Jobs are rewarding, workload is horrible. Here’s what Philly district and charter teachers said in a new survey.

Most Philadelphia teachers feel good about their school and their students, but believe that the system is on the wrong track. They generally feel respected but struggle with a mismatch between workload and salary.

Those are among the findings of a survey of teachers from the city school system and Philadelphia charter schools, commissioned by a group designed to bolster teacher effectiveness and diversity amid a national and local teacher shortage.

The survey was released Thursday by Elevate 215, a nonprofit that has raised and distributed more than $100 million to Philadelphia public, private, and charter schools over the last decade. Elevate 215 was directed by the Mayor’s Office of Education to develop a talent plan for Philly teachers and has convened the Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition, which counts among its members the Philadelphia School District, charter networks, nonprofits and others.

Here is a rundown of the survey’s findings:

The majority of the 734 teachers surveyed — 65% — believe that the school where they teach is on the right track, but 69% of the group said Philadelphia schools in general are headed in the wrong direction.

Asked whether they believe that Philadelphia provides a chance for a rewarding teaching career, participants were split. Overall, 40% agreed and 43% disagreed. Generally, younger teachers and those with less experience felt more favorably about their chances for a rewarding career in city schools.

And while most teachers (89% of those surveyed) said they were satisfied with their relationships with other teachers and their school administration (72% of those surveyed), they expressed frustration with salary, workload, and access to adequate facilities and resources. Just more than half of respondents said they were unsatisfied with their salary, 56% were unsatisfied with their workload, and 59% were unsatisfied with facilities and resources.

Charter and Philadelphia School District teachers’ views differed sharply on the facilities and resources question, though. Just 33% of district teachers said they were satisfied, while 71% of charter school teachers said they were.

Despite frustrations, a majority of the teachers surveyed said they felt respected by their peers, parents and school administration.

Eight in 10 Philadelphia teachers said they have considered leaving, but 55% have not yet taken action to pursue other opportunities. Twenty-one percent said they have taken steps to leave teaching in Philadelphia, and 6% said they already are planning on leaving. About half of those who have considered leaving said they plan on staying in teaching, but outside Philadelphia.

Asked to state their most significant challenges, teachers talked about issues from excessive paperwork and planning to their own finances.

“There is too much expected of me in regards to planning, grading and paperwork with not enough support. I do not feel like I can help the students achieve as much as I need to with the class time, resources and large classes that I have,” one teacher wrote.

“Not enough time to plan, grade, and complete other required tasks during the school day,” another said.

“Making ends meet financially and meeting students’ needs,” another teacher cited as their primary challenges.

Philadelphia teachers said they were “undervalued and underpaid,” and “need more recognition for what they endure every day to teach in an inequitable school system.”

“Respect us,” one teacher wrote. “We don’t need to be micromanaged. We are professionals. You don’t see doctors being observed, doing professional development plans ... buying their own supplies.”

But they found bright spots, too.

“My students are awesome,” one teacher wrote. “I enjoy teaching them. It is the only thing that has kept me here.”

Challenges of recruiting and retaining Black and brown teachers, both in Pennsylvania and nationally, are well documented. While Philadelphia generally has a much higher rate of teachers of color than many other districts in the commonwealth, it’s still a white-dominated field. The survey respondents were no different, though there’s more diversity among younger teachers.

Among teachers with five or fewer years of experience, 49% of respondents were white and 29% Black; among teachers with 11 or more years of experience, 69% were white and 22% Black.

Teachers of color are more likely to have heavy student loan burdens, too — nearly half of Black respondents and 37% of all teachers of color said they had more than $50,000 of student loan debt. Teachers of color were also more likely to live in Philadelphia, be working on an emergency teaching permit, or be noncertified. (District teachers must be fully certified or have emergency certification, but charter teachers do not have that requirement.)

And although the majority of teachers surveyed said they were not likely to recommend teaching in Philadelphia to someone they knew, less-experienced teachers and teachers of color were more likely to recommend it.

Although teachers said that higher pay would be the highest motivation to continue teaching in Philadelphia, followed by retention bonuses, student loan forgiveness and financial help with the state certification process would be a big draw for less-experienced teachers and teachers of color.

All groups said they would also be motivated by a reduction in administrative tasks and more prep time.

Scott Gaiber, Elevate 215′s deputy chief of investments, said the data will help the coalition think about policies, practices, and incentives.

“We want to ensure that when we think about improving the quality of our schools, that teachers are looked at as a vital component of that,” said Gaiber.

Jerry Jordan, the Philadelphia teachers’ union president, said the survey yields “actionable data that can help lift up the profession. Philadelphia teachers simply want to feel valued for the amazing work they do in service to their students, usually under difficult circumstances, including being supported and compensated in ways that reinforce that appreciation at all levels of their careers.”