MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — More than 10,000 North Carolina teachers left the state’s classrooms in 2023, the highest 12-month total reported in at least the past two decades, according to a new state report.
The exodus, up 42% from 2022, was fueled in part by resignations among first-year teachers and teachers newly eligible for full or nearly full retirement benefits, the latest State of the Teaching Profession report shows. The report was presented to the State Board of Education on Wednesday. The departures accounted for 11.5% of the state's 90,000 traditional public school teachers.
To deal with turnover in this growing state, schools are turning to people working in other careers, convincing them to become teachers.
Bryan Proffitt, the vice president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, was a teacher in the state for 15 years. He says with the increase in less qualified teachers, less resources, and unlivable wages, he's not surprised.
“I don’t think I ever did less than a 50-60 hour week during my 11 years of class time. And I think that’s pretty common. And increasingly we have people having to do that plus getting an 2nd or 3rd job just to stay afloat financially. None of us should be surprised." Proffitt explained.
North Carolina's state superintendent Catherine Truitt says the same.
“Given all of the challenges that our schools are facing – chronic absenteeism, parents not prioritizing sending their children back to school, parents have an entirely different relationship with school now – I’m not entirely surprised to see this," Truitt said.
She also says in most cases the expectation of the job doesn't align with the reality for most educators.
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