NC teacher turnover is down in latest report. But will it stay that way amid pandemic?
Fewer teachers have quit working in North Carolina’s public schools in recent years, but concerns about working in the classroom during the coronavirus pandemic could reverse the trend.
The state’s newest annual teacher turnover report shows that the percentage of teachers who’ve resigned or retired stayed at 7.5% last school year, the same as the year before. But the report only covers the period through March, just as the pandemic began closing schools in the state.
Over the past several months, teachers across the state have lobbied schools to stick with only online classes or limited in-person instruction. Some teachers have quit because of the pandemic, and their figures won’t be recorded until next year’s state report.
“We will not see any anomalies in movement or attrition due to COVID-19 because we captured this data before any of those events might have occurred,” Thomas Tomberlin, director of educator recruitment and support at the state Department of Public Instruction, said at Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting.
“So next year’s report possibly is going to be a lot more interesting in terms of how teachers moved or might have left the profession as a result of the pandemic.”
Fewer teachers leaving in recent years
Fewer North Carolina public school teachers have been quitting and retiring in recent years.
In the 2015-16 school year, the attrition rate was 9%, with 8,636 teachers either quitting or retiring. By the 2018-19 school year, it was down to 7.5%, with 7,115 teachers leaving the profession.
For the 2019-20 school year, the attrition rate remained at 7.5%, with 7,111 teachers having quit or retired.
“Teachers are not fleeing the state of North Carolina, leaving the state at an alarming rate,” Tomberlin said. “It’s not increasing relative to prior years.”
The last several years have seen teacher pay rise, with North Carolina going from 47th in the nation in 2013 to 30th this year, according to the National Education Association. The rise up the national rankings has slowed because of budget impasses between the Republican-led General Assembly and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
“In the end, we should be pleased that the statewide teacher attrition rate is dropping,” Terry Stoops. vice president of research for the John Locke Foundation, said in a research brief. “In addition to avoiding the various financial and educational costs associated with teacher turnover, it suggests that the investments made by the Republican-led General Assembly are beginning to pay off.”
Stoops also said in the brief that he doesn’t expect the attrition rate to spike next year due to the pandemic.
But Kristin Beller, president of Wake NCAE, disagreed. She cited various Wake County teachers who’ve told her they’re resigning rather than risk their health in the pandemic.
“They love their students and would stay in teaching if they felt there was leadership from the state in how it’s going to improve conditions,” Beller said in an interview Thursday.
Beller also disputed that the General Assembly should get credit for the reductions in resignations. She said the attrition rate is down because mid-career teachers have been staying despite not receiving state pay raises.
Personal reasons cited for quitting
Retiring with full benefits, resigning to change careers and resigning due to family relocation were the top three reasons for teachers leaving. The next highest category was resigning to teach in another state.
The number who quit to teach in other states dropped from 642 educators in the 2018-19 school year to 585 last school year. But this group still accounted for nearly one in 12 teachers who left employment with the state’s public schools.
One source of data that DPI has from this school year is the teacher vacancy rate.
Tomberlin said the vacancy rate on the first day of school was 2.8%, “a little higher” than last school year. He said it’s unclear if that’s due to better reporting or if the rate was higher.
But Tomberlin said the state’s schools had reduced the vacancy rate by 65% by the 40th day of classes. He said there are around 1,600 vacancies statewide for a vacancy rate of 1.7%.
“That is amazing considering all that COVID has placed on all of us, especially our HR directors and superintendents and principals,” said state board member Olivia Oxendine. “I’m in awe over that piece of data.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 1:20 PM.
