Abstract
Teachers are critical members of the classroom, and their well-being is important not for their own health, but also for the well-being of the other members of the school community. The stress of teachers has been on the rise in the last few years, but there have been few efforts to address it. The goal of this paper is to highlight the current research pertaining to teacher stress and the policies that are currently in place to address this issue. There are many factors that contribute to teacher stress which have only been made more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. The teachers need support from their administrations and students’ parents to reach adequate levels of wellness. The policies that have been put in place over the last decades have increased the pressure placed on teachers to perform, only contributing to their stress. There has been an increase in funding for wellness policies, but there are still many gaps in addressing the wellness of teachers. If this issue is not addressed, it will add to the problem of teacher burnout and shortages. We are at an important time where we can put many of these policies in place to guard the health and safety of teachers.