Teachers More Optimistic as School Year Wraps Up

Last spring, teacher optimism towards K–12 education plummeted to the lowest levels we’ve observed in our four years of surveying teachers. Relatedly, our polling of teachers last spring revealed nearly half of teachers felt that student absences and misbehaviors were happening more frequently. How are teachers feeling as the 2025 school year comes to a close? How has student absenteeism changed, if at all, according to teachers? Has classroom behavior improved?  

In partnership with Morning Consult, EdChoice developed a nationally representative survey of K–12 teachers (N=1,032), fielded from March 21-27, 2025. We encourage everyone to read the full report, but here are the key findings.  

Teacher Optimism Bounces Back  

More than half of teachers feel that K–12 education is headed in the right direction in their local school district, a level of optimism that has not been seen since spring of 2023. In addition, 43% and 31% of teachers feel optimistic about the direction of K–12 education in their state and nationwide, respectively. Teacher optimism across all three levels has increased by more than 10 points since last spring.  

Teachers also have positive sentiments when thinking about the future. Nearly two-thirds of teachers (63%) say they are hopeful, compared to only 18% who say they are fearful. The majority of teachers (57%) are feeling happy, while over half of teachers say they feel satisfied. Only about one-fourth of teachers report feeling overwhelmed (28%) or frustrated (23%).  

More than one-fourth (27%) of teachers would recommend the teaching profession to a friend or family member. While still at a low level, this represents a 12-point increase since last spring. Private school teachers are feeling especially upbeat about the teaching profession. A year ago, only 17% of private school teachers said they would recommend the teaching profession. In this survey the proportion has more than doubled, with 35% of private school teachers saying they would recommend the teaching profession. It is worth mentioning that more than half of private school teachers said they would recommend the teaching profession back in spring of 2023, so work remains to be done to reach those levels again.  

Are Teachers Observing Fewer Absences and Less Misbehavior from Students? 

We asked teachers if they feel student absences and misbehavior are happening more often compared to last spring. Less than one-third of teachers (32%) said they felt absences are occurring more frequently. When we asked this same question to teachers in spring of 2024 (which would require them to compare rate of absences then to the rate back in spring 2023) 40% of teachers felt absences were occurring more frequently. District school teachers were more likely than private school teachers to feel absences were happening more frequently.  

A similar sentiment exists among teachers when thinking about student misbehavior. Only 34% of teachers feel that student misbehavior is more frequent now than last spring. This represents a significant decrease from what teachers reported in our survey last year, where 47% felt that student misbehavior was more frequent than the year prior (spring 2023).  

We probed further into the classroom disruptions question. We asked teachers how often their classes are interrupted by student behavior issues (bullying, verbal outbursts, etc.) as well as issues with technology (malfunctions, student misuse, cell phone use, etc.). Nearly one-third (32%) of teachers said that student behavior issues interrupt classroom operations at least very frequently. On the other hand, 40% of teachers said that student behavior issues happen rarely or never.  

Technology issues are less of a disruption, according to teachers. Only 28% of teachers say that technology issues are very or extremely frequent interruptions in their classrooms. Conversely, 42% of teachers say that technology issues are rarely or never causing issues in their classrooms.  

Strong Support for ESAs and Vouchers Increases Among Teachers 

The majority of teachers support ESAs and school vouchers when provided a description of the policies. Nearly three out of four teachers (74%) support ESAs while just over half (54%) support vouchers. Private school teachers and those earlier in their careers are more likely to favor ESAs and vouchers.  

Furthermore, teachers are more likely than a year ago to say they strongly support each of these policies. More than one-third of teachers (35%) strongly support ESAs, up 6 points from last spring. The same is true for teacher support for vouchers, as 22% of teachers say they strongly support the policy, an 8-point increase from a year ago.  

Continuing on with ESAs, teachers are far more likely to support universal ESAs compared to ESAs being offered based on financial need. More than two-thirds of teachers (69%) say that ESAs should be available to all families regardless of income or special needs, while less than half (43%) feel that ESAs should be based on financial need. We observed a similar message from school parents when we posed the same question in January. School parents were far more likely to agree that ESAs should be made available to all (73%) rather than being made available based on financial need (51%).   

As the school year wraps up, it’s encouraging to see teacher sentiment trending in a more hopeful direction. Compared to last spring, more teachers report feeling optimistic about the direction of education at the local, state, and national levels. Fewer teachers say student absences and misbehavior are increasing, and disruptions in the classroom, be they behavioral or technological, appear to be occurring less frequently. Support for education savings accounts (ESAs) and vouchers has also grown, with more teachers expressing strong approval for these policies. These trends offer a snapshot of the shifting perspectives among K–12 educators as they reflect on the past year.  

Read the full report here.