Burnout and stress are nation-wide, cross-cultural, and multi-occupational afflictions. Stress can be a friend or a foe. It can energize and motivate people or it can lead to physical and mental distress, unhappiness, and, in extreme cases, death. Teachers have identified a number of factors that contribute to their stress and burnout. They are a lack of voice in professional decisions, little chance of advancement, public dissatisfaction with the schools, fiscal problems that mean reduced salary increases and fewer teaching materials, discipline problems in the schools, lack of rewards for good teachers, increases in required paperwork, and involuntary transfers and transfer request denials. School districts can help teachers by creating a task force to identify the tangible and intangible aspects of teaching that create stress in their particular districts. The task force should be created by the school board, be given a specific period of time in which to complete its task, be staffed with people who have the respect of the educational community, and be provided with operating funds and administrative and clerical support. (Author/IRT)