Teacher turnover increased significantly last school year, according to newly released statewide data. Each year, the State Board of Education receives a report on the “State of the Teaching Profession” that includes data from the previous year.
The draft report released today is based on data collected during the 2022-23 school year. That year, about 11.5% of North Carolina's teachers left the profession, including retirements. In comparison, the percentage of teachers who retired in the previous year was 7.8%.
“When we saw this, we said, 'How can we make sense of this? Is this darkening of the sky and thunder? Or can we put it in context? I started thinking, 'Is this true?'” he said. Senior Director of Human Resources Services in the Education Department.
Although North Carolina's teacher turnover rate is approaching the national average, it has been below the national rate for many years.
Tomberlin also noted that public school jobs are more stable than other public sector jobs, which have also seen declines in recent years.
The report also shows an increase in the number of teaching positions that have been vacant for more than a month since the start of the school year. As of fall 2022, the 40th day of school, there were 6,006 teacher vacancies recorded across the state, with more than 1,000 vacancies in core classes in math, English, science and social studies. This number of vacancies includes classrooms where teachers are available but are not fully licensed.
“We need a complete overhaul of how we license, compensate and support teachers,” State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said in response to the report.
The Truitt government has supported changes to teacher licensing and compensation to create different roles and pay levels for teachers, and to allow experienced teachers to take on more duties at higher pay. The model her administration has proposed would mirror the pilot programs that exist in many school districts. But after losing the Republican primary, Truitt has less than a year left in her term to advance her policy agenda.
Other board members said there was insufficient starting pay for new teachers and insufficient support for college students pursuing teaching degrees.
“The fundamental truth is that there is no right to base pay for teachers in the state,” said Alan Duncan, the board's vice chairman.
A presentation to the state board highlighted a trend in which fewer new teachers are entering through colleges of education. The number of beginning teachers in the state who don't yet have long-term teaching credentials also jumped last year. Today, a higher proportion than ever of beginning teachers are obtaining substitute teaching licenses, have limited teaching experience, or are beginning work as international teachers.
The number of beginning teachers in the state who don't yet have long-term teaching credentials also jumped last year. “Residency License” teachers teach classrooms while completing college courses in education or their specialty, because they did not follow the traditional teaching path of first earning a bachelor's degree in education.
Teacher vacancy rates also varied widely across school districts. Vance County schools have the highest vacancy rate, with nearly one-third of teaching positions reported to be unfilled. Meanwhile, four school districts reported no vacancies: Allegany County Schools, Graham County Schools, Mitchell County Schools and Tyrrell County Schools.
The number of job openings across the state has nearly doubled since fall 2020, the first time comparable data was available. State law changed the way the Department of Public Instruction records vacancies from spring to fall 2020 to better reflect situations when vacancies are not filled by qualified teachers. This has contributed to the sharp increase in vacancies recorded since the 2019-2020 academic year.