A letter, written by a former student of hers, brings a smile to Rena Bonne’s face. Bonne, a former middle school and high school English teacher, says she had a great career; however, if she had to do it all over again, she says she would have become a lawyer or writer instead.

“It’s not that I have any regrets about the wonderful and rewarding and interesting career that I had. I mean what the education situation is now, is not something that would attract me for a career, because I think things have changed a lot since I began,” Bonne said.

She had an option to retire or not; she did the former. Like Bonne, many teachers are leaving the education field earlier than they had planned.

In June 2023, 51,000 teachers in the U.S. quit their jobs, according to the online data company Statista. A National Education Association survey finds more than half of teachers – regardless of age or years in the classroom – say they’re thinking about leaving the profession.

“Teachers want to nurture, they want to inspire, they want to feel like they’re making a difference in the lives of the children that they work with every day. I think some of that has shifted,” she said. “I think the paperwork, the amount of extraneous work that has been imposed on teachers, in the name of transparency has become onerous.”

The American Federation of Teachers says some 300,000 teachers exit the profession each year – many before the retirement age – leading to a critical shortage of teachers and school staff. Bonne says teachers are historically undervalued compared to other professions.

However, a new concern for teachers she believes is feeling unempowered in the classroom.

“They know their discipline, student profiles, and behavior management, and parents have had much more input into issues like curriculum and behavior management. That’s been taken away from teachers,” Bonne said.

These days, Bonne finds joy in animal rescue work and being around nature.

“I actually formed a rescue club in my high school where I was teaching, and that was wonderful, and that passion has continued since I retired,” she said.

According to a recent national survey of U.S. public school teachers conducted by the RAND Corporation, top concerns cited by teachers include teacher burnout, low salary and school safety.

Bonne believes teachers need more support from school administrators to keep educators in the workforce.

“People don’t go into teaching for financial rewards, they need to feel that they’re making a difference,” she said.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says New York is among the top paying states for teachers in the U.S.