Former Idaho teacher presents interviews showing widespread burnout, cites behavior, technology and workload

Courtney Linker, a former Idaho classroom teacher, told the Idaho Senate Education Committee on an October meeting day that she compiled interviews with 73 teachers across 16 districts and 35 schools and concluded that teacher burnout is widespread and driven by student behavior, parental disengagement, heavy nonteaching duties and pervasive student device use.

Linker said the research included teachers from across K–12 and across experience levels, and that "last year's experience as a classroom teacher broke me. That's really the only way I know how to describe what I felt." Her stated purpose in the project was clear: "My purpose is to save teachers," she said.

Linker told senators the interviews produced consistent findings she described as alarming: 99% of respondents were state‑certified; two‑thirds were female; 47% described themselves as happy at work while 60% said they felt stressed or anxious and 55% said they felt overwhelmed. She said many teachers reported health impacts and that a significant share did not believe they would remain in the…