Nearly half of U.S. teachers say this is the most stressful school year of their careers, signaling a tipping point for support needed beyond Teacher Appreciation Week this year
Toronto, May 5, 2025: As Teacher Appreciation Week begins, new survey data from Prodigy Education (“Prodigy”) reveals that America’s K-12 educators are more stressed than ever –– with many considering leaving the profession altogether.
The Teacher Stress Survey, which polled more than 800 K-12 educators across the U.S., found that nearly half of teachers (45%) view the 2024-25 school year as the most stressful of their careers. The surveyed educators were also three times more likely to say that the 2024-25 school year has been the hardest compared to 2020 –– when they had to teach during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Student behavior challenges (58%), low compensation (44%) and administrative demands (28%) are driving teacher burnout and turnover at alarming rates. Public school teachers were more likely to report stress from unrealistic workloads, large class sizes, school safety concerns and student behavior issues than their private school counterparts.
“Teacher Appreciation Week is a powerful moment to recognize and celebrate educators, but our findings show that appreciation alone isn’t enough,” said Dr. Josh Prieur, Director of Education Enablement at Prodigy Education and former assistant principal in the U.S. public school system.
“The fact that stress levels for so many teachers have exceeded those of the pandemic era should be a wake-up call. Teachers need tangible, meaningful and sustained support alongside our appreciation –– and not just this week, but every week of the year.”
Additional key findings from Prodigy’s Teacher Stress Survey include:
- The vast majority of teachers (95%) are experiencing some level of stress, with more than two-thirds (68%) reporting moderate to very high stress. K-5 teachers were the most likely to feel extremely/very stressed (33%). Sixty-three percent of teachers report that their current stress levels are higher than when they first started teaching.
- Nearly one in 10 teachers surveyed (9%) are planning to leave the profession this year, while nearly one in four (23%) are actively thinking about it. A third of teachers do not expect to be teaching three years from now, likely because nearly half (48%) of teachers don’t feel appreciated for the work that they do.
- Teachers are finding ways to prioritize their well-being, but time limits and job pressures often get in the way. Seventy-eight percent of teachers say they actively make time for self-care, but nearly half (43%) feel guilty for spending time on self-care and 78% have skipped self-care due to work demands. Implementing school-provided self-care perks and mandatory self-care breaks would appeal to teachers, with 85% and 76% taking advantage of each benefit, respectively.
- Top solutions that would reduce teachers’ stress include a higher salary (59%), a four-day school week (33%), stronger classroom discipline policies (32%) and smaller class sizes (25%). Public school teachers were more likely to prefer a shorter week, while private school educators opted for higher pay.
“Teacher Appreciation Week should serve as the starting point for building systems that show we value teachers’ time, talent, and well-being,” said Dr. Prieur. “Districts can do this by investing in tools that reduce the burden on teachers, prioritizing time for self-care and implementing policies that reinforce teachers’ value as an ongoing commitment to bettering the profession.”
Prodigy is the leading math platform for teachers in the United States, used by more than 800,000 educators and 20 million students a year. Prodigy delivers unrivaled free access to a game-based learning platform with standards-aligned Math (for 1st to 8th grades) and English (for 1st to 6th grades) content which adapts to individual student needs. It also provides a zero-cost teacher dashboard, which includes tools for 30-second assignment creation and reports for progress tracking, student insights, and intervention.
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