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Researchers found that about half of American public servants said they were burnt out compared with 20% over workers overall -- then the pandemic hit.

Not so long ago, Bill Mathis would have headed to his high school classroom to discuss great literature like “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Odyssey” with his freshman. Now Mathis has taken a new job, in Michigan’s newly legalized cannabis industry. “What about us and our families?” he asked his school board in Romeo, Michigan, last August after it unveiled a plan to offer in-person classes.

No longer feeling the love, Michigan public service jobs becoming increasingly thankless By Martha Irvine STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. - Teaching high school was Bill Mathis' dream job, the one he referenced in a childhood journal he still keeps: "I would love to be a teacher," he scrawled in pencil as a third grader. Now Mathis has taken a new job, in Michigan's newly legalized cannabis industry. The pay is better, the hours more regular, the stress less, he says. No longer does he worry that he'll catch COVID-19. "What about us and our families?" he asked his school board in Romeo, Michigan, las...

Ultimately, the 29-year-old teacher felt few in the rural suburb north of Detroit understood. “Good riddance,” one resident said. His is but one story of the plight of the American public servant. Historically, jobs like teaching, firefighting, policing, government and social work have offered opportunities to give back to communities while earning solid benefits, maybe even a pension. Surveys still show public admiration for nurses and teachers and, after the terror attacks of 9/11, firefighters. But many public servants no longer feel the love. They’re battered and burnt out. They’r...

By:  Addison Independent staff BRISTOL RESIDENT STEVE Brown delivers his completed ballots to election worker (and town selectboard member) John “Peeker” Heffernan during brisk voting in the basement of Holley Hall on Tuesday afternoon. Independent photo/John Flowers LAURA ASERMILY, WHOSE appointment to fill a vacancy on the Middlebury selectboard expired on Tuesday, pauses to say Hi while handing out ballots at the Middlebury polls in the Recreation Center. Independent photo/Megan James ADDISON SELECTBOARD MEMBERS Roger Waterman, left, Rob Hunt and Steve Torrey gather up their town r...