Fewer NC teachers are quitting. Does that mean teachers are happier about their jobs?
Updated at 3:35 p.m.
Fewer teachers are quitting from North Carolina public schools, at the same time that some educators are considering holding a statewide strike this year to lobby for higher pay and Medicaid expansion.
The state’s newest annual teacher turnover report shows that the percentage of teachers who’ve resigned or retired has dropped for at least three years in a row.
Republican legislative leaders say the report shows how pay raises that have elevated North Carolina to the 29th highest average teacher salary in the nation are paying off.
“We want every North Carolina teacher to stay and succeed in our state, so we are encouraged by the positive impacts of the General Assembly’s commitment to education priorities like lowering student class sizes, providing seven consecutive teacher pay raises, and improving school safety on every campus,” House Speaker Tim Moore said in a statement Thursday.
Mark Jewell, the president of the N.C. Association of Educators, agreed that it’s good news that the turnover rate is down. But Jewell, who has been a critic of the Republican-led General Assembly, said the news is not as good as lawmakers would have you believe.
“It’s still very alarming that 7,000 public school teachers left teaching in North Carolina last year,” Jewell said in an interview Thursday.
The state Department of Public Instruction is required to report annually on teacher turnover rates. The State Board of Education will discuss the new report at its meeting next week.
Teacher attrition rate improves
Last school year, 7,115 educators quit the profession, compared to 8,636 teachers in the 2015-16 school year and 7,674 in the 2017-18 school year. The state attrition rate has declined since the 2015-16 school year from 9% to 7.5% of North Carolina’s public school teachers.
Statewide, 12% of teachers either quit the profession or moved to work in another North Carolina school district or charter school last school year. It was at 12.5% in the 2017-18 school year.
The largest category of resignations, according to the report, was personal reasons at 60.7%.
Teachers with 26 or more years experience have the highest attrition rates in the state. These teachers are closest to retirement but NCAE has said lawmakers have overlooked these highly experienced educators when it comes to pay raises.
This school year, no teachers have received state raises because of the fight between Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the General Assembly over the budget. Cooper vetoed the legislature’s budget, citing the lack of Medicaid expansion and what he felt weren’t large enough raises for school employees.
NCAE, which has backed Cooper’s vetoes, wants a 5% raise for all school employees and a minimum $15 an hour salary for school support staff.
NCAE plans to survey its members about their support for a walkout. This comes after the group has organized one-day walkouts over the past two years that have brought thousands of teachers to Raleigh.
“According to the NCAE’s own parent organization, Republican budgets have given North Carolina teachers the third-highest pay raise in the entire country over the last five years,” Senate leader Phil Berger said in a statement Thursday.
“It’s no surprise, then, that higher pay has resulted in higher retention. Teachers should have already received their sixth and seventh consecutive pay raises, but Governor Cooper vetoed that stand-alone pay raise bill.”
Teacher shortage concerns raised
The new report also comes after a recently released report from WestEd cited the teacher turnover rate as one of the reasons that North Carolina has gone from “having a very highly qualified teaching force” to “one that is extremely uneven.”
WestEd went on to recommend changes such as raising teacher compensation and increasing support for teachers. The judge overseeing the Leandro school funding case endorsed WestEd’s findings and has ordered state leaders to come up with a plan within the next two months to improve the state’s education system.
Jewell cited how WestEd had raised concerns about the drop in the number of students studying to become teachers in North Carolina universities and colleges. When coupled with how many experienced teachers are eligible to retire in the next 10 years, Jewell said that North Carolina is at risk of not having enough educators in the classroom.
“Turnover may be down, but we have a huge teacher shortage cliff that we’ll be approaching shortly,” Jewell said.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 11:35 AM.
