”