Teachers tell Senate committee student behavior, cellphone use and workload are driving burnout

Hundreds of pages of testimony and interviews presented to the Idaho Senate Education Committee in Boise focused on teacher burnout, student conduct and the impact of ubiquitous classroom technology. Former classroom teacher Courtney Linker, who said she interviewed 73 teachers across 16 districts, and Meridian resident and former Los Angeles Unified School District teacher Lori Belaud urged lawmakers to change funding, discipline and staffing policies to keep teachers in the classroom.

Linker, who said she held 73 interviews to document conditions facing teachers, told the committee: "Last year's experience as a classroom teacher broke me. I felt broken mentally and physically." She said the interviews showed a sharp decline in people entering teacher-preparation programs and widespread stress and exhaustion among practicing teachers.

The committee heard specifics from Linker's research: 99 percent of the teachers she…