In a word cloud that reflected the responses to an open-ended question about why they had thought about leaving the job, by far the biggest words were "low pay" and "lack support," surrounded by comments about paperwork, stress, difficult students and hovering parents.
The poll is part of a USA TODAY project through the 2018-19 school year that is exploring the profession of teaching in an era of evolving challenges, from the demands of standardized testing to the reality of mass shootings. The online survey of 504 adults who teach kindergarten through 12th grade in public, private and charter schools, conducted Jan. 11-17, has a credibility interval of plus or minus five percentage points.
"Our latest USA Today/Ipsos Poll makes clear that what sustains teachers is love for the job, not money,” said Cliff Young, president of Ipsos. “But love alone does not pay the bills. Indeed three-fourths of teachers believe in the right to go on strike."
In Los Angeles, negotiations continued over the weekend between striking teachers and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Disputes over pay, class size and classroom support sparked the first strike in 30 years in the school system, which now enrolls 640,000 students.
More: Even when teachers strike, Americans give them high grades, poll shows. Unions fare worse.
Show me the money
By more than 2-1, 66 percent to 31 percent, teachers say they aren't paid fairly. On that, the public agrees. In a national USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll last September, Americans by a similar 59 percent to 34 percent said teachers weren't paid what they're worth.
"The rent is one full (two-week) paycheck, so that leaves me another full paycheck to pay the rest of the bills," says Allison Elledge, 46, a history teacher at Flagler Palm Coast High School in Florida and the single mother of three daughters, two of them now grown. She tutors after school to earn extra money.
In the survey, nearly four in 10 teachers say they had worked a second job over the past year to make ends meet. Almost three in 10 say they ran up debt during that time. Eight in 10 said they had used their own money to buy school supplies.