Before the Levy Breaks

As the school year begins, I find myself in a familiar place—standing at the intersection of excitement, responsibility, and deep reflection. This is the time of year when hallways come alive, buses roll before sunrise, classrooms hum with possibility, and every role in our schools—custodians, bus drivers, paraeducators, teachers, food service staff, administrative assistants, principals, superintendents—pours themselves into making it all work.

It’s also the time when the weight of “doing more with less” feels heaviest. I’ve seen my colleagues and teammates across the state and country stretch resources to meet student needs, adapt to challenges without hesitation, and give more of themselves than anyone could reasonably ask. Sometimes we are literally manifesting more from an empty cup, not knowing if this day, week, month, or year will be the one that breaks us.

I’m posting this now because it’s too easy for these efforts to go unseen or unacknowledged in the rush of the year. I want to shine a light on the reality of the work and the people behind it. I want to say to every educator, in every role—I see you. I see you making a difference in lives every single day. I see the late nights, the early mornings, the compromises you make for the sake of kids, and the hope you carry even when resources, time, and energy run thin.

To those of you who have ever made magic out of thin air, who have taught, supported, mentored, transported, fed, cleaned, counseled, led, and loved students while the world expected you to just “make it work” — your story matters.

If you have your own story, or know an educator who’s gone above and beyond, share it with one of these hashtags so we can celebrate and lift each other up:

#MoreWithLess #TheRealBack2School #SchoolStories #WeSeeYou

Let’s make sure the heart and humanity of this work never get lost in the headlines or budgets.

And that’s why I’m sharing the message below. It’s a piece from my heart — a call to action, grounded in my own experiences and the stories I’ve heard from colleagues across Iowa and beyond.

So here it goes… another long one … still haven’t mastered the art of saying more with less

Before the Levy Breaks — Protecting Iowa’s Children by Protecting Those Who Serve Them

Iowa’s public schools are nearing a breaking point. Teacher shortages deepen, leaders step away, programs erode. But behind the headlines is a more urgent truth: the people who hold our schools together are being pushed beyond their limits. If we don’t act, the cost will fall on the very children we exist to serve.

The cumulative weight of “one more thing”

Across the last decade‑plus of state policy shifts, the load has steadily grown. It is estimated that for-

• School leaders: an added 300–450 hours each year (≈7–11 workweeks) in compliance, reporting, and rollout work.

• Educators: an added 50–80 hours each year (≈1–2 unpaid workweeks) on non‑instructional tasks.

• The vast majority are unfunded or underfunded, forcing schools to do more with less—time and dollars siphoned away from students.

Each new rule looks manageable in isolation. Cumulatively, they snowball—and the stress spills down the chain: superintendent → principal → teacher → support staff → students.

My story — and why I’m worried

I stepped into educational leadership because I believe in public education and felt called to try to make a differerence— for our students, staff, and communities. I expected hard work; I didn’t expect the toll.

As I enter my 8th year in educational leadership:

• I’ve been hospitalized for stress‑related conditions on numerous occasions.

• I developed high blood pressure, tachycardia, sleep apnea, and had facial paralysis.

• I battle ADHD, anxiety, and depressive episodes with days the weight of the job makes it hard to get up.

• My weight has swung, my sleep is fractured, and many mornings begin with an empty tank with a chaser of caffeine.

These have left short‑term and permanent impacts on my body and my mental health.

Worst part about this is I’m not an outlier. National data show educators have some of the highest burnout and stress rates of any profession; leaders’ rates are even higher. Long work hours alone are associated with dramatically higher cardiovascular risk. This isn’t about discomfort; it’s about health, safety, and sustainability.

From rugs to reality — the misunderstood side of “always giving more”

A viral TikTok recently showed a parent distraught that a kindergarten room didn’t have a rug. Teachers’ and educators replies poured in: budgets are tight; mandates crowd out basics; this may be a first year teacher, etc… but when something small and meaningful is missing, educators quietly fill the gap. Classroom Rugs are expensive and this is something teachers often purchase to make their room their own. They are not always items provided by districts and it may take a teacher a year or two before they get a big, beautiful tapestry…

That rug is not just a rug though… It’s what teachers and leaders do every day:

• A teacher buys a rug with personal funds so children have a warm, welcoming gathering place.

• They stock snacks and spare clothes because some kids arrive hungry or unprepared—no questions asked.

• They skip lunch to run one more intervention for a child whose parent is in the hospital or the student is missing school because of their own cancer treatments.

• They spend evenings writing grants for seating, books, and manipulatives because the supply line ran dry.

• A principal covers recess duty so a para can support a student meltdown; a superintendent drives a plow to help clear snow after a storm.

• On weekends, someone is moving furniture, shoveling sidewalks, repairing what’s broken—because Monday must be ready for kids.

The rug is a symbol of a larger truth: educators are the shock absorbers of an under‑resourced system, pouring from cups that are empty or close to it. The more we pour, the more we realize we can’t make the dent our kids deserve—not without systemic relief.

What gets crowded out

Even as mandates multiply, communities rightly expect us to deliver on high‑impact local work:

• Facilities planning and bond work for safe, modern environments.

• Curriculum adoptions and system implementations that raise achievement and close gaps.

• Staff growth and retention, mentoring, instructional coaching.

• Parent and community partnership—the heart of trust and belonging.

These are the levers that move learning. Yet we wedge them between policy rollouts, reviews, and reporting cycles. Opportunity cost is real: every hour pulled into compliance or non-essential work is an hour not spent on improving kids’ learning conditions and opportunities.

The state of educator and leader well‑being — what the data shows:

Teachers

• Work 53 hours/week on average—about 9 more hours than similarly educated peers; pay lags by $18,000/year on average.

• Stress and burnout: large national surveys show ~59% indicate frequent job stress and ~44% reporting “often/always” burned out.

• Working >45 hours/week is tied to sharply higher emotional exhaustion and difficulty recovering.

• Burnout shows physiologic footprints (headaches, immune issues, voice strain) and can even elevate students’ cortisol when teachers are distressed.

Principals

• Around 85% report frequent job‑related stress; around 48% report burnout.

• Roughly one‑third of teachers and principals say they’re likely to leave within a year in several national snapshots.

Superintendents

• Around 80% report work is “often or always” stressful; politicization is a top driver.

• Annual turnover is commonly 13–16%; in many metros, 1 in 5 changed superintendents in a single year post‑pandemic. This number is higher in rural areas.

• Average tenure for Large/urban districts: ≈3–6 years depending on cohort and methodology (many land near 3–4).

• Nationally across thousands of résumés, some studies find 1–2 years is the median tenure in recent years’ snapshots

• Leaders report limited access to mental‑health supports and rising intent to exit, especially after successive policy shocks.

Occupational health

• Working 55+ hours/week raises stroke risk by ~35% and heart‑disease mortality by ~17% (WHO/ILO).

• Chronic work stress links to depression, sleep disorders, hypertension, and metabolic risk—all of which erode capacity to lead and teach.

To put plainly: the system’s current design is hazardous to the people it depends on.

We can’t give our best if we’re breaking

Right now my “best” often feels hollow. I pour, and pour, and pour. Some weeks, it’s survival, not leadership. And if leaders and educators can’t be at their best, Iowa’s children cannot receive our best. When people break, the system breaks—and kids carry the heaviest load.

A call to action — beyond our walls

Something must give before the levy does. And that “something” cannot be yet another unfunded task for educators.

We need shared responsibility.

So I ask every educator, principal, and superintendent to be honest

Let people see the reality that you have become an expert at masking…

• Tell how you gave up an evening to visit a student in the hospital while they were facing a health challenge to drop off handmade cards from their peers and some extra support from you —while you wondered how you were going to afford classroom basics to just meet the NEEDS of your students.

• Share what it’s like to sit with a student in crisis while your own reserves and mental stability is nearly gone.

• Show your to‑do list and the context of what its like to switch from putting out fires to forecasting a budget, then the nights and weekends that disappear, and the way priorities you know help kids get bumped by compliance deadlines.

And share the light: the one student’s breakthrough, the graduate’s thank‑you note that gives you just enough to scrape the bottom of the barrel and show up again.

Tell your spouse, your parents, your best friend outside education. Ask your faith community to pray for students and the adults holding the system together. Share with business owners and community leaders—the people who can help change minds and budgets.

Stop eating your words, staying quiet, and just figuring it out like we always do and have done because we want to protect the children, families, peers, and communities we work for and with.

To policymakers and the public — Partner with us!

• Audit and streamline K‑12 mandates; retire low‑impact or redundant rules.

• Pair requirements with funding and staffing—no more “do it anyway” campaigns that raid classroom time.

• Protect leadership time for instruction, staff growth, and community partnership.

• Build educator voice into policymaking upstream, not after passage.

• Invest in mental‑health supports for school employees with the same seriousness we bring to student well‑being.

But most importantly… listen… and I mean truly listen because even in our brags at times there is a tinge of just celebrating that we have survived…

When we advocate and use our voices more than we ever have before it isnt because we’re tired of the way Its always been… its because education has never been harder and the stakes of not keeping it all tofether have neve felt higher…

The noise isnt just there because of social media and exposure… its louder and there because we are starting to sound the alarm bells in the most polite and often delicate way we can because deep down we know we’ll figure it out no matter what… because our system had backed us into the corner where we don’t have an option… if we dont do it… the kids are harmed the most… we’ll grind until we break… and then educator walk away from a career many of us committed our lives to and the system erodes that much more.

Protect the people, and we protect the children. That’s the whole point.

At the end of the day, none of this is about rugs, forms, or even policy changes and memos. It’s about children—and whether the adults who serve them are whole enough to give them our best.

Iowa’s kids deserve classrooms that feel warm and human, educators who are present and healthy, and leaders with the bandwidth to focus on learning, safety, and belonging. We cannot deliver that if we keep pretending the current load is sustainable. It isn’t.

The levy will not hold forever. Let’s act together now—before it breaks.

#MoreWithLess #TheRealBack2School #SchoolStories #WeSeeYouvr

See less