Teachers say they need more time to plan lessons

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Orange County teachers are fighting for more planning time, concerned that students are being affected.

"We are spending more of our time doing paperwork and office things, the core of my job should be to teach students," says teacher Gabrielle Trees.

Teachers say they're not spending enough time on teaching.

"Extremely frustrating because I feel like there's things I'd like to be doing to prepare for my students and to teach my students and unless I spend extra time doing it, it won't get done," explains teacher Trish Luddy.

In a recent survey by the Classroom Teacher's Association, 70 percent complained about lack of planning time and more than 54 percent say they'd consider changing careers.

Trees adds, "It's understandable when you hear people say I want to do another job, because the job they signed up to do is not the job they're currently doing."

CTA President Wendy Dormal says, "We thought salary would be the top issue, but it was really the work load. Because working 20 or more hours without pay is really difficult." 

While school district administrators wouldn't comment on the issue. School board member Linda Kobert says she wants to make sure more time is devoted to teacher planning and less to meetings that don't pertain to them.

"It's really taking a lot of our time, where we don't have a lot of time where we don't have time to do the things we need to do for our students," Luddy says.

Teachers plan to rally at 3:30 p.m., right before the school board meeting on Tuesday.