Educators in Michigan and nationwide are voicing concerns that politics are demoralizing teachers and discouraging others from entering the profession at a time when more teachers are needed.

Teachers cite comments from GOP vice-presidential nominee, Ohio Senator JD Vance, about childless women as teachers — including American Federation of Teachers’ President Randi Weingarten. That, along with the Georgia school shooting, is raising fears the country’s teacher shortage will only worsen.

Toni Coral, who heads the AFT in Hamtramck, has been teaching for nearly 30 years and says morale is low and, since the pandemic, many have experienced poor work-life balance.

“A lot of people just decided, ‘No, I’m okay, I’m done.’ Because we don’t get the support we need and there’s this continual expectation that we will work at home and lose family time, lose private time,” Coral said.

After the pandemic began, at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, Michigan had more than 700 fewer teachers in the fall of 2020. That’s the third-largest decrease in the past decade.