Exits by Black and Hispanic Teachers Pose a New Threat to Covid-Era Education

Lynette Henley needed one more year to receive her full pension after 40 years as a teacher, but she couldn’t convince herself it was worth the risk.

So Henley, 65, who has diabetes and congestive heart failure, retired last June as a math and history teacher at Hogan Middle School, in Vallejo, California, which serves mostly Black and Hispanic children.

“You’re in a classroom with 16 to 20 kids and a lot of my students weren’t vaccinated,” said Henley. “I just didn’t feel safe. It wasn’t worth it to possibly die to teach.”

Henley, who is Black, is part of a nationwide surge of teachers who are leaving the profession — especially evident among members of the profession with minority backgrounds. Amid the pandemic’s toxic brew of death, illness, and classroom disruption, these departures of seasoned teachers have created another strain for students.

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System reported a 26% increase in the number of teacher retirements in the second half of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. Of those surveyed, more than half cited challenges of teaching during the pandemic as their main reason for leaving. A national survey published by the National Education Association on Feb. 1 found that 55% of teachers planned to exit earlier than anticipated, up from 37% in August 2021. The numbers were highest among Black (62%) and Latino (59%) educators.

The issue was palpable when in-person classes resumed in Southern California in January. In some large districts, more than a quarter of schoolchildren were absent the first week back. Some of those who did return entered classrooms that had no teacher or were staffed by underqualified substitutes.

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