Editor’s note: This article was written by Tricia Noyola, CEO of Rocky Mountain Prep, a network of 12 schools serving more than 5,000 students across the Denver area.
Colorado educators are watching from halfway across the country as funding for children’s health care is slashed, the U.S. Department of Education is being dismantled, DOGE eliminates educational research, and NAEP scores show academic regression.
There’s no wonder that morale across education is dramatically declining.
So many across education are simultaneously watching in shock, while also asking, “How do we move forward from here when critical systems and programs are being rolled back?”
The answer lies in remaining laser-focused on an elegant, age-old objective in our schools: joy. As we face historic challenges, joy in our classrooms – for our teachers and students – matters more than ever.
Here in Colorado, we can either make fostering joy our North Star going forward, or let the chaos and uncertainty in our nation deter individuals from entering the most joyous profession there is – teaching.
Pride in one’s profession—and fun at your job—matters. It’s why we became educators in the first place. But in 2020, the COVID crisis thrust educators into new roles, while long-term shutdowns left a generation of students reeling from the emotional and learning challenges of the pandemic.
Today, math and reading scores show Americans are regressing academically while chronic absenteeism persists nationwide.
Children are entering classrooms with more personal challenges than they’ve ever had. Educators are struggling as a result.
It’s no wonder the talent pool is shrinking. Half of teachers would advise their younger selves to pursue a different career, according to a 2023 national survey. Across the U.S., 86% of school districts had trouble filling open positions for the 2023-24 school year.
Now, Washington’s policy changes mean student support systems–from mitigating hunger to delivering healthcare–are eroding, further putting strain on the profession. So how can policymakers and school communities in Colorado adapt in 2025?
We need to make teaching rewarding again.
Teachers in the U.S. say they need a $16,000 raise on average to feel adequately compensated. In Colorado, of the 8,000 teachers that needed to be hired in 2024, 10% of these positions remain unfilled due to compensation challenges. We can’t expect top talent to stay in the profession if they can’t make ends meet. And those who exemplify the highest standards of teaching and commitment to our students should be recognized with six-figure salaries.
We should also modernize benefits to match the private sector, particularly around parental leave. While parental leave is becoming a common-sense right in the private sector, most public school teachers are forced to take unpaid leave or head back to the classroom just days or weeks after having a child. The former erodes job satisfaction, while the latter is hardly conducive to quality instruction.
Twelve weeks of paid leave should be a national social expectation implemented at the local level.
School systems also need to show that we value educators in other ways too.
That means clearly defining teacher retention goals, understanding and addressing turnover, and focusing on teacher satisfaction.
It means reimagining how we prioritize educators’ time in the face of defunded services. Since teachers manage such a wide variety of issues in their classrooms, schools need to do more to take the time-consuming tasks that require less specialization—copying, simple grading, staffing lunchrooms, and more—so that the instructional experts can be exactly that.
Beyond process changes, work should be fun and success should be rewarded. All-school rallies, college signing days, fun competition among school staff, teacher awards that recognize excellence, and more can all be used to deliver joy and fun to staff.
There’s a false notion that joy in the classroom means an absence of high standards, and accountability means “punishment.” These ideas aren’t antithetical to each other.
They complement one another.
We should all aim for constant, collective improvement through frequent, ongoing feedback and open dialogue. Because when we succeed, we deliver better outcomes for struggling kids. An environment that fosters joy is an environment where everyone is held accountable for high standards…and a school culture predicated on collaborative accountability is exactly where great teachers want to work.
Here’s the bottom line: Teaching is a privilege. A noble calling. An honor.
It’s also hard—and with the challenges we’re facing, it will only get harder.
We need serious solutions to keep and find the talented teachers that make our schools successful—like modernizing pay and benefits and creating evidence-based retention strategies. But we don’t have to be so serious we sacrifice the joy that defines this work.
We need to embrace it. Because when we do, we can build the schools and educational communities where teachers—and students—want to be.
