Over 80% of Hamilton County teachers are satisfied with their jobs, according to state survey

Educators sing along with a video played by keynote speaker Dwayne Reed during Teach Like A Boss at The Edney Building on Tuesday, July 9, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Reed, whose YouTube video "Welcome to the 4th Grade" became a viral sensation, spoke about the importance of student engagement. Educators sing along with a video played by keynote speaker Dwayne Reed during Teach Like A Boss at The Edney Building on Tuesday, July 9, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Reed, whose YouTube video "Welcome to the 4th Grade" became a viral sensation, spoke about the importance of student engagement.

By Meghan Mangrum August 22, 2019 5 min read

Catherine Casselman, a second grade teacher at East Side Elementary, Brenda Morris, a kindergarten teacher at Dupont Elementary, Tabitha Beck Christy, a third grade teacher at Red Bank Elementary, and Kayla Bowman, a kindergarten teacher at Daisy Elementary, participate in a panel discussion during the Hamilton County Schools New Teacher Academy held at Hixson Middle School on Monday, July 22, 2019 in Hixson, Tennessee. The panel was held for first-year teachers to be able to ask questions of more experienced teachers.

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Read the 2019 Tennessee Educator Survey or review data for your school or district at educatorsurvey.tnk12.gov/

An increasing number of Hamilton County Schools teachers are satisfied with their jobs and their schools, but system-wide satisfaction lags behind that of other systems across the state, according to data released Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee Education Research Alliance at Vanderbilt University.

The 2019 Tennessee Educator Survey says about 86% of teachers in Hamilton County said they were “generally satisfied with being a teacher in [their] school” – up from 84% in 2018. Statewide, it’s 90%.

Meanwhile, Hamilton County teachers were not alone in their dissatisfaction with the amount of planning time they have and how administrators handle discipline in some schools.

This year’s survey found that 70% of teachers report spending more than four hours per week creating or sourcing instructional materials, but only about half of teachers said their individual and collaborative planning time is enough.