In this week’s Q section, the News and Observer talks teacher turnover. They argue that there is a teacher turnover crisis in North Carolina. Let me put this issue in perspective:
1. The state’s teacher turnover rate (12.3 percent) is lower than the average teacher turnover rate for the nation (15.7 percent) and lower than turnover among comparably sized businesses (17 percent).
2. Turnover means that poor teachers are leaving the profession. While the media plays up stories of inspiring teachers bolting for greener pastures, the system is more likely losing individuals that should not be in the classroom.
3. The high turnover within the first five years is, in part, the product of employing a sizable number of recent college graduates, a mobile, worldly, immature, and indecisive population of workers that probably should not have gone to college in the first place.
4. Teachers leave the profession for reasons other than the working conditions or pay. Over half of the annual turnover is beyond the control of the state (retirement, family responsibilities, relocation, etc.).
5. As the article points out, “pay raises in the last decade have not curbed turnover.” On the other hand, the article’s contention that teachers “can parlay their credentials into bigger paychecks in other states” lacks evidence.
