Earlier today I summarized 2013-14 teacher turnover data for the state and Wake County. News & Observer reporter Keung Hui followed up my blog post with one of his own.
I was critical of an April 2014 press conference that featured Wake County teachers and administrators warning of an “alarming” increase in teacher resignations. Data for the 2013-14 school year indicate that there was a drop in Wake County’s teacher turnover rate.
Hui asked Wake schools spokesman Tim Simmons to comment on the discrepancy.
Simmons’ response may be difficult for the uninitiated to follow. He correctly pointed out that the state teacher turnover report did not account for teachers who left at the end of the 2013-14 school year. The N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI) tracks turnover by comparing payroll data from March of one year to March of the following year. As a result, this year’s report includes teachers who left at the end of the 2012-13 school year but not teachers who left at the end of 2013-14. Simmons commented, “In the spring, the district reported that the resignation rate was going up and it did.”
Now we get to the important part.
Hui reports, “Simmons said Wake’s turnover rate will likely go up in next year’s state report once all of this year’s spring and summer resignations are included.” If this is the case, then why hold an April 2014 press conference about data that will not be available until November 2015? If spring and summer resignations are such an important part of the story, why didn’t Wake County officials wait until September or October 2014 to hold the press conference?
Admittedly, the public will not focus on any of these issues. They will hear that Wake County’s teacher turnover rate dropped and most will leave it at that.