Teachers Aren't Just Teaching Anymore, But It's Taking a Toll

If you’ve ever watched a teacher greet 25 kids at the classroom door, it could look like the school day starts there, followed by attendance and planned lessons. But behind the scenes, there’s much more to a teacher’s morning: like quietly checking who’s worn the same sweatshirt three days in a row, who skipped breakfast, who’s unusually withdrawn, and who might need more motivation to learn — all before they can even think about long division or reading comprehension.

That’s because, for many, being an educator has become just one part of the job. They’re also counselors, conflict mediators, executive function coaches, cheerleaders, and stand-in parents — all while trying to teach reading, math, science, and everything in between.

A survey of 2,500 schools released today by education nonprofit DonorsChoose found that teachers personally spend an average of $600 on classroom supplies annually, while 37% hold second jobs that require an average of 20 more work hours.

“It’s a really demoralizing, quiet burden that so many teachers carry,” a California elementary school teacher who took part in the survey said.

And nearly half of teachers report being concerned about student hunger — with 40% of teachers providing students on a daily or weekly basis with essential life needs such as food, hygiene items, and clothing in ways that are turning schools into food pantries. As a New Jersey high school teacher who took the survey shared, “I provide my students with food daily. I wash their clothing when needed — maybe once per week.”

It’s no wonder that over 60% of the teachers surveyed are concerned or very concerned about their students’ mental health — and that same percentage worry they don’t have the right resources to prepare kids for their future.   

While it might seem like teaching has always come with a multitude of responsibilities, experts say the role has actually expanded over the years, and not without consequences. A 2026 systematic review of 366 peer-reviewed studies published in Frontiers in Education found that mounting workloads, student-related challenges, and time pressures are among the biggest drivers of teacher stress and burnout.

Elizabeth D. Steiner, a senior policy researcher at nonprofit RAND and director of the American Educator Panels, says teachers themselves report just how much the job has expanded. In RAND’s nationally representative State of the American Teacher Survey, teachers reported working about 50 hours a week— roughly 10 hours beyond their contracted schedules. While classroom instruction still takes up the biggest share of their time, they’re also spending substantial hours lesson planning, addressing student mental health concerns, handling administrative work, and, for many, taking on additional paid roles within their schools.

Ashlee Gutierrez has spent nearly two decades in education as a classroom teacher, principal, and now director of a teaching program at the Bay Area Teacher Training Institute. She has watched her job transform dramatically. “When I first began, the role of teacher was exactly as you imagine it: design lessons aligned to your content area,” Gutierrez says. “Over the years, we’ve seen the scope of the role change significantly.”

Beyond classroom instruction, she says today’s teachers are also helping students navigate questions around identity, mental health, and an increasingly polarized world. For students whose home lives aren’t supportive, she says, teachers often become the trusted adult they turn to. “Teaching was already one of the most complex professions,” she says, “but in the last decade social, political, and technological changes have drastically increased the complexity.”

A school administrator and former teacher who wished to remain anonymous says her role officially includes welcoming and assessing newly arrived immigrant and refugee students through ESL intake; unofficially, she works with local charities to provide backpacks, school supplies, and winter coats, so teachers aren’t left to shoulder the responsibility alone. “We distribute them to families in need when they come in for ESL testing,” she says.

In addition to supporting students through learning, many also listen to kids navigating anxiety, bullying, and heartbreak. Others celebrate milestones, mourn losses, and worry long after the final bell rings.

And then there are the teachers, as the recent survey found, who dip into their own pockets to stock classrooms with school supplies, snacks, and basic necessities.

Teachers have to do it all, but I truly wouldn’t have it any other way. I am grateful to God for the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on my students’ lives—to support their growth, help them overcome challenges, deepen their learning, and guide them toward becoming the best versions of themselves. #TeacherTok #TeachersofTikTok #TeacherLife #MrsG🍏 #fypviralシ

“I have spent a lot of my own money over my 21 years of teaching,” says Ashley Elio, a New Jersey elementary school teacher. “I have bought clothes, snacks, pencils, markers, water, soap, play dough.” In addition to buying things for her own classroom, she has also brought items from home that her students can use. “My district doesn’t say I must buy my own stuff, but I feel if I don’t, my classroom would be lacking,” she says.

“Behind every classroom that’s ready on the first day is usually a teacher who’s spent weeks of their own time and hundreds of their own dollars making it happen,” says teacher Sarah (@bigheartslittleminds) in a recent video posted to TikTok, which is rife with discussions of such expansive classroom responsibilities.

Teachers shouldn’t have to choose between their own paycheck and giving their students the classroom they deserve. A great education shouldn’t depend on how much a teacher can afford to spend. To every teacher pouring your heart into your classroom: your students are lucky to have you, and your hard work never goes unnoticed Teachers, how much have you spent so far this back-to-school season? Share your numbers in the comments! ⬇️

“The job description still says ‘teach,'” says Christiane Schroeter, professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. “The actual job became ‘teach — plus notice, plus steady, plus feed, plus catch.'” Schroeter, who has spent nearly two decades mentoring students and coaching educators on leadership, communication, and sustainable workloads, attests that expanding demands placed on teachers aren’t limited to elementary or secondary classrooms — they’re showing up across education.

It’s a blurring of lines that’s happened gradually over the last decade, with responsibilities that accumulated as schools have lost resources and families have faced increasingly complex challenges. She points to reductions in school counselors, nurses, and social workers as one reason teachers have absorbed more responsibilities. “Those needs did not disappear,” she explains. “They landed on the one adult who’s always in the room.”

Adri Westlake is middle school math teacher in suburban Maryland, serving many lower-income families. She keeps a personal care basket in her classroom stocked with deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, and Band-Aids — plus extra sweatpants at school for girls who unexpectedly get their period. She stocks protein bars for students who are hungry. She’s donated winter coats from her own children’s closets (with parents’ permission and in coordination with student services) for kids who didn’t have appropriate clothing.

None of these responsibilities appear in a teacher’s contract. Yet they’re becoming increasingly common. “Many teachers I know also have a version of this,” Westlake says.

Supporting students emotionally matters. But expecting teachers to function as educators, counselors, behavioral specialist, co-regulators, crisis responders, and mental health support simultaneously, without adequate training or systemic support, is not sustainable. I said what I said. #teacherburnout#burnout#teachersoftiktok#teacherlife#teacher

Students often ask to eat lunch in her classroom because they’re struggling with friendships or bullying. Others confide in her about anxiety, depression, or relationship problems. Every week, she volunteers her lunch period to tutor students — not just in math, but in whatever subject they need help with.

“I care for my students deeply,” Westlake says, “and am honored that they view me as a stable, trusted adult in their lives.” 

But that emotional labor doesn’t stay at school.

“I carry the burden of worrying about my students with me after I leave the school building,” she says. “I think this is part of being in a caregiving profession… but it is also a contributing factor to teacher burnout.”

Parents need to stop expecting teachers to raise their children. There is a clear line between what parents are expected to do and what teachers are expected to do.

Janet Ferone, a former educator in high-poverty communities and now an education consultant in Boston who also trains future teachers through Curry College, has seen these extra responsibilities play out in classrooms for more than three decades.

In some cases, she says, school staff helped organize funerals for students killed by gang violence because grieving families didn’t have the financial resources to do it themselves. Teachers and administrators found funding for winter coats, cell phones, and food. They drove students to job interviews, accompanied them to court appearances, helped them shop for prom dresses, and attended graduations, hospital visits, and sporting events.

Before Thanksgiving, they organized holiday meals for students who otherwise wouldn’t have had one.

“We felt we had no choice,” Ferone says. Students couldn’t succeed academically if basic needs weren’t being met. She points out that the pressure to go above and beyond for students isn’t exactly new — just more expansive, and more normalized.

But she also knows that these connections can take a toll.

“Unfortunately this placed too heavy a burden on individual educators’ time, emotional capacity, and personal money,” she says. “It blurred boundaries, created secondary trauma, stress, and burnout.”

“We keep asking [the teacher] to be the whole village,” she says. “A village was never supposed to be one person.”

There’s no single reason teachers have taken on so much more. Instead, experts say it’s the result of several forces colliding. Children today are experiencing higher rates of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and trauma than previous generations. At the same time, many schools continue to grapple with staffing shortages and limited budgets.

Steiner says one of the biggest shifts teachers are reporting is the growing amount of time devoted to supporting students’ emotional well-being. According to Steiner, 59% of teachers in RAND’s survey reported spending more time supporting student mental health than they did the previous school year. She says that’s likely tied to the lingering effects of the pandemic — including higher rates of anxiety, chronic absenteeism, increased screen use, and the growing needs of students living in poverty. Teachers are also spending more time adapting lessons to increasingly diverse learning needs.

Ferone says the disparities are impossible to ignore, and that schools serving lower-income communities are more likely to encounter urgent needs related to food, clothing, transportation, housing instability, and health care. Yet those same schools often have fewer counselors, social workers, community partners, and emergency funds available to respond. Meanwhile, more affluent districts can often rely on outside therapy, tutoring, transportation, and other privately funded resources that ease some of the burden on educators.

That doesn’t mean suburban teachers have it easy. Westlake says she’s seen a dramatic increase in students struggling with anxiety and depression since COVID. More and more, students simply need an adult they trust.

Every educator I spoke with made one thing clear: teachers don’t want to stop caring for students. They simply don’t want to be expected to do it alone.

For Schroeter, that starts with restoring the support positions schools have lost. “Every counselor added is a subtraction from a teacher’s second shift,” she says. She also believes schools need to acknowledge that caregiving has become part of the job, and compensate and support teachers accordingly rather than treating it as invisible labor.

Ferone agrees. She believes schools need more counselors, nurses, family liaisons, social workers, transition specialists, and partnerships with community organizations. She also argues for emergency funds that can help families with essentials like food, transportation, clothing, and housing instead of relying on teachers to quietly pay out of pocket.

“I cringe when I see social media posts referring to teaching as a ‘calling’ and normalizing educators routinely spending their own money,” she says. “If schools are expected to function as a central part of the social safety net, that work must be funded and staffed accordingly.”

Steiner says teachers consistently identify strong support from principals on student behavior issues and collaboration with colleagues as some of the biggest contributors to a healthy work environment. She also argues that educators need greater flexibility to achieve a sustainable work-life balance—something that’s becoming increasingly difficult as the role continues to expand beyond instruction.

“We know teachers are expected now more than ever to do all of the work,” says a Communities in Schools spokesperson, “but they shouldn’t have to.”