March 16, 2022: Teachers across the country are quitting their jobs and changing careers, which is being known as “The Great Teacher Resignation.”

The National Education Association, the country’s largest teacher’s union, recently conducted a survey that shows 55 percent of its members are thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they had originally planned.

Among some reasons cited were staff shortages, pandemic-related stress and low pay.

When teachers who took part in the survey were asked about what school districts can do to keep teachers, they pointed to reasons including higher salaries, hiring more teachers and support staff, and less paperwork.

On this episode of To The Point Already, Spectrum Bay News 9's Rick Elmhorst and Roy De Jesus talk with Marlene Sokol, an educational writer for the Tampa Bay Times, Spectrum Bay News 9's Fallon Silcox and Leah Sarsfield, a former teacher, about the big issues facing teachers, schools and families today.

The Tampa Bay Times' Marlene Sokol has written extensively about the local education system, taking close looks at Hillsborough County's lowest-performing schools and analyzing whether plans for a "transformation" of the district could actually work.

Spectrum Bay News 9's Fallon Silcox has covered the recent wave of teacher resignations in great depth, going to the roots of these issues to find out what is pushing educators away from the classroom.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Spectrum Bay News 9 anchor Rick Elmhorst sits down with the people that represent you, the people fighting for change and the people with fascinating stories to ask the hard questions.