Why I Chose Social Work Over Teaching in Delaware

I see teaching as a fallback career, a “Plan B” to becoming a social worker. This perception came from witnessing the overwhelming challenges including unsustainable workloads, inadequate pay, a lack of resources in Delaware schools, and my observations as a college student pursuing psychology and child development. During my internship with Rodel, I’ve realized these experiences and observations are substantial now knowing that Delaware faces a teacher retention crisis, with almost half of all new teachers leaving within five years, a rate that rises to 70% for teachers of color (Delaware Educator Snapshot, 2025). To address this, we have to rethink how we recruit and retain teachers, turning teaching from the second option into a sustainable “Plan A.” 

How Teaching Became My Plan B 

I went to a very underfunded elementary and middle school. I noticed many of my peers couldn’t afford school supplies, such as pencils, so my teacher would pay out of pocket for pencils and leave them in a bin in front of the class so students could do their work. The classrooms were overcrowded, the floor was cracking, the paint on the wall was peeling, and the chairs weren’t stable, leading students to worry about if their chair was going to break. I could see the workload was unmanageable. Teachers were expected to fill multiple roles—therapists, disciplinarians, and more—without the proper training or time. 

Many of my teachers endured stress, quit, called off, etc. Often times my teachers would quit mid-school year, leaving us with a substitute teacher who was not trained or qualified to teach us. When our teacher was gone, the classroom frequently looked and sounded like mayhem with students yelling and throwing things across the room, children having their phone out when it was prohibited, and sometimes, due to the lack of de-escalation training, fighting occurred. This disruption impacted my learning because I could not focus or get my work done in school. We can retain more educators by supporting them with programs like Delaware’s paid teacher residencies, which have grown by 150% since 2018, showing the potential for mentorship and hands-on training to retain educators. (Delaware Educator Snapshot, 2025) 

Unlike my middle school experience, where there was a predominantly Black and Latinx population of students and teachers and where I could see the effects of underfunding, I went to a very diverse, well-funded high school. Like my middle school experience, my background and culture were understood, and both teachers and students were culturally competent.  

My high school had a standard curriculum and there were electives students could choose to take for three years. These electives contributed to pathways but were not considered a pathway at the time because we didn’t receive certifications or college credits from taking the course. The options were slim, but I chose Early Childhood Education as my elective. The teaching profession did not have a clear career pathway for me at the time. Unlike social work, where advancement opportunities are well-defined, teaching often requires leaving the classroom to pursue leadership roles. For example, my middle school science teacher left the school to pursue a better opportunity she received out of state, in New York. I always knew I wanted to work with children or in a school. However, I didn’t want to be a teacher. I thought to myself, “being a teacher would be nice, but teachers don’t make enough money, they don’t get compensated for all their hard work, they don’t have enough support.” As one Stanton Middle School teacher noted, “Teaching is a job of service, but doing it in a silo is draining. We need support to teach the whole child” (Delaware Educator Snapshot, 2025). 

As a current college student, I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Child and Family Studies. I took this pathway to do social work with children. Now that I am at a predominantly white institution, the importance of having culturally competent educators has been at the forefront of my mind. Freshman year, in my Emily Balch Seminar (ESEM) class, we were reading a book where a black man had been lynched simply for the color of his skin. My white professor proceeded to say, “The horrifying things that happened to Black people were despicable, but white people were slaves too.” Saying the word “despicable” and following it with a “but” was a very contradictory phrase. As the only Black student in the class I was uncomfortable to speak up about how the comment erases the experience of Black people in this country. This made me realize that educators of all levels need training to become culturally competent and sensitive because classrooms are diverse and an educator being culturally incompetent can make Black students not engage in the class.  

In college I took an education class, and we read “Unearthing Joy” by Gholdy Muhammad. This book taught us more effective ways of including students in teaching and cultivating identity, skills, intellect, and joy for all students, giving them a purpose to learn. “Unearthing Joy” was also one of the foundational texts the recently published, “Delaware Teacher Leadership Toolkit,” was based on. This is a great indication of Delaware moving towards culturally responsive models for teacher leadership that centers on both teachers and students, and that can ultimately make teaching more appealing and effective. 

What Can We Do to Make Teaching Plan A?

To make teaching a desirable and sustainable career, Delaware must address its systemic issues head-on. Teachers should be empowered to act as curriculum planners, student advocates, and mentors. Teachers should have the freedom to adapt lessons to implement culturally responsive lessons to their students’ unique needs rather than being constrained by standardized curriculum. Partnerships with school social workers can help address students’ mental health needs. My high school had a wellness center where there was a social worker and psychologist and students could use their services for free. This was a great way to take care of students’ mental health needs instead of having teachers handle it all the time, especially if they didn’t have support at home. I used the wellness center once because my parents were old-fashioned and didn’t really believe in therapy. The wellness center helped me through my issues, I made a follow up appointment, but did not return. To get students to use these resources, we need to reach out to them first and promote the wellness center, making connections, so they feel comfortable enough to use it.   

Teaching will never be Plan A for young people until we stop expecting educators to do everything and start providing the tools, trust, and respect they deserve. The Public Education Funding Commission voting to adopt a hybrid funding framework is a good start. This newly approved hybrid model is designed to distribute additional funding to students with greater needs, including those from low-income families, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. This is one step in making Delaware’s public education system equitable and excellent for teachers and students alike. 

Related Topics: Delaware education, delaware schools, Delaware teachers, rodel, social work, teacher prep