New Haven's Direct-to-Member Relief

Like the White Bear Lake Area Educators (see here) and Cleveland Teachers Union (see here), the New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT) received an AFT grant to support educator well-being in the summer of 2022. Participants in that initial cohort reported decreasing levels of burnout, increased levels of resilience, and a renewed sense of professional possibility.¹ Leslie Blatteau, president of the NHFT, was impressed with the results and saw an opportunity to collaborate with her district around teacher retention and well-being.

New Haven, like many districts, was losing teachers to stress and overwhelm. Leslie explained that teachers “didn’t have a clear sense of how to move forward” coming out of the pandemic, and “our immediate goal was to do something about the hemorrhaging of teachers.”² The trial program had “really good data to show how much this impacted the participants.... This was really meaningful and helped them navigate teaching in this new era.” She initially brought the work to Keisha Redd-Hannans, the assistant superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; together, they shared it with the Teaching and Learning Committee of the Board of Education. With increased funding for professional learning in the district thanks to the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, “this was a no-brainer,” said Leslie.

New Haven opted for a weekly cohort model offered twice over the course of the 2023–24 school year. Those who completed the six-session program and required assignments were offered a stipend to acknowledge their time. Session topics included the five pitfalls of the educator experience (overwhelm, personal neglect, fixed mindset, unexpected challenges, and isolation) and listening, core values, prioritizing, strengths, habits, and mindfulness. Participants from the summer pilot and the first fall course were so engaged that the NHFT and Educators Thriving offered a sequel series, ET 2.0, that addressed vision and goals, boundaries, time management, difficult conversations, relationships, and appreciation.

Educators across the district logged on to these evening sessions and worked in small groups that remained consistent week to week so participants got to know each other. The model created a “space for people to be in community with each other,” and was “far more than individual self-help,” Leslie said. She added, “We really value the synchronous cohort model” because “it created the opportunity for educators to connect with one another in meaningful ways and ... [was a] win for individuals and for unionism because people started to talk more about their identity not just as teachers, but as members of something bigger.”

The impact on personal and professional well-being for both cohorts was also strong; participants reported a significant decline in emotional exhaustion and anxiety, increased workplace well-being, and increased job satisfaction over time, with the strongest results for those in the ET 2.0 track. Ninety-six percent of participants reported that it helped improve their well-being and made their job feel more sustainable. One participant shared, “In 27 years, this was one of the only workshops/professional developments that [was] worthwhile and actually focused on us as human beings and our well-being instead of focusing on overplayed teaching strategies.” Others shared that a key element was being recognized for their time: “Being paid to do this work is very important. This is part of our job, and improving the mental health and sustainability of staff is incredibly important.”

Rather than just “give, give, give,” said Leslie, the program “reminded members of the need for boundaries, and this is aligned with our values as a union. ‘Give, give, give’ isn’t pro-kid when you have a teacher who’s burned out and going to quit.... Holding the line for ourselves in a professional way makes sure our students have a teacher two years from now.” Investing in well-being, to Leslie, is a recruitment and retention strategy. If a high school student sees teachers who love their work and have high levels of well-being and good working conditions, they might think, “Hey it’s a great job—there are good benefits, meaningful work, a clear sense of purpose, and a sense of belonging to a community,” and they might want to become a teacher themselves.

Leslie is hopeful for future opportunities to support educators in this way but knows we need to have a federal government “that believes in investing in public schools,” with a goal of “teaching being a lifelong profession.... Teaching many siblings in a family, being able to see a child of a former student before they retire—those are things that bring great joy to career educators, and our members deserve to have those experiences without the crisis of burnout.”

Endnotes

1. Beyond Burnout: A Roadmap to Improve Educator Well-Being (Washington, DC: AFT and Educators Thriving, July 2023), aft.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2023/Beyond_Burnout_A_Roadmap_to_Improve_Educator_Wellbeing.pdf.

2. L. Blatteau, interview by H. Fox et al., September 16, 2024.

[Photo courtesy of the New Haven Federation of Teachers]