Teacher turnover rate for 2013-2014

This week’s map illustrates the teacher turnover rate, by school district, for the 2013-14 school year. Teacher turnover is the percentage of teachers who are no longer employed in the district from one year to the next. In 2013-14, 14.1 percent (13,557) of all North Carolina teachers left their school district.

In addition to the overall turnover rate, the chart below the map shows the primary reasons teachers left.

Teachers leave their position in a school district for a variety of reasons, including for family or health concerns, retirement, or to teach in another district in in a private or charter school. Reasons for leaving are reported in exit interviews and surveys with school district administrators, and then grouped into five broad categories:

1. Left the school district but remained in education. (This includes those who resigned to teach in another N.C. district, charter, or private school and those who moved to nonteaching positions in education.)

2. Left for personal reasons. (This includes individuals resigning to teach in another state, leaving because of family responsibilities, retiring with reduced benefits or seeking a career change.)

3. Terminated by the school district. (This includes individuals who were nonrenewed or dismissed or who resigned in lieu of dismissal.)

4. Left for reasons beyond the school district’s control. (This includes those who retired with full benefits or were not rehired due to reduction in force.)

5. Left for other reasons. (This includes teachers resigning or leaving teaching for reasons not listed above or those who resigned for unknown and other reasons.)

The chart illustrates the percentage of teachers who left who reported each broad reason for leaving. Click on the particular segment to view the actual value. To view the values for multiple categories, hold down the control key and click on additional segments.

Statewide, most teachers who left for personal reasons such as a career change, retirement with reduced benefits or family issues. The second highest category was teachers who left but remained in education, either in another district, charter school or a nonteaching position in the district. Fewer teachers who left reported reasons out of the control of the school district such as a reduction in force, retirement with full benefits or the end of a teaching term with an organization, such as Teach for America.

Select a district(s) from the dropdown menu or by clicking on a district on the map. Additional selection tools can be found by hovering over the arrow under the map tools. Try the radial or lasso function to quickly select multiple districts.

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute has provided weekly maps and data dashboards to highlight relevant statewide education statistics for EducationNC, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news source aiming to create a bipartisan, statewide conversation about public schools.