Illustrations of overcrowding, strained infrastructure and stressed educators in the approximately 2,000 responses to the questionnaires from the Mississippi Department of Education reviewed by The Clarion-Ledger highlight the challenges of working in public education in the poorest state in the union.
As one Jackson teacher responded to a question about morale — “For the most part it is good. We would all like a raise, smaller classes, more materials and new computers, but we know what we can get and what we can dream about.”
The Clarion-Ledger requested survey results from several districts, including all in the Jackson metro area. Although the department honored the newspaper’s requests for surveys from the McComb School District, Meridian Public School District, Yazoo City Municipal District and Jackson schools, it also made many redactions.
The 11-question surveys target topics such as district morale, administrative support and school environment with participants asked to rate how safe they feel their schools are. All are uniform with the exception of the one for Yazoo City schools. The documents span from 2012, Yazoo City, to 2014, McComb and Meridian, to the most recent from JPS in 2016.
- Overall 80% of teachers who took the survey said they felt their school environments were safe.
- 43% of respondents in the Jackson Public Schools district who took the survey said they did not feel the school environment was safe.
- Many respondents gave accounts of challenges with classroom management or being disrespected.
- In 2012, prior to the implementation of PBIS, 82% of teachers said they felt the district provided schools with a safe and orderly environment. In March 2016, that percentage had a 10% bump, with 92% of participants noting they felt safe.
- On average, 83% of respondents feel their school’s administration enhances their ability to be a successful faculty member.
Some educators cited frustrations from being confronted by parents mentioning incidents where they…
Source: The Clarion Ledger