Hinsdale D-86 Job Satisfaction Drops

BURR RIDGE, IL – Job satisfaction among teachers in Hinsdale High School District 86 has dropped since last fall, according to the district.

An official gave a number of reasons for the decrease, including one involving the school board.

An April survey found satisfaction fell 6 percentage points among teachers and 1 percent point among other staff.

"That tells us something," Cheryl Moore, assistant superintendent of human resources, told the school board last week. "Six percentage points is statistically significant, 1 percentage point is not."

As of April, 42 percent of teachers were satisfied with their job, down from 48 percent last fall. Among other staff, satisfaction was at 53 percent, compared with 54 percent last fall.

Moore said the board's high-level decisions may be a factor.

"I'm not trying to blame or point fingers, but the things that are discussed and decided at this table do have an impact on teachers," Moore said.

Before last April's board election, the board made major changes to the math and science curriculums. After the election, a new board majority wiped away the changes to math and reversed some science adjustments.

"That has an impact on what goes on in the work environment, and I'll just leave it at that," Moore said. "We need to be mindful that what we do here does impact the classroom."

She also said teachers' satisfaction may have decreased as a result of changes in education during the pandemic and afterward. And the struggles of staffing also may have contributed, she said.

"We have not been able to fill our support staff positions," Moore said. "We have had substitute positions that we have not been able to fill, where our teachers had to step in. We thank them and appreciate them, but we have to find a way to give them that space and time to do their planning and not subbing for their peers."