Stressed out schools: How parent and teacher choices are changing education

<p>How are schools across the nation faring now that school is back in session? Is life in school back to normal or are there still looming effects caused by the pandemic? We've all heard of teacher and staff shortages and parents pulling kids from public school because of curriculum issues. It seems, schools are stressed.</p><p>According to a 2020 survey conducted by teachers' union, the National Education Association, 55% of educators are thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they planned. But its not just teachers, according to the teachers union everyone from janitors to bus drivers to cooks are looking for a way out.</p><p>5 Things Sunday host James Brown sat down with USA TODAY education reporter Alia Wong and Sydney Boyega, a Texas teacher who inspired this episode, to try to understand what is happening in schools.</p><p>According to Boyega, there is a lot of misconceptions about teachers. She said people think because they went to a K-12 school that teaching is easy. She compares that to saying you can direct the movie 'Star Wars' just because you've watched it a couple of times.</p><p>Follow<a href="https://twitter.com/jamesbrowntv" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> James Brown</a> and<a href="https://twitter.com/marychaostyle" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://twitter.com/aliaemily" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alia Wong</a> on Twitter.</p><p>For more on the teacher shortages and how education in being impacted read:</p><p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2022/08/28/teacher-shortage-2022-charts-maps-show-data-state/7883112001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Teacher shortage 2020: Charts, maps show the data by state.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/08/31/biden-job-search-companies-partner-take-teacher-shortage/7941397001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Biden, job search companies partner to take on teacher shortage.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.usat