Colorado educators are feeling better about their working conditions than they did two years ago, according to a survey released by the state Department of Education on Tuesday. It’s unclear if the same can be said in much of El Paso County.

The 2026 Teaching and Learning Conditions Colorado (TLCC) survey found that those surveyed feel more positive about their school environments and their choices to join the profession compared to the 2024 survey.

The voluntary survey is conducted every two years to collect current perceptions from teachers, teacher assistants, paraprofessionals, school leaders and special service providers on teaching and learning conditions in their schools.

“It does give us very important and meaningful feedback on where we can improve our supports to the field and how we can help both shape policy and practice in the state of Colorado when it comes to K-12 education,” said Colorado Education Commissioner Dr. Susana Córdova.

Out of over 88,100 educators across Colorado, approximately 42,350, or 48.1%, responded to this year’s survey. This marks a slight decrease from the 49.9% respondents from 2024, which reported over 92,000 staff and faculty statewide.

In El Paso County, only one school district exceeded the state average for participation, Ellicott District 22, where 69.9% or 109 out of 156 employees responded to the survey. Six districts, including Harrison District 2 and Cheyenne Mountain District 12, reported 0% participation.

The county’s two largest school districts, Academy District 20 and District 49, reported participation rates of 16.8% and 1.9%, respectively. The report, prepared by the research company Panorama Education, requires that schools and districts have more than 50% participation and at least five responses for their data to be accessible.

Córdova acknowledged that the surveys, which the state began administering in 2008, have recently hovered around 50% participation and said this is likely because many districts conduct their own surveys.

She added that educators’ current workloads and available time may also be factors in their opting out.

“My son is a high school teacher, and I hear him all the time talking about all the things that he has to do, not just during the work week, but also outside of the work week,” she said.

The Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, located in Colorado Springs, also had 0% participation in this year’s survey. Statewide, 40 districts didn’t respond to the survey.

The districts with the highest total participation were Big Sandy District 100J, Campo District RE-6 and Sierra Grande District R-30, all at 100%, likely because of their smaller populations. Among the larger Colorado districts with high response rates included Thompson District RJ-2 at 80.9%, Pueblo City District 60 at 79.2% and Mesa County Valley District 51 at 78%.

Areas of improvement

Despite the lower participation, the responses overall reported slight gains, which included professional climate and student support.

Among the improvements, 87% said their schools are good places to work, 90% said their schools are good environments for student learning and 85% said their schools are led by effective teams. These percentile increases from 2024 ranged from 1% to 4%.

This year’s survey included a new question about participants’ satisfaction with their choice of profession, with 89% of respondents indicating satisfaction.

CDE’s director of continuous improvement, Lisa Steffen, added that 85% reported academic and social-emotional supports were effective and that they are seeing improvements in student behavior expectations.

Minor declines

Other questions showed slight percentage dips, though overall responses were positive.

They included 76% of school staff who reported feeling comfortable raising important issues with school leadership, down 2% from 2024. Responses that were down 1% included 88% of teachers seeking new and improved ways to provide instruction, 87% of staff holding themselves accountable for every child’s academic growth and 69% of staff feeling adequately compensated for workforce development.

Additionally, teachers reporting academic programming that encourages different cultural viewpoints dropped from 88% to 86% and having autonomy to make important decisions in the classroom decreased from 88% to 85%.

AI in education

Participants were also asked for the first time this year about their experiences working with artificial intelligence, which garnered the lowest percentages of favorable responses.

54% of respondents said they were comfortable with its use at their school, and 40% of school leaders reported having clear guidelines for student use of AI.

That said, 34% of teachers surveyed said they have clear strategies for evaluating student work with AI-generated content, 32% felt prepared for future changes involving AI integration in schools and 36% believed they received adequate professional development for using AI in education.

“This is an emerging area, which we know we will need to provide more support and clarity,” Steffen said.

Ongoing challenges

Some long-standing challenges for educators remained, showing greater needs for improvement, despite marginal gains in some cases.

These included 68% of respondents saying they have enough time to engage in professional learning, 64% of educators saying they have adequate preparation time and 60% of respondents saying they have enough time to implement new initiatives effectively. These improvements from 2024 ranged from 3% to 7%.

One question that yielded 1% fewer positive responses than 2024 came in 44% of respondents reporting that they are being adequately compensated.

Steffen also noted that supporting new teachers remains one of the larger areas of need, with only 60% reporting having met with a mentor teacher during the school week, 61% receiving personal support for stress management and social connections and 63% receiving professional support.

Along with the new data, Córdova said Colorado’s teacher shortage remains a challenge and that more licensed educators and substitute teachers are needed in addition to retaining current teachers.

“But even with those areas of need, we are encouraged that more teachers are choosing to stay in the profession and that they are enthusiastic about their roles,” she said.

The results also show that relationships remain central to educator retention, with connections with colleagues, school leadership and a shared school mission as the top reasons educators stay in their roles.

“This survey confirms what we hear every day: teachers value strong relationships, supportive leadership and meaningful time to do their work well,” said Colorado Education Association President and former Colorado Springs educator Kevin Vick in a press release.

“We must continue investing in these areas so all educators can thrive and students succeed.”

Statewide trend reports and all publicly available state, district, and school-level data are available at www.tlccsurvey.org.

El Paso County survey responses

Academy D-20: 16.8%, 399/2377

Calhan RJ-1: 47.3%, 26/55

Cheyenne Mountain D-12: 0%, 0/294

Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind: 0%, 0/85

Colorado Springs D-11: 39.1%, 947/2425

D-49: 1.9%, 35/1856

Edison 54 JT: 22.2%, 2/9

Education reEnvisioned BOCES: 35.1%, 125/356

Ellicott D-22: 69.9%, 109/156

Fountain-Fort Carson D-8: 35.7%, 287/804

Hanover D-28: 26.5%, 9/34

Harrison D-2: 0%, 0/1393

Lewis-Palmer D-38: 19.2%, 113/590

Manitou Springs D-14: 0%, 0/132

Miami-Yoder 60 JT: 0%, 0/45

Peyton 23 JT: 0%, 0/69

Widefield D-3: 26.9%, 231/858