Teacher turnover drops slightly in North Carolina
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Gov. Pat McCrory responded Friday to the Department of Public Instruction's Annual Report on Teachers Leaving the Profession. The report showed a slight drop in teacher turnover in 2013-2014. Two years ago, 14.33 percent of teachers left their jobs compared to last year's 14.12 percent.
According to the report, one of the main reasons teachers are leaving their jobs is for personal reasons. Some self-reported feeling dissatisfied with teaching while other said they resigned to go teach in another state.
"I am proud of the progress we made to raise pay for North Carolina teachers. However, we still have a long way to go. Teaching is difficult work and we need to continue to respect and reward our teachers to keep them in the profession," McCrory said in a statement. "The next step is to work with the General Assembly to create career opportunities and choices that help retain our excellent teachers and ensure there is a high-quality educator leading every North Carolina classroom. We saw the highest turnover in our rural counties and among STEM and special education teachers. These are areas of critical need, and ones I will continue to focus on moving forward. We must strengthen incentives for teachers to work in our highest-need subjects and schools."
Mark Jewell, Vice President of the North Carolina Association of Educators, told ABC11 on Friday that the report doesn't tell the whole story since data is only collected through March. Jewell said many teachers resign toward the end of the school year, or over the summer.
"We see that basically as lip service there," said Jewell in response to the governor's call to action. "We know that in order to have a strong quality education system that we've had for the past 50 years, you've got to invest. You can't educate every child on the cheap in North Carolina."
Jewell went on to say losing teachers to bordering states is a hard pill to swallow.
"We never had to be competitive with our border states but when they can go there and make a $10,000 increase and not even have to relocate their families," he said. "That's a problem."
