Beginning with a review of the increasing literature concerning job-related teacher stress, this study examines the particular stress and burnout experiences of school teachers in Venezuela since the incorporation by law in 1980 of "Educacion Basica" (basic education) as a new level of the school system (grades 1-9). To compare teachers acting in a conventional situation with those functioning in schools currently implementing the new "Educacion Basica" (EB) system, 488 teachers from grades 1-6 were interviewed in 1984 using a variety of data collection forms. Following a description of each of these forms are discussions of the study's results with regard to teachers' stress and burnout level, stress-inducing factors, and situations perceived as potential stress reducers. The study's findings indicate that (1) EB teachers experience more stress than teachers in traditional schools, (2) teachers working in the capital city of Caracas experience higher levels of emotional stress than those working in more rural settings, (3) male teahcers experience more frequency of stress than female teachers, (4) political party pressure on teachers is the lowest stressful source, and (5) "insufficient pay" is the Venezuelan teacher's greatest single stress inducer. Three pages of references and a series of 13 information tables conclude the document. (JBM)