(MintPress)—Teacher job satisfaction has fallen to the lowest it’s been in more than two decades, according to a national survey released Wednesday.
The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher says the economic downturn in the US which fueled deep cuts to education budgets is likely to be a contributing factor to the dissatisfaction.
Over the past two years, teacher job satisfaction has fallen from 59 percent to 44 percent.
The 15 point drop was also revealed along with a sharp increase 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. Around 29 percent said they are likely to leave their jobs, up from 17 percent just two years ago.
For the same period that the teacher job satisfaction survey covered, poverty rates for children in the US saw a dramatic climb, with one survey reporting that in 2010 one in five children in the US were living in poverty.
According to an analysis by the non-profit Foundation for Child Development,children living in families with an “insecure” source of food has risen from about 17 percent in 2007 to nearly 18 percent in 2010, USA Today reported.
That marks an increase of 750,000 children.
Lower-income parents (those with household incomes of less than $50,000) are more likely than parents with moderate incomes ($50,000 to less than $100,000) or higher incomes ($100,000 or more) to worry a lot about issues such as their family not having enough money for the things they need, a parent losing or not being able to find a job, having to move to a different home and a child getting sick or hurt and not being able to go to a doctor for help.
At the same time, the number of students and families requiring health and social support services has increased in the past year, across schools of all demographic types, the survey said.
Nearly three in ten teachers indicate that there have been reductions or eliminations of health or social services in their schools.
Additionally, up to 500,000 children faced homelessness in 2010, living either in shelters or places not meant for habitation.
The MetLife study revealed that it doesn’t matter how many years of experience, the grades they taught or the proportions of their students from low-income households, teachers reported high amounts of dissatisfaction across all of these fields.
Teachers in schools where layoffs of classroom teachers have occurred were more unhappy with their jobs, as they likely witnessed the reduction or elimination of programs and services in their schools. Over one-third of teachers experienced reductions or eliminations of programs in arts or music, foreign language, or physical education in the last year.
Additionally, the fact that more students came to class hungry, and more families needed help with basic social services also took a toll on teachers’ job outlook.
Economic woes are also on the minds of students and their parents, as two-thirds of students and nearly three-quarters of parents worry about their families economic situation.
Dana Markow, vice president of youth and education research at Harris Interactive, which conducted the survey, told the Atlantic that while she had expected a drop in the results, she was most surprised by just how severe the drop actually was.
The study examined the views of teachers, parents and students about the teaching profession, parent and community engagement, and effects of the economy on teaching and learning in schools.
“I don’t think people will necessarily be surprised that the survey results confirm there have been deep cuts within education budgets. But when you see how many teachers and schools have been affected, when you hear it in the context at the local level — whether they’re having layoffs or discussions with their unions about changes to their salaries and benefits — you start to build a national picture,” Markow said.
Overall, most parents and teachers surveyed say teachers are treated as professionals by the community and that teachers’ health insurance and retirement benefits are fair for the work they do. However, majorities of both parents and teachers don’t believe that teachers’ salaries are fair for the work they do.
Six in ten teachers report that the average class size in their school has increased.
One-third of teachers also indicate that educational technology and materials have not been kept up to date to meet student needs, while two in ten report that school facilities have not been kept in clean or good condition.