There was a small but notable improvement in teacher attrition rates within public school districts during the 2023-24 academic year, according to new data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
The latest “State of the Teaching Profession” report, which was presented to the State Board of Education on April 2, shows the teacher attrition rate fell to 9.88%, down from 11.5% the prior year. This represents a loss of nearly 1,500 fewer teachers compared to the year before, though the rate remains higher than the seven-year average of 8.64%.
“While the report shows improvement in the percentage of teachers staying compared to prior years, there are still far too many teachers leaving the profession,” said state superintendent of public instruction Maurice “Mo” Green in a statement. “We need to do a much better job of keeping them in the classroom once they are hired. That starts with revering these professionals for the amazing job they do and providing them with great salaries and opportunities for growth within our public schools.”
The report tracks teacher attrition and vacancies across the state’s 115 public school districts from March 2023 to March 2024. Teacher attrition measures the proportion of educators departing their roles in public schools, whether they leave for non-teaching positions within the system or leave public education altogether.
Certain groups of teachers are more likely to leave than others. Newer teachers, with 0-5 years of service, left at rates ranging from 11.7% to 17.5%. Veteran educators, nearing retirement with 28 or more years of experience, had even higher attrition rates, between 18.5% and 26.8%.
The number of new teachers entering North Carolina classrooms through alternative licensure routes, such as emergency or residency licenses, has seen a decline since last year but still makes up nearly 50% of new hires.
Data from the report indicates that of the 3,635 teachers issued permits to teach in the 2018-19 school year, only 61.2% converted those permits into residency licenses by the 2023-24 school year. Similarly, just 55% of teachers with emergency licenses from the same period secured long-term licensure.
“This middling conversion rate shows that we still have some work to do when it comes to supporting our alternatively prepared teachers,” said Dr. Tom Tomberlin, NCDPI’s senior director for educator preparation, licensure, and performance.
While the attrition rate has declined, the vacancy rate has ticked upward. For the 2023-24 school year, the vacancy rate was 8.2%. But this figure includes positions filled with temporarily licensed educators or retired teachers who have returned to the classroom. The “unfilled” teacher positions, if calculated separately, would result in a much lower vacancy rate of 1.9%.
Tomberlin noted that while the expanded definition of “vacancy” helps legislators understand the gap between the current staffing situation and ideal staffing conditions, the headline numbers often obscure the efforts schools make to ensure classrooms are staffed.
“Our school and district leaders do a great job of trying to make sure all student needs are met with the staff members and resources they have,” Tomberlin said.
This year’s report also introduced new data on principal turnover, following legislative requests. The findings show that principal attrition rates are lower than those of teachers, with 92.4% of principals remaining in their roles from March 2023 to March 2024.
But at the end of the 2022-23 school year, 186 principals out of a total 2,498 left public school employment, representing an attrition rate of 7.45%. A majority of those who left, roughly 65%, retired.
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