Report: The January Blues: A crisis among the nation’s new teachers

January Blues: The New Teacher Conundrum

It was January. A month that, in the education world, is full of the mid-year blues, especially for new teachers. To those in the elementary world, it was a month of goal setting and getting the kids back into the swing of school after a long break with their parents and all the joys that came with it. To those in the high school world, it means last-minute lessons before administering the annual mid-year assessments that everyone dreads. To preschool teachers, January means finishing our observational notes and reminding students to use tissues instead of their teacher’s coat sleeve. Every teacher from Seattle, Washington, to Miami, Florida feels the “Glass Half Full” syndrome; we understand that while we may still have months of school remaining, at least it’s not September, and the warmth of spring and summer is fast approaching. 

However, the quagmire of negative emotions and constant anxiety that I have come to connect with this horrendous month is a universal feeling felt by thousands of educators. With that being said, it has become evident to most that teachers are leaving the profession. That much is clear. But so, too, are the younger teachers. Why? Because the teaching world is pushing us out. This is also affecting the teachers of tomorrow, who want to enter a profession that even the lowest-paid teachers would not want to be a part of. 

I continue to slog through screaming fits, thrown chairs, and an overwhelming sense of dread that leadership will continue to add students with behaviors to an already lengthy list, and I know that I am not alone.

The January blues, as I have come to call it, is a systemic problem that needs to be changed before even the hardiest of educators calls it quits.

My Story of New Teachers

In my five years of professional teaching, four were spent teaching preschool, and one was a brief stint in a Kindergarten classroom. In all but half a year of my career, I faced every challenge known to teachers: ageism, toxic work environments, and sexism, to name a few. Administrators didn’t seem to value my knowledge and chose to view everything I did through a critical lens. 

All of this was especially prevalent during my Kindergarten post. I knew, going in, that it would be a tough road as I had just moved from a 3-year-old preschool and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program in the previous years. As many of you readers know, teaching elementary classes is quite different from educating our three- and four-year-old friends in a preschool room. But, as I have always done, I came in with a positive attitude and a willingness to learn and grow.

However, it was rather apparent that I was not welcome. My Kindergarten team and I never seemed to get along, even when I tried every trick in the book to strengthen our professional partnerships. All my knowledge was disregarded, and all my minor errors were turned into fireable offenses, even when I followed their advice. Everything I did and said was recorded and cataloged as if I were a child under their care. 

My administrators did absolutely nothing about it, and even when I asked for advice and help, they decided it was better to side with my coworkers. I was utterly alone. In most meetings, I was either left out or ignored, and I grew accustomed to hearing quotes like “men don’t belong in elementary teaching or early childhood.” The only three people who seemed to care about my opinions were a para-pro, my wife, and my wife’s co-teacher. 

December was the final month. Ultimately, the administrators found sufficient evidence to support my removal from the position. After enduring immense stress while operating in that environment, and investing blood, sweat, and tears in my children, as well as all the training and talks with both administrators and coaches, it all meant nothing. By the end, I was an anxious wreck, mentally destroyed, and so worn from the constant attacks on all sides. I vowed that day I would never teach in the elementary setting again. I had lost faith in both the system and myself. 

When I finally found another job, after a few months of just trying to regain my footing, I moved out of that area to another, just 45 minutes away. It was a preschool job in a public school system. In my mind, it was a good change. The district where I began working was also the one where I attended school and developed my passion for teaching. All that negative stuff I faced was in the past. It definitely wouldn’t follow me to this district. Right? Sort of, but sadly, wrong in so many ways.

This administrator was no different. While I wasn’t alone this time, I was still amongst newer teachers who were facing the same thing from this administrator. We were treated like naughty children who had no knowledge of anything and were there to be used to further her agenda. As I learned more about this person, the more I came to realize that I couldn’t truly escape. This person had manipulated good people into leaving their posts, bullied others into retirement, and, when they tried to complain to the union or Board of Education, had them swept under the metaphorical rug. 

And then January happened. Sitting within a system that didn’t care about anyone. My room had been rearranged without considering my wishes or the experiences I had shared with the children I had been working with for six months. Gone were the strategies and room layout that were aiding my students. Gone was my positivity and soul. From that point on, I began to research this topic more extensively. And let me tell you, I am not alone. 

When I talk to people who know me and other teachers in my position, everyone tells me that I look tired. I am too young to feel the same anxiety that older teachers around our country feel whenever they are asked to describe their jobs. They say, “Alex, why do you stay?” “Do you need to find a new job?” 

Do I need to find a new job? 

What a question. A question that many teachers nationwide grapple with. This isn’t something new. Go online today and look up “why do teachers want to leave the profession,” and Google will yield over 230,000,000 results¹, dating back to 2021 (it’s true, Google it!). 

The Research Stage

A 2022 Kinsey and Company study found that 38% of teachers aged 25-34 were on the verge of leaving the profession, with compensation, expectations, well-being, leadership, and workplace flexibility being cited as the reasons. To quote Forbes’s No More Teachers: The Epic Crisis Facing Education², “None of us want a young person we care about to enter a career where they’re set up to fail. So why is anyone still signing up for this job?” While much of my research consisted of articles, posts, and books discussing how younger generations are lazy and give up too quickly, I must consider that the people writing on this matter may not necessarily take into account that not all of us are this way. And, according to others, younger teachers can be significantly more effective at teaching students some of the more challenging topics of study (i.e., math and the sciences). 

All of this is causing aspiring teachers to reexamine their priorities and come to the same conclusion that younger educators have already reached. According to the 2015 National Educators Association study, only 4% of high school graduates aspired to be educators, a trend that continued into the 2020s, when the COVID-19 pandemic altered many aspiring teachers’ views on the field. In my college classes, I vividly recall having only about 60 students in my cohort. Mind you, we were a smaller college with roughly 2,500 undergraduates in total, but this trend seems to be in most colleges around the United States. Yet again, who would want to enter a field where the young are set up to fail, and 33%³ of teachers leave after the first three years of their careers? 

The same study quoted above noted that the high school graduating class of 2015 observed a “great disparity among schools in terms of professional support and the quality of working conditions” and found it quite disturbing. This topic has been quite problematic over the past few years, and, as the NEA puts it in a February 2025 article⁴, it continues to worsen. One of the key factors contributing to the decline in school conditions is the erosion of relationships and trust between new teachers and administrators. And, while our teachers of tomorrow may not be aware of all the problems that exist within a teacher’s life, our students can sense those feelings and are far more receptive to what we, as teachers, do and say than we often give them credit for.

What Can Be Done?

So, with the average teaching age in the United States being 43 years old⁵ and a small group of wanna-be teachers, what can be done? How can administrators change their school systems? What can Boards of Education do to make the education field more inviting? I conducted my research, albeit small in scope, and the results I found were highly consistent with what everyone else is saying.

The following three topics are only part of the narrative but are still essential to the fight:

• Address the ageism that turns a young educator’s professional life into a miserable, anxiety-ridden mess. 
• Give educators, both young and old, more autonomy in their classrooms.
• Compensate educators for the amazing work that they do in their classrooms.

Again, these are only a part of the fight to maintain and grow our young educator core. While these three are essential, I encourage readers to take note of these and add more. As former president Barack Obama puts it, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Knowledge is power. If we want change, we need to be the ones who take action.

Addressing Ageism With New Teachers

For starters, the ageism that affects most teachers in the 20-34 age range needs to be addressed. We need to be heard and acknowledged as active members and professionals in the field. Going back to the Forbes article referenced above, the author noted that the education world had become a toxic one. Ageism is a key part. Younger teachers don’t want to face a group of older teachers who constantly whisper behind their backs and run to the principal after every mistake they make. We, like our older mentors and coworkers, attended school and learned material related to the field. While we may have only been teaching for a few years, younger teachers are aware of the importance of working with the future of our planet. We didn’t enter the field for the money or the glory. We came to teach the leaders of tomorrow.

All About Autonomy With New Teachers

For starters, autonomy is key. At 26 years old, I can assure the public that younger teachers, indeed, need and crave the ability to control their classroom environments. Yes, we understand that school districts purchase curriculum, some of which can cost millions of dollars, and we need to cover specific topics to ensure our students’ success in their futures. But when it comes down to it, that truly is the end goal and not the how and when the material is taught. Too much emphasis is placed on exams and state assessments, rather than on the students’ levels. Students are treated more like a number and less like an individual, which younger teachers (and all teachers, in reality) loathe.

With autonomy given, teachers can teach the material provided to them, but in an appropriate manner. I had the pleasure of helping start a private school. Our vision was this. Teachers were given the necessary materials to teach, as well as the flexibility to tailor their instruction to each student’s pace. The students themselves? These were the ‘back of the room’ kids who had learning problems and wouldn’t have passed in a typical public setting. A year in, and these students are flourishing. Autonomy was the key. Teachers in this school included professionals in the 20- to 34-year-old age range. Autonomy works.

Compensate ALL Teaching Staff

Lastly, although there are many other things to change, such as compensation, to be considered middle-class in the state of Michigan in 2023, individuals need to earn at least $64,000. The starting new teacher pay, in many cases, is about $20,000 less than this, coming in at around $40,000. Going back to the McKinsey and Company study, Compensation was listed as one of the reasons why there are hardly any aspiring teachers. At this point in my life, my wife and I are trying to start a family, buy a house, and raise children without the fear of going into soul-shattering debt.

Most people my age are trying to do the same, watching as individuals make an average of $54,099 as Target employees and similarly rated occurrences in jobs that don’t even require a bachelor’s degree. Why should we continue to get beat up by multiple students with behavior issues in our classes, put up with the toxic environment, and listen to abusive administrators who care nothing for us as younger teachers for pennies on the dime?

Call To Action to Help New Teachers

Here comes the hard part. Knowing about the problem does not fix the situation. Regardless of whether you, the reader, are an educator, administrator, or board member, the change that all of us are desperately wanting needs to start with you. Let’s break down how you can move the first pawn to checkmate the issue at hand: the nation’s young educator decline.

What a Board Member Can Do:

Across the internet, various groups attribute multiple responsibilities to the duties of a board member. The ones I care about more, however, directly relate to the purpose of this article. These duties include budgeting, advocating for educators, and addressing the concerns of all district members.

Board Members, I challenge you to listen. If this is brought up, hear the speaker out. Do not push them away or pay any attention to what they have to say. While we may not have as much experience as veteran teachers, young educators have hopes and dreams, and in some cases, a more recent trip to universities around our nation. Even though we may have a more rose-colored view of education, we simply want the best for what all teachers strive for: our students.

Ensure, then, that all members of your school systems treat every teacher, young and old alike, with the same respect as their peers. Writing specific policies, drafting new mission statements, and enforcing a ‘No Teacher Left Behind’ rule are key to making younger teachers feel more at home within the district. This leads to a greater commitment to the school district and increased interest from future teachers.

While this idea addresses a simpler problem to solve, the next step would be to increase compensation. While this part is trickier, for our schools to move into the future, all teachers need a pay raise, not just a $0.50 increase. As the cost of everyday living increases, the thought of taking on a job that pays very little is a profession that most new teachers have no wish to be a part of. Board Members, do not keep your systems in the past. Teachers are an essential part of our societies. Do not follow another system’s pay scale because you want to ensure that all pay is universal. Become the change that all teachers need. 

What an Administrator Can Do:

You are the face of a school. You are the ones that teachers, young and old, look up to. You, the Principals and Directors, are the ones in charge of the schools that we, the younger teachers, aspire to emulate and uphold with our young ideas, hopes, and faith in our children, and in you.

While you may not be the ones to draft the law of the school district you work in, you are the ones whose voices are heard the most.

Be the leaders you were hired to be. For the sake of all younger⁶ teachers, you need to be the ones who set in motion all of the policies that help all teachers succeed. For teachers with 1-5 years of experience, this idea means everything. We need administrators who work to protect us from the discriminatory actions of older teachers, other mentors, and parents of our students who, sometimes, seek to hurt our young careers. With this being said, don’t play into these actions. While these people may have been with you for several years longer than we, young educators have every right to be treated as valuable members of the school.

While you may not have the ability to change the earnings of teachers or even the rules of the school district, you administrators have the power to help the educators under your tutelage. In this case, the Golden Rule is a valuable principle to follow: treat others as you would want to be treated.

• Would you want to be treated like a child in a profession for which you have been trained?
• Would you like to have snide remarks whispered about your age?
• Would you like to be the butt of every joke? 

What Young and Aspiring Teachers Can Do:

Younger teachers and aspiring teachers, this last message is for you. While I am not trying to convince you to quit the profession, I am asking you to think carefully and consider the implications of your decision. While there are very hardy young educators who can deal with the stress, making very little in a career that most describe as a dead-end job and one of the most unforgiving professional environments, most would have you rethink your choices. Please listen to the people in your life who act as advisors; Parents and Professors are very knowledgeable and are extremely helpful in making these sorts of decisions.

As a younger teacher, can you also serve as a catalyst for change? Change starts with an individual asking questions. An individual who is not afraid to talk to the administrators, board of education, and senators who affect the education world. And while my list of changes is short, and many more are needed for our age group to finally feel at home in a school building, I am confident that my article will help you initiate the process.

The field of education is sitting on the edge. Change is needed. All we need now is for someone, whether young or old, to change the way we teach and view this profession. Could you be that person?

Alexander Verbrugge is a dedicated educator and passionate writer. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with a concentration in Early Childhood Teaching from Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. With over five years of professional experience in preschool and elementary classrooms—and more than 200 hours of volunteering, observing, and student teaching—Alexander brings both depth and heart to his work with young learners. Beyond the classroom, he is a thoughtful writer known for crafting meaningful pieces that inspire reflection and spark critical thinking.