Teachers describe burnout, classroom violence and cellphone impacts as Idaho faces retention crunch

Courtney Linker, a former Idaho classroom teacher and 2025 Idaho Teacher of the Year nominee, told the Senate Education Committee that after 17 years in the classroom she took leave because of chronic stress and what she described as a statewide pattern of teacher burnout. "Last year's experience as a classroom teacher broke me," Linker said, adding that she experienced physical symptoms and needed medical checks.

Linker and earlier public commenter Lori Belaud, a 23-year former Los Angeles Unified School District teacher, told senators that classroom discipline, parental disengagement and pervasive cellphone use are primary drivers of the problem and that current school staffing and funding structures do not meet today’s needs. Belaud said student refusals to complete work and a "lack of respect for both teachers and peers cannot be tolerated." Linker said cellphone and social-media use have reduced students' ability to behave in public and worsened anxiety.

Why it matters: both presenters argued that the scale of the problem is large enough to threaten the pipeline of future teachers…