A survey conducted by the Missouri State Teachers Association unveiled that 71% of Missouri educators have seriously considered leaving the teaching profession either sometimes, often or very often in the past year.
The 2025 MSTA Member Survey gathered responses from over 1,800 teachers in the state, highlighting several key issues that led to this sentiment from teachers.
Todd Fuller, spokesperson for the MSTA, said these statistics are concerning because they believed this percentage would be less than the 70% of teachers last year who considered quitting.
"The assumption was that that number would go down from last year, but it is actually up a percentage," Fuller said. "I think that's striking and kind of surprising for us."
According to the survey, 47% of teachers said student behavior was the main reason for wanting to quit, with 44% saying stress and 41% expressing the lack in pay.
Teachers say they’re increasingly managing discipline instead of instruction, leading to frustration and emotional exhaustion, according to the survey.
"Public education in today's world is not valued as it once was. Students' behavior is terrible, and there is little to no support from parents," one teacher said in the survey.
Another educator said, “Despite loving the kids and wanting to stay for the ones who need us, it is not really worth it for what the stress does to your mental and physical health, especially considering the pay and always escalating workload.”
Fuller said the increasing lack in support has pushed many teachers to a breaking point.
"There are so many limitations placed upon them that it's challenging to figure out how to deal with situations in the classroom, how to do deal with parents, how to deal with administration, and at the same time try to teach in that kind of environment," Fuller said.
Although previous Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation last May that boosts the minimum starting salary for teachers from $25,000 to $40,000, many teachers aren't content with this change.
"When a new teacher coming into the district starts out at the new base pay of $40,000 and I’ve been here over 20 years, it is a little frustrating... that was just wrong,” one teacher said in the survey.
The survey states that starting teachers now make nearly as much as veterans, and Fuller said this is not fair.
"That does something called compressing the salary schedule," Fuller said. "When that happens you have teachers that are 10-15 years in the profession that aren't getting that same bump or increase as those new teachers coming in and that's frustrating and that shouldn't happen."
The stress levels of many teachers is increasing year after year. More than one-third of respondents said the 2024–25 school year was either more stressful or a lot more stressful than the previous year.
According to the survey, key stressors identified by educators include student behaviors, student motivation and lack of support from families or community.
MSTA said Missouri schools are facing historic staffing shortages and the survey respondents gave feedback on the effectiveness of strategies being used to recruit and retain teachers.
Financial benefits like health insurance, loan forgiveness and scholarships along with quality of life improvements like four-day school weeks and childcare are ways to increase teacher recruitment and retention, according to the survey.
According to the 2024-25 MSTA Salary and Benefits Report, 184 districts use a four-day week, 249 districts participate in the Career Ladder program and 23 districts sponsor childcare for employees.
Fuller said MSTA will use this data to share concerns with the state legislators during the next legislative session, but is unsure of what specific policies the association will fight for.
