Illinois residents think teachers are “underpaid” and “overworked.” That’s according to this year’s “State of Education” survey from the Illinois Education Association.
Al Llorens is the president of the Illinois Education Association.
“We ask whether people think that teaching has become easier or harder in the past few years," he said. "Both parents and the public at large overwhelmingly agree it's becoming harder."
A majority believe the teachers in their community are paid too little. And the percentage of people who agreed with that rose 9% compared to last year’s survey.
About half of Illinois residents said they were aware of school support staff shortages in their community.
Respondents graded public schools in their community higher than public schools in the state as a whole or in the country.
“What I see is that people that are experiencing what teachers are doing in their community," said Llorens, "and how they're impacting their kids is more solid data than what they're hearing about in other places."
When asked "Which groups should have a very strong voice in how public schools are run?" 69% of people said teachers, 63% said parents, while only 11% said politicians.
The poll surveyed 1000 Illinois residents. The Illinois Education Association survey was conducted by Next Generation Strategies & Normington Petts.
