LINCOLN, Neb.-Teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic has Nebraska educators overwhelmed, worried about their students, and their health and safety, according to a recent survey from the Nebraska State Education Association (NSEA).

Ninety-two percent of the more than 6,500 Nebraska public school educators who responded to the statewide survey say wearing masks should be mandated for both teachers and students. The NSEA conducted the survey from Oct. 23 – Nov. 2 to assess its’ members views and concerns about teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The responses left little doubt that educators are at the breaking point,” said NSEA President Jenni Benson. “They are concerned that the needs of their students are not being met. They are worried about their health and safety and that of their students and families.

“Many teachers are having to teach students both in-person and remotely at the same time. That is exhausting teachers and making it nearly impossible to provide quality teaching and learning for students,” said Benson.

Eighty-nine percent of respondents from the Lincoln and Omaha public school districts do not believe their district’s current learning model is equitably meeting the needs of all students. Both districts include teaching in-person and remote learners at the same time. Statewide, which includes some districts that are offering only in-person teaching, 59 percent of survey respondents said they are concerned that their district’s learning model is not equitable for all students.

Benson said educators desperately want to do the best job they can for their students and thus are pleading for more time to plan and prepare for the changing teaching and learning models.

“Teachers are not provided adequate plan time and, because there is a shortage of substitute teachers, they are having to cover the classes of colleagues who are in quarantine or who are ill, so are losing the little plan time they do have. The situation is unsustainable.”

Eighty-six percent of the educators who participated in the survey reported feeling overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated or worried. A majority of respondents also said their school district is not listening to educator input regarding issues around teaching and learning during the pandemic. In some cases, teachers have left their teaching jobs just months into the school year.

“Some teachers have already left the profession this year and, without immediate action to help our educators, we are about to lose many, many more,” said Benson.

The survey showed that statewide nearly one in four teachers plan to leave the profession by the end of the school year. In Lincoln and Omaha, nearly one in three respondents said they plan to leave teaching.

Educators need public and school district support now more than ever, according to Benson.

“Teachers want to be in their classrooms with their students and they want to be safe. Their concerns and fears are real and legitimate,” said Benson.

On behalf of NSEA members and students across the state, Benson said the NSEA will file a petition for a declaratory order with the State Board of Education. The petition will request that the State Board declare the interventions and protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) be adopted as the specific safety criteria under which schools will operate and remain open.

“To keep our schools open and operating safely, the State Board needs to set these basic standards that every school district must uphold for the health and safety of students and staff,” said Benson.

Benson and NSEA Executive Director Maddie Fennell said school administrators need to utilize the tools at their disposal to provide necessary relief for staff:

Suspension of evaluations for non-probationary teachers;
Make curriculum adjustments and relax pacing. Lost instructional time may be due to cleaning, sanitizing, mask breaks and technical issues with remote learners. Teachers know their students and will keep them advancing academically;
Providing plan time – not more training – as allowed by the recent Nebraska Department of Education guidance posted at: https://launchne.com/commish/
Have more administrators cover classes instead of taking away teacher plan time and increasing the numbers of students in class;
Districts must provide factual COVID numbers to the public and school staff;
Listen to educator input, show empathy and leadership.

Fennell said NSEA is joining with medical experts from UNMC and across Nebraska in asking the Governor to immediately issue Directed Health Measures that will call for:

A statewide mask mandate;
Limitation of 10 people for indoor or outdoor gatherings;
Temporarily close bars and suspend indoor dining and launch a Takeout Nebraska campaign;
Dedensify classrooms with alternative staffing and student attendance patterns, especially when students are eating.

In addition, the NSEA is calling for a suspension of all youth and high school sports and extracurricular activities until January.

NOVEMBER 2020 NSEA SURVEY: TEACHING DURING COVID-19 -- SOME OF THE 2,269 COMMENTS RECEIVED

I wake up sick to my stomach almost every day. It is not from COVID - it is from the stress that I carry, constantly worrying about keeping kids safe, keeping myself safe and the workload of the day. I am planning on retiring at the end of the year. I hope I can make it that long. A year ago, I was thinking I was leaving the profession in good hands as I watched the amazing young professionals work their magic daily. Now I don't know how many of them will be returning next year. They cannot do both in-person and Zoom teaching at the same time. Something has to give, or we will lose these professionals forever.

I have been teaching for 30 years. I love teaching and I pride myself on doing my job very well. I am dedicated and this is not just "a job" to me - I live this. However, this year I do not want to go to work. I cry almost every single day from sheer exhaustion and being overwhelmed. I now teach Zoomers and Roomers and this changes each week due to families quarantining at different times - this means that the materials that I am preparing to send home changes each week based on who is where. I am trying to come up with activities that will fit the needs of this hybrid classroom. I am trying to stay in front of a computer and also try to use the best teaching practices that I know. This was NOT thought through. The District absolutely threw us into the fire and knew we would do everything in our power to make it work because that's what we do. We sacrifice ourselves to do the best job we can in any situation - AND THEY KNOW IT.

We are on the front lines and it falls in our laps if the students succeed or if they fail and we were set up for failure trying to navigate a hybrid classroom with NO adjustment to the curriculum. The district cut out a few tests and lessons here or there but that isn't what matters. The curriculum needs to be adjusted to fit the needs of both remote and in-person learning simultaneously. In addition - we were taught how to teach via Zoom 2 days before the start of the school year. 2 days. This should have been top priority. We were told that we could also access videos on the website. Who has time for that!

More PPE needs to be available to staff as requested. Gloves, surgical masks for health staff, several disposable gowns, face shields for those that request them.

Students in our building who have been sick aren’t sent home. We had a teacher test positive who was with a child sent to nurse 2x and never sent home. Student said mom sent her because everyone was sick at home.

I hate that I feel there is no good solution in education right now. I don't believe being in-person is safe for myself or my students, but I also know remote learning wasn't effective for most of my students (ages 3-5 years). I also know that because I teach in a low income area most of my students' families can't afford to stay home and not work, and my students are too young to stay home on their own, so being able to send their kids to school may very well be the thing that allows my families to keep their homes. I hate that I feel I must risk the health of myself and my students to provide for their other needs.

Help.

I don’t think that there is a way to make things equitable right now in a hybrid model. If we weren’t trying to teach synchronously it would be better. But that would again add to my workload which is impossible as it is. No perfect solution exists we are all doing the best that we can.

If we are 'in the red' with COVID-19, we should be 100% remote.

The videos, while a nice idea, are not working. Students don’t understand from watching the videos without someone there to help and parents either can’t or won’t help and monitor them. I feel like I’m constantly playing catch up when they are in person. The fully remote students are not fully engaged at all.

We are all trying our best and everyone feels like a first-year teacher again.

Our district says it is a unique year and we should give ourselves grace but then they increase our workload, expect us to clean and sanitize without any time provided to do that, expect us to teach with a 3:2 model and also work with students remotely every day, and expect us to adhere to a pacing guide for our curriculum that is too fast paced for our students. They expect us to teach, assess and grade as if it were a normal year, but it’s not even close to a normal year. They expect us to use technology and teach our families how to use technology when we are not technology experts. I have taught for 38 years and this is the most frustrating, overwhelming, stressful year I have ever had and until this year I was always able to say I truly love teaching.

Teachers are being questioned from leadership about doing home visits through Zoom, which was something that was approved before the start. Teachers are being required to do 5 home visits still when the state requirement is 2. We are still required to do three GOLD checkpoints when the state only requires two as well.

It feels like we are being blamed for everything that goes wrong and that the district has no desire to gain our input on improvements. Instead we are just called “bleeding hearts” and are told to stay in our lane.

Students need to be in school. I am for the family 3/2 plan if that’s what it takes to get students in school. But staying on the pacing guides in order to keep up with the remote lessons out on by the district, is NOT what’s best for kids. The district videos are NOT Kindergarten friendly, interactive or productive. We are also responsible for grading our fully remote students, who seldom, if ever turn their work in. I also am not teaching them, yet their grade is up to me. The district also DESPERATELY needs to adjust the curriculum. The district is currently expecting us to teach kids everything we would during a “normal” year in half the time, considering we only see students half of the week. Parents are complaining about videos and how their students do not like to watch them. It’s hurting my students and their learning and burning me out fast.

I have had to spend my own money to make my space safe. I bought shields and things to support my technology to make it more functional to my current needs (stand for iPad to use as projector). I spend my plan time and after school time to upload materials I asked the district to make available online last spring. I also spend my time making materials available to me at home learners, so they get same items as the in-class kids which I teach at the same time. I have had to take a COVID-19 test at the request of the district, and it came back false positive, so I missed several days with my students. I need more time to get things ready to teach in addition to the normal things I have to get done.

Teachers are doing the job of three people at this time. There just are not enough hours in the day. Every educator I have talked to is stressed and exhausted. The district did not provide enough information to their staff about the 3/2 learning. Many teachers are looking for different jobs or even a different in which to teach. It is very sad how educators are being treated when we are going above and beyond.

Curriculum expectations NEED to be adjusted to meet student needs. We are failing kids and it can’t be undone.

The school will not release COVID data to public due to HIPPA; however, they will sporadically release student information to staff. No education is occurring. There is a lack of signage related to COVID signs and symptoms and the promotion of mask usage. The water fountains were just disabled so students could not use them a few weeks ago, even though that is part of the "COVID plan." Students were lined up in the hall with no spacing for as long as 20 minutes waiting for school pictures last week. When they entered for pictures, they were greeted by the superintendent with her cup of coffee and her mask below her chin. There is no spacing among adults at sporting events. Masks are not required at sporting events or in common areas such as concession stand or restrooms. Most of the time I find out from students that they are in quarantine before I ever hear from the office. We are provided with cleaner to spray desks between each class period. Hand sanitizer is present for student use. Teachers were provided with two masks each to start the year

Besides placing 2 students at 6-foot tables (not spaced far enough apart) a BIG safety concern... the biggest frustration is trying to plan, get copies ordered, and post online to attempt as much equity for all students. If we were given an extra hour plan time daily that would help me get enough time to post and organize my two methods of instruction. Right now, I take it home and attempt to get it ready for the next day or finish posting from the current day... AND finish grading what I can online. Also having to sub for those gone is very stressful. Losing time to plan when I'm already behind is overwhelming. Three big concerns: 1. Spacing between people is not safe 2. More plan time daily is needed to organize all the methods to teach 3. Losing plan time to sub for those gone

The question about leaving teaching was difficult to answer. I feel like the resounding message I am hearing from other teachers and feeling myself is that we are not being heard by the district. They pay lip service to what teachers are saying and feeling, but ultimately gloss over it and minimize it. It takes real action to show that the district is listening to what we are saying. Other districts in the country have been creative in coming up with ways to help teachers by implementing full remote learning, shortened daily schedules, remote buffer weeks after breaks when students have been traveling and present a higher risk, among others. Meanwhile, we have Zoom-in students and in-person students all at the same time, which is essentially teaching two classes at once while meeting the needs of very few students. The workload feels doubled as we now plan for online and in-person teaching without additional time, and it doesn't feel like any students' needs are truly being met in that situation. Also, as cases continue to rise in the county and I have had close friends lose family members to COVID, I continue to become more and more worried about the safety of students and staff in school. At the beginning of the year, we were told we would be sent home if the county went to red. Now, the district has changed the rules and has said we will stay in school as it works with the health department.

I feel like teachers are being pushed to a breaking point. It makes me sad to think about all the talent and love that will walk out of classrooms this year as teachers make the tough decision to leave their careers. On the whole, teachers are a group who are willing to do almost anything to help their students. However, this is now coming at too heavy a cost. Teachers risk their health, their families' health, and even more of their personal time trying to plan/teach/grade/survive in the climate of the pandemic. As the year sludges on, I fear this sentiment will only become worse unless we see some real change.

I've had a headache on and off since school started. I either go to school with a headache, get one during the day or have one by the end of day. The unreasonable expectations are nothing new for the job I have.

It was difficult and felt sometimes impossible before COVID, but now it is both physically and mentally impossible. I come to work every day feeling defeated because it is impossible to get one-third of my job done. I am behind in everything. There are several students that I have not even been able to talk to or touch base with this year and the 1st quarter is already over. I love teaching, I love teaching students that struggle. I work long hours and weekends and that does not leave much for my own family. I am starting to question if this is worth it. This is affecting my family, my children, and my marriage. I cannot see myself continue any longer, it is not getting better and only seems to be getting worse.

I have talked with at least 4 colleagues who are considering and/or looking to leave or retire early from the profession. I am currently updating my resume and looking to apply for jobs, but also completely getting out of education. My health is suffering, and my family is suffering. My students and families are not getting what they deserve and need; because of that I don’t think I can continue with my passion of teaching. I know I am not alone and that is worrisome.

I am a very capable veteran teacher, and this is by far the hardest thing I have done in my career. It makes me not like the job I have loved for years. We cannot continue to give of ourselves at this level. I am incredibly concerned for all the young teachers with young families and the amount of stress this early in their careers. We are going to lose good teachers.

First and foremost, thank you for all that you are doing. I will say that knowing there is at least someone that shares my concerns and wants to make things better means so much. I think truly my chief frustration right now is with the way my school district is making me feel. I am so past over hearing "the health and safety of our staff and students is our top priority" as it has just been talk and recent actions have shown otherwise. Bottom line... Honestly, it isn't even the extra work, the stress, the time...it is that I am scared. I am scared that things are getting worse and will continue to get worse and that I have no options.

On a school level, I think we are doing everything we can do to keep the staff and students safe. I believe that our district is asking too much of us. We are expected to teach to students in our room as well as well as to students online. We are also expected to meet state and district curriculum standards, as well as teach all the lessons we would teach in a normal year. There is no way that is possible.

I believe our district is doing better than any district in the Omaha metro area. I do not think we should be in school even though they have taken measures to try to keep us safe. I am upset that the positivity rate is so high and yet we are still in school. I worry about my coworkers, my students, and myself. It feels that we are there until things get really bad, which will happen. What a horrible situation. We need our leaders and government officials to make necessary changes in our community to get the spread of the virus down.

I believe our district is doing better than any district in the Omaha metro area. I do not think we should be in school even though they have taken measures to try to keep us safe. I am upset that the positivity rate is so high and yet we are still in school. I worry about my coworkers, my students, and myself. It feels that we are there until things get really bad, which will happen. What a horrible situation. We need our leaders and government officials to make necessary changes in our community to get the spread of the virus down.

We need more time. Fewer meetings and fewer things to do besides planning and teaching our lessons (like state testing and being evaluated and submitting lesson plans). We also have to give up our valuable planning time because we have to cover classes due to lack of subs. Administrators need to step up and help with covering classes and backing off the evaluation process to give us time to breathe and do our job.

I have purchased 2 plexiglass panels for my teacher table -- $200 out of my pocket -- because students eat breakfast in my classroom every day, 30 minutes with no mask. I also purchased a room air purifier -- $100 out of my pocket. No federal CARES money has been spent for student & staff safety other than low-grade face masks & spray sanitizer. Only 25 sanitizer wipes were given. I cut the wipes into thirds to help the supply to last longer. We are not safe.

My health and mental health shouldn't be at risk. I understand wanting to get students back int the building -- but at what cost? We don't have sub coverage and Douglas County is in the COVID red. Our district should have stuck to the original plan and stayed remote until we are out of the red. We also should have stuck to the original plan that if students were at home, they were doing asynchronous learning. Having teachers focusing on the in-class student, the students who were at home for the day, and the student who signed up for remote is too much. Teachers were not thought about when the decisions were made, decisions were made by those who haven't been in a classroom for quite some time and by those who will have very limited interaction with others therefore limiting their exposure keeping their health and mental health just fine through all of this.

Omaha Public Schools has done a terrible job of communicating with teachers. Expectations placed on OPS teachers this year are extremely unrealistic. Teacher opinions and input are not valued by top leadership in the district. Teaching online and in person synchronously is almost impossible. It is NOT AN EFFECTIVE way to teach kids. I will be leaving teaching as soon as I can retire.

Teachers ARE the FRONT LINE. Educating children CANNOT HAPPEN WITHOUT US. Many of us are killing ourselves while trying to do what is right and best for the children in this state. Not only do we risk our own health with COVID-19, which I do willingly even though I’m in a high risk group, for the sake of kids, but the extra workload of 12+ hours a day, 6-7 days a week, coordinating virtual and live teaching, following preset pacing guides all while genuinely worrying about how far behind academically, socially, emotionally the kids we care deeply about have fallen. Plus, there is food insecurity. And in return? Teachers get what has become platitudes about teamwork, and how we will get through this ‘together’. I know brilliantly talented first year teachers who are seriously ready to leave the profession because on top of teaching, having grades and conferences, they are being observed and evaluated by our administration in the SAME week. Where is the basic humanity towards these teachers? The most important thing are the young children in our city and state. Who loves and has the most contact besides family? Their teachers. And yet, the demands without breaks, without extra plan time, without timely communication, without renumeration, and without dropping the nonsense of appraisals, pacing guides, appraisal, paperwork and assessments continue. As NSEA knows, it’s exhausting. It’s discouraging. It’s just wrong.

We need to put pressure on local and state executives to follow medical advice and science instead of caving to politics.

The current hybrid model is going terribly as far as student success is concerned. K-5 students are not getting the help they need at home to complete assignments, and teachers are struggling to keep up with the pace of lessons that allow for ZERO time to reteach and make sure that students are mastering any of the skills they are learning.

The district wants to appear like it is responsive to the needs of the teachers and community, and there are places where legitimate good work is being done. However, the district is also moving forward with initiatives that had been planned last December and teachers are still expected to give a district-level interim assessment (MAP) right as students return to in-person learning. What?!? Can we put the brakes on strategic leadership for a bit while teachers, students and building leaders are reeling? Where is the tactical leadership that acknowledges the realities on the ground and provides specific guidance and support beyond expecting teachers to figure everything out on their own? Why not shelve data-gathering for a semester as a nod to the fact that no one at the building level is going to have time to look at the resulting data or values giving up precious face-to-face time to administer the test? Why blast forward with consultants about high school programming? I do NOT want to hear that teachers are resistant to change when we don’t embrace wall-to-wall academies or whatever else they come up with that might be a fantastic idea in another year, nor do I want to hear my principal is tied up in meetings on this topic when my principal should (and I think WANTS) to be focused on the needs of the building in crisis. The world is on its head. Teachers are expected to adjust to the new realities. However, it feels like our top district leaders get to traipse along like its business-as-usual when it’s time for their pet projects to be prioritized.

The current 3:2 model has NOT been effective in supporting my students. I work with an ESL population and families are struggling to understand how to complete work and learn material on their at-home days. Many students are not completing work or turning work in or even understanding the work they are doing to be able to turn the work in. My class has almost 100% remote students. I am not able to successfully meet with them to provide additional support in the ways that they need it. I work all day in the classroom and then I come home and work all night as well trying to prepare materials and grade assignments and communicate with families.

I absolutely love being a teacher and want to be around to teach for another 10 years. Teaching right now feels like I am an indentured servant. In my district, we are not required to watch the videos provided for the at home students, but if we don't watch them, then we are not able to create cohesive plans for our in-person students. In 5th grade, a weeks’ worth of videos adds up to nearly 8 hours. Grading is nearly impossible because the kids learning at home are asked to be independent and do the work without anyone around encouraging or helping with mistakes or misunderstandings. Following a rigid pacing guide with kids that are at home and kids that are in school turns into shallow learning making teachers 'part time teachers' because the kids come back into the room (3/2 model) not having watched the videos or not understanding the concepts and skills being taught. With the rigid pacing guide there is no wiggle room to backtrack to help the struggling learners with scaffolded concepts and instruction. Out of my 20 kids, I have three that literally do no work, 7 that don't watch the videos at home, and 10 that can handle most of the work. My gut hurts knowing that I can't help these kids learn the concepts they desperately need in order to move on. Parents are angry that their kids are receiving poor grades. Parents are angry that I am not spending more time with them, when in reality I am setting up appointments with kids after school time and emailing kids in the evenings or weekends when they are asking for help and clarification. I feel guilty when I can't help them more. This is a pandemic, and nothing is normal, and I don't understand why schools and districts are trying to make things normal. There is no normal now. We are required to give our in-school kids the MAP test, but the remote kids do not have to take it. There is no allowance in the rigid daily pacing guides for Map testing. That means that somehow and by some miracle, we teachers are asked to teach everything that is required that day and, oh yeah, take a couple of hours out of your day to make sure you test your children. I am thinking I should have used the word 'frustrated' describing my overall feeling right now. I do know that it must be very difficult to come up with plans that will be the best and safest for the majority. There are no right answers, but there are definitely better ways to handle the stress for children, staff, and parents. We need to let up on some of the academic standards that have been pushed so hard in the past and allow real learning to happen instead of the shallow 'barely touching the surface' type of learning many kids are experiencing. Thank you for reading my thoughts and concerns (and frustrations). I appreciate the opportunity to have a voice.

I will do whatever it takes to stay in the classroom. The unintended consequences are far greater than any other immediate risk with such a high recovery rate. I AM an essential worker and IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR OUR STUDENTS TO BE IN THE CLASSROOM. The gaps are only getting wider and not having kids in school will negatively affect our students for the rest of their lives. We need to be in the buildings.

I am not afraid of hard work, but I don’t know how long I can keep up this pace. Something has to give. My piles of work continue to grow, I spend most evenings at home finishing up schoolwork as you know all teachers do, I go in earlier each day to get a head start. Exhausted and frustrated. I’m sure I’m not alone and many other teachers are feeling the same. If I could focus on my in-person students and if there were dedicated teachers to work with the remote students like was presented to us in August, it would help to lighten some of the stress & workload.

It is important for all students to be in the classroom all the time. They need it for academics and their social emotional support. Students need to learn in person especially young children. While at home students are getting either too much support or not enough.

It’s the general public and not educators or the administrators who present the current problem. Politics and concern about personal rights are clouding the judgement of usually responsible citizens. Until everyone works together, and a safe vaccine is found, this will be our reality. I am very close to retirement but will stay the course as long as I am able.

I believe that there are too many people making decisions for educators and students who have not set foot in a school in a very long time. The expectations this year are too much. The sub shortage is also a burden.

Something that's hard to articulate in this survey is how much harder it is DURING instructional time while trying to teach asynchronously... I'm doing more planning and prep to pull it off effectively but more than anything I'm just FRANTICALLY trying to keep all the balls in the air when managing a Zoom meeting full of first graders and 18 first graders in real life at the same time. The work I'm doing during the day is way more exhausting than it's ever been, and that's what will lead to my burnout.

It really isn’t anyone’s fault. We’re in a pandemic. I believe school is the best place to be. I do wish our district would’ve listened to us about how ridiculously difficult it is to teach both in-person and online students at the same time.

I just keep praying and being hopeful. I think parents love their teachers, they think of us daily, they are also helping teachers by bringing supplies to help us in our needs of sanitizing wipes and plastic baggies, etc. They are also keeping positive. That is our saving grace, listening to children that love us, and listening to grateful parents. Keep the ears open for that.

I feel like I would be able to handle this year A LOT better if I didn't have both in-class learners and remote learners at the same time. It's the remote learning that's killing me. And that's where a lot of my extra hours are coming from. I just want all my learners right here in front of me IN my classroom. I teach first grade, and remote learning is not good for young children. It's better than nothing, but not ideal. There is so much that I can't do over a computer!

I have honestly never felt so devalued and disrespected by my district in all my 26 years of teaching. I am frustrated at the change in plans without notice. We have been lied to and misled. I am worried about getting COVID and I am more overwhelmed and stressed than I've ever been in my career. Thank goodness for my students. They have been so wonderful, and I am so grateful for them.

Trying to go between remote and in-school learners makes you feel like you're not doing either of the jobs well. Every day you feel like you didn't do enough to address one or the other's needs. It is impossible to adjust and correct a student's misconceptions of a taught lesson when you're unable to assess in real-time what they're doing, especially when they are at home and they turn the video off. By the time you realize that their understanding of a concept was incorrect, the lesson is usually over, and you need to go on to the next part of your day.

We’re all just so tired. And overwhelmed and sad and scared. I know that is how the whole world is feeling also.

On Wednesday I learned that a person dear to me died from COVID in Lincoln. While processing the news after school, a fellow teacher popped into my room randomly and told me LPS had altered red dial district procedures without notifying us, formally. I have never felt so insulted in my entire professional career. I am losing faith in the district with each passing week.

I have missed ten days of work due to having COVID – which also meant my toddler had to quarantine from daycare. Eight of those 10 days I had no sub and my co-workers had to cover my classes. This is not fair to my colleagues, my students, or to me. I spent HOURS prepping sub plans and communicating with staff and students from home during the day, in addition to taking care of my daughter, all while trying to recover from COVID. District curriculum leaders should be creating no-prep lessons that ANYONE can follow for each department/content-area. My district needs to either go remote from Thanksgiving-January, or just take that time off from school. Extend into the summer, if necessary. People are not going to stay at home during the holidays even if it's recommended. Also, NSCAS testing should not happen this year. Social distancing is required by our district but impossible to obtain and/or enforce.

District keeps telling us they want us to just "do what we can". Even just doing the bare minimum it's taking so much extra planning. We are all trying so hard but are met with more demands instead of less around every corner.

The number of hours I work outside the school day has destroyed my work-life balance. I am failing as a parent because every moment outside school is consumed with grading, planning for students on 4 different schedules A,B,C, Z, and trying to plan for the next day or two. I am stressed, overworked, and overwhelmed, and I am still not providing the level of teaching that my students deserve. I hate feeling like this and I don't know how much longer I can keep it up. Many of my fellow educators feel the same way and have expressed that they are also feeling completely overwhelmed by the conditions we are working in and the demands of teaching in this pandemic.

I worked for 23 hours over our 3 day "fall break". This is not sustainable. The state will lose quality educators because of the ridiculous expectations of teaching a synchronous hybrid model each period and being asked to cover classes during plan time which teachers desperately need.

My main concern is not safety because students and adults have done a nice job of sanitizing and masking. However, teaching online and classroom at the same time takes a level of work that will be difficult to sustain for the entire school year. I also don't believe it is in the best interest of students learning the most they can. One or the other is not getting the attention or teaching style they need or deserve. Students would be better served by remote only teachers and classroom only teachers.

This year has been more work and stress than first year teaching. Trying to be sure students are ok on a personal level. New software to learn. New programs to figure out. New policies and procedures. Technology that fails due to the number of users on the network. There is so much stress if you are trying to do a good job. Working every minute at school, working more at night, and on weekends. Cleaning desks and doors, monitoring Zoom, working with those in class, students muting video and audio, no answer to checks for understanding by students on Zoom, lack of student participation, h CDC guidelines aren’t being followed. Period. This is unsafe to be in-person at this time. The workload and stress are not sustainable. We are in a pandemic and the expectations of instructional minutes, duties, expectations, and realities of school and learning should be adapted. Pressure needs to be on the State Board and Education Commissioner to re-evaluate

This has been an extremely stressful year - and some of that stress is unavoidable. What is avoidable, however, is the feeling of being undervalued and lied to by the district. District leaders have made many decisions without teacher input or consideration and then failed to communicate to us in a timely manner. In addition, little support has been given at the curriculum/ planning level - rather we have been given free rein, which seems nice in theory, but has actually looked like those at the district level washing their hands of us and failing to provide any advice or support. They have claimed that we did not like the mandatory lessons they provided in the spring - and while that is true, there is a middle ground between making lessons mandatory and providing absolutely nothing that is not being acknowledged at all. Teachers have been abandoned on the front lines, save for emails providing information that will be given to families as a "courtesy heads up" and a few emails with procedural changes. Morale is low, and if I had the means to quit or take leave, I would. However, I do not and therefore will continue to stomach the abuse because I have no other option and love my students. I feel like I am being taken advantage of, along with colleagues, because I will bend over backwards for the good of the kids and the district knows this. My building administrators are doing their very best to support and I deeply appreciate them - but the district is making their job pretty difficult as well. I feel disrespected and that my time and professional judgment doesn't matter at all. I also feel that the solutions given by the district actually make learning inequitable for those who are Zoom learners. I know that there is no perfect solution, but there are ways to make those who are working hard to make students successful feel that they are supported and cared for.

Thank you for taking the time to ask how we're doing. This is the first time I can say I've been asked this by anyone in a leadership position so far this year. We have been taken advantage of and the school district does not care or listen to any of the staff's suggestions or cries for help. We are being left to fend for ourselves and they don't care if we make it out alive.

It is the burden of teaching two different classrooms at the same time (Room kids and Zoom kids) that is causing the concerns reflected in my survey responses. I get up at 4:30 AM, at school by 5:30 AM, stay after school until 7:00 PM every weekday evening, and am exhausted. No real plan time within the school day. Twenty minutes for lunch. And yet we also have to continually do book studies and other extraneous nonsense and go to other learning sessions. This is crazy. There is no awareness or understanding by administrators of the overwhelming nature of our workload, and teachers are not complainers, so we soldier on. But there will be a reckoning because of the inequitable strain of the workload packed onto teachers' backs.

We need more time to prepare!

Teachers should not have to teach in-person and Zoomers at the same time. Much too stressful with behaviors, staying on time and having to move computer, camera, etc. around.

I LOVE teaching and I am so passionate about everything I do in the classroom. I am sad when we are so strapped to our computers and the clock that we are not able to do fun spontaneous activities with our in-class students. This is just a different year and I wish these remote learners could be a cohort with other remote learners in the district with a district leader teaching them. Also, we need more para support. I am overwhelmed with planning for remote learners and to make sure I put ALL worksheets and materials in their packets ahead of time. There are times when we do not get a worksheet in their packet because print shop didn't get it to us in time. Overall, I am here for the long haul and I will do anything I can to meet the needs of ALL my students. Thank you.

We are drained and exhausted.

None of our needs as teachers are being met and our concerns are not being heard. Teaching in-person and online learners at the same time is exhausting and not meeting the needs of all learners. Remote learners need remote teachers.

Thank you, NSEA. I truly value your leadership. I do feel safe at my school and feel that NSEA, Lincoln Lancaster Department of Health, LPS board, admin, teachers, staff, and students are really doing everything we can to keep everyone safe. I wish our greater community matched the protocols we have in place within our schools.

I feel like my district has done a poor job communicating to staff about changes be made in response to COVID. It feels like our school board is being influenced politically and making decisions based on that, not in response to the overwhelming number of teachers and community members voicing concerns. Our leaders have used language that seems to pass blame on students and staff for the spread of COVID. They told us what we were doing first quarter was working, but then changed our procedures for second quarter by having specials teachers go back to their classroom and have 100+ students coming through their room every day. They told us that we would go remote if the dial turned red, then quietly changed that policy on the website while having staff find out about it on Facebook. It just feels so frustrating that our leadership is not doing a great job of leading during these uncertain times and that the best interest of our students and staff are not at the forefront of what we are doing. This is unsustainable and I am worried about the mental health of my co-workers.

Many decisions were foisted upon teachers by the district, without seeming regard for the science of what's happening around us OR teacher input. For example, I'm a music teacher. I was told to teach from a cart, going around to classrooms, at the beginning of the year to help reduce the mixing of cohorts. For second quarter, elementary specialists were informed (only a couple weeks before, without enough time to either plan OR set up our rooms, since one plan day was DEFINITELY not enough) that we were returning to teaching in our rooms. No reason given. The risk dial had gone up just prior, and is getting close to red now, with no change to our situation. It makes ZERO sense to be loosening up restrictions in school as the risk dial goes UP. I would much rather be teaching from the cart, if only for the safety of the kids. Teaching in my classroom may be easier in some ways, but in most ways, it is NOT, due to how we have to synchronously teach, and the restrictions still in place (for good reason) surrounding playing instruments and whatnot. It's as if someone on the school board thought, "Must be tough teaching from a cart, let's lighten their load by telling them to return to classrooms" without actually consulting a single teacher about the reality of this situation. This is just a microcosm of how our district has handled this pandemic, with regard to treatment of teachers. This sort of ragtag treatment of teachers has been common this year. We're simply told, "Thanks for your flexibility" in response. I teach my kids at school to say what they mean and mean what they say. I would expect the same of the higher-ups in the district.

Teachers are doing two jobs this year. We are teaching and planning for two different groups -- in-person and remote. It is overwhelming and is not meeting the needs of all students. We need to focus on the most important teaching aspects: reading, writing and math. By doing this, students have an opportunity to stay on level and not fall behind and teachers would have more time to devote to these areas. We are stretched to the breaking point.

It is a very difficult time. People are tired and stressed. Everyone is working hard to make things work but not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is frustrating. I am hoping to keep everyone on track to an educational learning experience.

As a preschool teacher, we have 2 meals in our classroom with our class. In my case that is breakfast and lunch. The expectation is we are to participate in lunch with our class. This means when it is time to eat, we have to take off our masks and shields. I feel this is a high risk and wish staff members did not have to participate in meals. At least until the pandemic has resolved.

There is no way to actually follow the CDC or Health Department guidelines. In my particular position I am around students from 6-8 different cohorts and work in small groups. I am routinely one foot away from students. Students’ masks are beginning to stretch out and are hard for them to keep up above their nose. Many students wear the exact same mask, unwashed week after week. I have had to spend a lot of my own money on PPE. Especially in the form of masks since the TWO they gave us did not work for me. Teaching students remotely and in-person simultaneously requires a great deal of energy. I am so much more tired by the end of the day that all I do is work, take care of my house and sleep.

The workload has increased exorbitantly. Teachers are feeling very stressed and overwhelmed.

Teaching is already hard, but now we have regular teaching responsibilities along with a pandemic... we cannot maintain this.

I am very frustrated that over and over again both the district and my building have said that they value teachers' input and understand that we are stressed, but then don't do anything to alleviate that stress. It is also very worrisome that not every building is implementing the same protocols for wearing face coverings and sanitation.

I don't feel safe in the classroom. I have high anxiety as I go to school every day. My health is degrading too (my blood pressure and blood sugar are up).

The word that is most used by colleagues and me is 'unsustainable'. We are working more than ever and are expected to do the impossible, trying to teach to three student-groups at once. The teaching that is happening is sub-par (to my standards), and I am exhausted all the time. I can never catch up, be it with planning, grading, or connecting with parents/students. There simply is not enough time. I have never considered leaving the profession until this year. I cannot continue at this pace.

Our district is not following CDC guidelines for COVID-19 in regard to social distancing expectations, class exclusions, or contact tracing. Our district is putting the blame of staff catching COVID-19 on staff, instead of where it should belong -- on unsafe protocols.

I am a special education teacher in a classroom with a number of mask-exempt students. I worry about the safety and exposure of the other students in the classroom as well as my staff.

There are several factors that make my job overwhelming this year: no subs so I am covering maternity leaves and my own job simultaneously, constantly cleaning everything and then worrying about keeping myself and students safe, the expectations of teaching both remote and in-person learners...

I am completely overwhelmed with the job. To sum it up simply, I am working more hours to not achieve the success I am used to with my students. Many students are failing in this hybrid model of school and despite my extreme effort.

I have no answers as to what to do given the current situation, however it seems to me we should be doing more to stop the spread both within schools and outside the buildings. It also would appear we are NOT provided accurate information regarding the spread within our district, our community, and within the state

I think that I am doing my best but that the conditions don't allow for students to have the best possible learning experience, regardless of what I do. This is not what we are set up to do - I can't teach two completely different classes at the same time.

Students may be failing but it is not from a lack of effort from the teachers. Admin need to do more to help teachers, like class cover. We have no subs and asking student teachers to class cover and lose their planning time.

I truly believe that my building is doing everything they can, given the parameters the district has given us, to keep students and staff safe. I LOVE my school, staff, and students. However, my colleagues and I feel very overwhelmed. I also feel very strongly that we should have classes that are remote learners only and classes that are in-person only. I feel like I will be able to plan and teach more effectively that way. I think it would make teaching more equitable too. Last but not least, I think we need to stick with the original plan of going fully remote if the dial were to go into the red. We should not have to put our families and students at risk!! Thank you for hearing and listening to us.

It feels like the risks to teachers are not discussed in a very human way. The stress of worrying and the details in synchronous learning feels overwhelming. I feel betrayed by state and national leadership who have not mandated masks, so now teachers and others who have to work are at greater risk.

I love what I do. I love that the students have seemed to be very understanding of teachers this year. Not all things are bad when it comes to this pandemic BUT I also feel overwhelmed. I feel like I can't do the same hands on activities that I normally do because I would have to provide each student with their own set of sentence strips, for example, and I don't have time for that. I also don't feel like the students that have been Zooming this entire year have the same understanding of the content as the students in class. There are NO set boundaries for them, and I feel like they do what they want and if they show their face on Zoom, we can't do anything more.

I wish you would have had 'exhausted' on your list. We all know that 'teacher tired' is a real issue. I understand that our students and staff need us, but it goes back to the filling your own bucket before you fill others. I can't fill my bucket if I don't have the time and energy to do so. I am constantly exhausted. I feel like I am doing the bare minimum but in addition, that is almost all I can give at this point. I know I am doing more than the bare minimum but it is exhausting and often I don't feel like I am doing enough. I know the district is trying, none of us have taught in a pandemic before.

I do love my schools and my district; I just know other teachers are really feeling the burn out and the 'teacher tired' and it's only October. We take our work home. Everyone knows that. We worry about our students when we are wide awake at 2am on a Wednesday. My personal team leader and supervisor have been amazing and understanding. The district, not so much.

This is just not working.

As the outbreak continues to gain intensity, my most fervent wish is that our community can understand how the safest and best choice is to go 100% remote.

I feel strongly that students learning in-person is the best model and it can be done safely with the precautions our district has put in place. However, if we are going to continue the synchronous learning model that we are currently using, WE NEED MORE TIME TO PREPARE. I'm spending an hour or 2 every day after school plus almost a full day on the weekend to prepare for the next week's lessons.

I now work 13 hours a day on average. I am in the school by about 7:35 each morning and leave no earlier than 5:35 except for two days this year. I take home about 2.5 hours of work- and this is essential - grading, planning, prepping materials, and data keeping - along with communication with families. On weekends, I average 6 more hours of work. I work 65 hours a week or more. We do not have two plan times a day -- ever. I have had to go to two meetings plus cover an absent teacher’s class all within a day. Does this sound like essential work only that values the employee? It does not feel that way. I'm a professional teacher who takes my job seriously and wants the best for my students year after year, but this year, it is pretty routine for one or more of my coworkers to cry at work -- and these are strong people.

While I do believe students being back in the buildings is the best thing for them, especially the ones on my caseload, it has been overwhelming trying to plan for both in-person and Zoom students. I already struggle to get my full plan time each day due to student behaviors or covering for teachers, now it's become even more difficult to get the things done/planned for that I need to.

I feel like we are puppets in a political game. No sense of actual safety regulations.

Teaching both in-class and Zoom makes me too tied to my computer and completely disrupts the classroom environment I've tried to create in years past. High school students never show their faces and hardly ever participate on Zoom. It seems awfully useless as a teaching practice.

We are under a lot of stress and the students who are learning from home are at somewhat of a disadvantage due to other distractions. I love my job and love my students, which is why I come to school every day. I am worried for everyone and their health, both physical and mental.

Please help us get more time. There is not enough time to get everything done and we are drowning in all the work.

I feel like a lot of the frustrations and stress I feel this year could be improved with more time to plan.

I worry that the data shared by the district is misleading. For example approximately 20-25% of all students are remote learning, but whenever they give a percentage of "students excused due to COVID," they take the total number of students enrolled using the entirety of the student body to get the percentage of students exposed (why count students that aren't even in the building as possible risks for exposure...they don't even come to school to get exposed?). I am fearful that we are going to be left in a lurch with future changes.

As a special educator, it is my opinion that life skills students are not being served well as remote students. Even those who receive homebound services are receiving them from educators with little or no training in special education.

I feel that the district does have staff and students' health and safety in mind. However, it is very overwhelming and time-consuming teaching both in-person and remote. I don't think the district is listening to teachers when teachers address this, and I don't feel the district is being very open in terms of communicating with staff or with families.

Maintaining this pace is impossible. I'm a special education teacher and there has been no effort on the part of the district or state to reduce our workloads with progress monitoring, progress reports, and meeting deadlines for holding IEPs and MDTs. We are still putting in five student contact hours, changing curriculum to digital, dealing with fatigue of balancing in class and remote teaching, and managing our caseloads. The least that the state and district could have done was reduce some of the busy work associated with our caseloads. Just shows the lack of respect for the work that we do.

I love working with students, and my job generally, but feel like I am not respected by my district due to this profound lack of communication. Teachers should be included in the planning process. Teachers should be informed of decisions before parents and community members. Teachers should not find out information from the news outlets about changes to district pandemic planning. I have seriously considered leaving the profession due to this lack of respect by the district office.

I absolutely love teaching, but this year I have found myself feeling disillusioned thanks to the leadership in our district. Our building administrators are awesome, but they can only do so much with what they are given. The district is not concerned about our safety.

I have adapted to the mask wearing, the sanitizing and even to the addition time it takes to prepare lessons for this way of teaching and learning. My biggest point of anger or frustration lies in the fact that when I agreed to go back to teaching this year during a pandemic, I felt my "safety net" was that if we go red on the dial, that we would be 100% remote. Now that has changed for LPS and may not be the case. If we do not go remote in red, I will be quite angry. While I understand it is not ideal for teaching and learning, it is the one thing we can do to keep student, teachers and staff and their families healthy.

I truly wish I was valued and cared for; it feels as though we can push teachers because this is what they chose to do. Being undervalued and overworked is not sustainable and will create a very big shortage of teachers or teachers who no longer care about others.

I feel that we have been deceived as to the way LPS opened schools. They keep changing the rules and I believed they never planned on us going remote only. They sit at the meetings, high above the speakers, 6 feet apart, wearing masks, and only allowing speakers to come in one at a time. Hardly what they expect of us. Plus, I doubt they bleach their place on the bench when they are done with the meetings. I've noticed at school that only certain personnel were given shields for their desks: the counselors, secretaries and media staff. They have less contact with kids than we teachers do. We are just expected to keep delivering as if we are just the hired help. Expendable. I see no consequences for students who do not wear masks, do not wear them properly and argue about them with security. They take them down as soon as they walk away from said people. Overall, I am very disappointed in how teachers are treated. In my 29 years, I have never seen this kind of treatment.

There is a disconnect, to the extent I have never seen before, between district leaders and what is actually happening at the building level in terms of the real daily demands of teaching in a pandemic. Unless you are in a building to see the unexpected situations that pop up on a daily, hourly, minute-to-minute basis to deal with COVID, you cannot comprehend how staff, students and families are being impacted. Then, stack the impact day to day, week in and week out, month up on month and then develop the plan. Leaders are leading during an unprecedented pandemic, which is its own beast, but to truly make an effective plan, you need to be in touch with the daily reality of what you are planning for.

It just seems that teachers’ opinions, families and mental health doesn't matter much. We bend over backwards and are expected to for students, yet we have little to no support when it comes back on teachers from parents or the district.

Online and in-person teaching are two entirely different teaching styles. It is unfair to every student that they are not receiving the best that the teacher can do. I cannot teach to the standard that I want to be teaching because it is impossible to do so with two different modes of teaching happening at the same time.

Teachers should not be asked to teach in-person learners and remote learners at the same time. If remote learning is going to be an option for students, there needs to be a separate teacher to manage those students.

I am currently looking for other employment opportunities and will leave as soon as I find one, if not before. In my position there is a shortage of qualified teachers. I hate to leave my team struggling to compensate for me leaving, but I feel undervalued and disrespected by the district's lack of understanding and care for my safety and the safety of my personal and school families. I love the students I work for and I have always given my district more than I ask for in return and this year they have shown that it is not a mutual relationship of value and care for what is best for our students. Also, I have not been given disinfectant spray for itinerant staff that was promised before school started, only hand sanitizer and told to spray on workspaces as we wait for the proper disinfectant - 10 weeks into school. I am done providing necessary PPE products out of my own funds to keep myself and the students that I care about safe. I will not protect the district's secrets anymore.

I think the model we use of teaching both remote and in-person at the same time is overwhelming for both staff and students. It is so hard for me to focus on both groups at the same time and my special education remote learners I feel are struggling. If I had a class period to just focus on them, it would be more beneficial.

The Hybrid model is like teaching 15 classes at once. It's insane. Kids are falling behind in three different ways.

This year is just terrible. There are not enough hours in a day to do what they are asking me to do. Work is my entire life. I feel completely unheard and ignored. Students are suffering, staff is suffering, and all of these things are causing issues in our personal lives. THEY AREN'T LISTENING TO US!!! I cannot maintain this the rest of the year. I am NOT okay.

I am completely overwhelmed trying to effectively teach in-person and Zoom students at the same time. We really need dedicated Zoom teachers and in-person teachers. It is too much to do both at the same time.

Like most teachers I came into the profession thinking it would be my career, not a job. I have a Master's Degree in my content area. I have been teaching for 9 years and I have lost my joy this year. I have never felt so under-valued. I feel as though my employer is treating me like a legal obligation not an educator. I will be leaving teaching at the end of this year to do something else. Hopefully I find my joy again and maybe I will return to the classroom, but not unless there are some major changes to how educators are paid, provided plan time, and actually valued and included in the discussions about the changing nature of education during a pandemic.

Thank you for taking the time to ask educators how we are feeling. We keep telling our district and school board the situation is unhealthy and unsustainable for many reasons, but NO ONE is listening.

Getting subs is a problem. Class covers are a problem.

Remote learning is hard and often these students do not have adults at home to help them remote learn from home. They are failing classes and struggling to stay engaged. I think we need a better handle on when and why students are remote learning and encourage families to strongly consider sending their kids back to school full time as it proves to be a mostly safe environment for students.

I have so many plates spinning that I feel nobody is getting the education they deserve. The Zoomers are waiting for me to do in-person stuff and the in-person kids are waiting for me to load something onto the screen for Zoomers. It's certainly not equitable. Let me be clear. Teaching in-person AND Zoom at the same time is NOT working. It's not. We need all in-person or all remote.

What we are doing with CDC and PPE is fine, what troubles me the most is that I can't do a good job of teaching both remotely and in-person at the same time. We have children that shouldn't be remote that are following farther behind every day. The state/district is also still mandating standardized tests and then using data to compare groups that should be compared. Ranking MAP RIT scores and comparing last year's MAP scores to this year when 30% of our students didn't take the MAP test this year and all the added stress of our situation while testing effects scores.

The expectations that continue to be placed on teachers is unreasonable. I don't feel that I can do my best teaching anymore as I am pulled in so many directions. It is affecting my family and kids at home. I love teaching--but this doesn't feel like teaching anymore. I don't have time to enjoy the kids anymore as there is so much curriculum pushed down our throats.

The people making the decisions at the district level are safe in their cozy offices, while us staff in the actual classrooms are on the front lines wondering when we will be the next one to get COVID and be out for a few weeks.

I feel like I am being used and my health or well-being does not matter. Students are being sent home and told they have to quarantine because they fail the COVID health check -- but they are also told to go to remote learning. If they go to remote learning LPS is not counting them in its data as cases or students out. This falsely hides the numbers leading the media to report COVID is not spreading in the schools; however, if you ask teachers from different schools how many kids go remote for a few weeks you’ll discover the number is quite high.

I know that teaching so many subgroups of students has been hard for me as well as the educators around me. We now have A students, B students, C students, and Z students, all of whom have different methods for receiving instruction. Many teachers are coming up with 3-4 individual lesson plans per day per class in order to meet the needs of these students in an equitable way. The planning that goes into that can add hours and hours to the work week. This is not a sustainable pace, especially as we start to figure out what the "new normal" looks like. The mental health of both students and educators is suffering.

Nothing about this pandemic is ideal, but I believe that if we don't prioritize taking care of each other and relieving the isolation that COVID-19 has caused, we may be facing larger issues in the near future. It is our job to prepare students to face their futures. Based on my observations and hearing from my students, they do not feel as though that is happening in our schools currently.

We were already coming in early and staying late most days. We were already working in the evenings and over the weekends. Now that time and our plan time is for COVID-related planning. When do we complete tasks such as grading, feedback, and communications? When do we sleep?

Our large district would be able to staff and offer online courses for our 100% ZOOMERS allowing teachers to focus on the students in front of them, while providing asynchronous activities on the days the A/B students are at home. At the high school level, buildings across the district could pool resources to create ZOOM only sections of courses. The district would have to take a stand to not allow 100% ZOOMERS return to in-person instruction midterm. Classes designed for online learners only would be far superior and more engaging than splitting the attention and efforts of the classroom teacher between multiple groups of students. Our most needy students would get the quality attention and instruction they deserve. As students would work from home, and teachers could work from their current schools or home, this would not cost the district anything other than the time it would take to schedule students into these classes. I am disgusted that such a simple idea was not even considered and instead classroom teachers are working harder instead of smarter all the while risking their health and wellness for a fraction of the salaries of those who could make a difference but choose not to..

I am concerned that classroom teachers cannot continue with the stress level they are under with students in class and remote learning. Teachers tell me they are prepping 3 lesson plans for each subject (A group, B group, & 100% remote learners). The constant stress of possible exposure and trying to teach in two completely different styles, and the number of students who are completely unengaged and as a consequence, the failing grades is a lot to deal with. This is all very difficult, and the students and teachers are all struggling.

I really don't want to leave this profession. I went back to school and earned my Master's degree in order to teach. It is my second career and I love being with my students in the classroom. I have always known that teachers are underpaid and unappreciated by many. I was ok with that. I don't do this job for those people. I do it for the kids. I could make do with all the extra duties, meetings, and trainings the district threw at us, as long as I could focus on my classroom and my kids. What is happening this year has changed my feelings. I have never felt so isolated and worthless at a job before. I have never felt so unseen and misunderstood. It breaks my heart listening to the district and the school board talk at meetings. It is absolutely disheartening to read the public's comments on articles from the newspaper. I can usually turn to colleagues for reassurance and a pick me up. Not this year. Everyone I know is feeling the same as me. There is no way we can keep up with what is being asked of us. I feel unsafe at my job every day, but if I say anything, I am told to just do my job like everyone else. The contract tracing at LPS is a joke and is extremely misleading to the general public. The workload is completely unsustainable. I am stressed even taking the time to write this right now. I have a list of 10 other things that have to be done by tomorrow, and a growing to do list of things that I never have the time to get done. I am working while watching my husband play with our child. I don't get the luxury of playing with her because I have too much to do for school. And it is not me being a "perfectionist" as our superintendent likes to say. It is me just trying to get by. This is a rambling mess, but it's the best I can do right now. My brain is in a constant state of mush and there is no end in sight. There is no break. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. There is honestly no hope right now. I have never wanted to leave the profession more than this year. I am doing my best for the kids, but it's not enough.

I've been working up to 78 hours a week. It's become "normal" for me to spend most of my Saturdays (and sometimes Sundays) working. When I set limits and worked less (between 48.5 and 59 hours) it simply wasn't enough time to get everything done. The workload isn't sustainable or healthy. I do not feel like I'm doing a great job of teaching either group of students (in-person or remote). I have never felt less respected and less valued as a professional as I have in the last 4-5 months.

Teaching remote and in-person at the same time is unsustainable and inequitable to teachers and students. So many people have spoken up and so little has changed. Please help.

We are all overwhelmed with all of the changes and the additional work of converting to digital, communicating with the NUMEROUS quarantined kids, adjusting instruction to the block, cleaning classrooms, etc. But administration keeps scheduling new trainings for this year, increasing the time pressure instead of helping relieve it. None of the new trainings were for anything related to the changes we are dealing with, of course. So new trainings that don't help with the things we are currently most focused on. In sum, I have never felt so incredibly devalued as a person, as overworked, or as unsafe.

I feel that COVID requirements are being relaxed based on current politics instead of relying on medical experts and trusting science.

You asked if we felt that our district cares about us. I believe that they do but I don’t think they realize what teachers are actually going through on a daily basis. I definitely don’t think the school board knows what is going on in the classrooms. I think that they care but how can they really know the hardships? Teachers put one foot in front of the other and don’t show the struggles because we are actually dealing with human beings that need our love and guidance. So, we march on in spite of it all BECAUSE of our students and the love we have for them! Here is the real story: We are short up to 5 paras a day and often times teachers’ jobs go unfilled. Classrooms, especially collab rooms are short on needed bodies to realistically get curriculum taught while simultaneously making sure we are being safe by cleaning, sanitizing, and staying 6 feet apart. We are doing all of this, while short on paras, with students on IEPs that have to be physically removed for defiance that sometimes puts them and their classmates in danger. Also teaching new Science curriculum this year that we haven’t previously taught. This is impossible for any human to do their job. We see our counselor pulled the morning of the start to school days to teach art, all grade levels and whatever else needs filled! She still has to do her own job after, to meet the mental needs of the kids while also sending out 40-minute remote learning lessons. Our rooms are not big enough to fit 6ft apart and now have kids sitting on the floor during lunch. Our SPED team is overworked and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t see a staff member cry in the hallway and often times it’s me. As teachers we do our jobs because we LOVE our kids and we try to do it with a smile which may look from the outside that all is well! It’s not well! I’m overwhelmed because I feel like I’m failing every day. Even 50 % school capacity might lessen some of the strain. We have a wonderful principal who is trying to meet all of our needs; our principal cares about the staff but can only do so much! Some of us are also dealing with elderly parents or parents with cancer and other health issues. Just another added source of worry! I feel so overwhelmed, defeated, and broken! One of the worse feelings in the world is to feel hopeless. It doesn’t seem to matter how many surveys we fill out. In the eyes of the Papillion-LaVista School District, we are staying 100% at capacity no matter what! At what cost? It’s hopeless at this point with no light at the end of the tunnel!

Although I think our administration is trying to be understanding about my situation, I truly believe they do not understand the extra demands of trying to zoom and teach students in-person. I also don't think they understand the amount of time I spend gathering resources/materials for students at home and at school. I am spending more time trying to get supplies for each student, so we don't cross-contaminate. It is exhausting! Plus, we are still being asked to do all the things we did before plus adding new things this year along with the added demands of COVID.

I believe my building principal has my back. I feel the curriculum director and superintendent do not understand or care what we are going through. They continue to add more to our plate instead of placing new things on hold and/or taking things off of our plate. I believe what they are asking comes with unreasonable expectations and don't want to change things or admit somethings were put in place that maybe shouldn't have been. I worry about our staff's mental state as we are all exhausted and worry very hard to ensure students are safe and are learning.

I am happy with the attention to safety my district has provided however I would like more transparent communication about cases we've had in the district. I do not think educators are listened too. We need more taken off our plate. The workload has not decreased.

Our district is only telling teachers what we have to do. They are not asking or taking into consideration what we CAN do. Morale is down among teachers. They are stressed, crying during meetings and to coworkers, and begging for some of the load to be lifted. All this falls on deaf ears.

Administration DOES NOT understand the mental toll teaching during COVID is taking on all teachers. I feel as if they do not understand or care, they just expect us to keep teaching with all kinds of crazy restrictions and expectations. They do not give us any extra release time for all the additional work we are putting in. They are not taking care of teachers and it is shameful.

I feel our school administrators and school board are doing what they can do, without the state leadership taking more steps to enforce precaution. Once the state leadership takes it more seriously, I think my administration would be able to do more. I hate that politics are playing such a large role in my safety and feel that it's not in my control.

My district is doing the best they can with funds and resources. I still feel unsafe due to the COVID guidelines ever changing and my inability to persuade those around me (parents and students outside of school) into following the guidelines. I wish we were able to have more and better PPE.

I don’t feel the District has our best interests at heart. The numbers in Nebraska are climbing by the day, the hospitals are becoming full, and we are still teaching in person. Our district allows kids to come in and out of remote learning whenever they want, which is stressful on teachers. I don't believe we are being told the truth when it comes to positive cases of outbreaks, and the communication is very poor. I don't feel listened to. I don't want to leave teaching, but I'm unhappy with how our superintendent is handling the whole situation.

My small school district is seeing the effects of a team spreading event. I know the kids are crying for participating in winter events, but I’m quite worried that winter sports will bring the rate of infection up to the point of needing to close.

Along with the frustration of large class sizes and not social distancing in the classroom or in the lunch room, our principals are still doing book study reflections which include reading chapters in the book, taking notes and reflections and handing in, video recording of yourself with math talk and filling out 2 forms and handing in, along with formal observations in which they record and write down everything you say. Our district has us doing a new Science curriculum with no training, introduce a new 15-day challenge and implementing. We have one planning time which sometimes involves going to IEP's, in addition after school is dismissed all teachers, specialist, and paras must go outside until all children are picked up, most days only getting 10 actual minutes for the plan time.

Our leaders care and are following the guidelines, but the pushback from students and parents who think this is all a joke is an added stressor and pulls down our culture. Overall, much of my frustration comes from seeing friends and family in other parts of the nation and other countries having employers and governments take this more seriously than ours.

A lack of leadership on the state level has led to a lack of leadership on the local level. Our Superintendent will not make a decision he fears may be unpopular with some patrons. I have yet to see him with a mask on. I’m worried about our staff more so than students.

Our school district in Shelton rocks. We are doing a great job and our teachers/administrators are on the same wavelength. Great team chemistry.

If there is anything that could be done to ensure that staff and families do NOT come to school sick that would be great. The district is doing a lot to protect us, but they cannot make decisions for people. Also, mass COVID testing would be amazing. It is so infuriating to hear that the Huskers are tested daily and yet here we are in the schools staying out for days waiting for tests and results. That’s why people don’t follow the rules.

Hands-down, this has been the most stressful school year I have ever experienced. At one point, I was planning for three remote learners, one homeschool student, students on A schedule, students on B schedule, and providing additional work for students at home on their "home learning week" when requested by parents. During our A/B schedule, I would sometimes Zoom with students (individually or in small groups) up to seven times per day. It was too much to handle while trying to also teach students at school. I am now planning for one remote learner, one homeschool student, and students at school. It is definitely better, but the stress of daily policy/expectation changes, extra cleaning, the constantly changing students on quarantine, worrying about my own health, etc., is a lot. I feel like guidance from our administrators is severely lacking, especially when it comes to SPED laws/guidance during alternate schedules. Also, we are told to take care of our mental health, but our workloads keep increasing. Several of us have said that we were "Christmas Tired" by September - that isn't good.

NSEA should be using EVERY tool at its disposal to advocate for a statewide mask mandate. There are fewer than three counties in the green. Most are red. This is what our students, educators, families and communities need and deserve.

NSEA: Students needs not being met, teachers overwhelmed