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Reasons For the Increase in Teacher Turnover
Tessy Waeltz
Purdue University Global
CM107: College Composition I
William Johnson
November 15, 2022
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Reasons For the Increase in Teacher Turnover
A current issue affecting today’s school system is the increasing rate of teacher turnover.
According to NCES (2022) there was a 2.9% increase in teacher job openings from 2020-2021.
In 2019, there was only a 1.9% increase (para. 4). In 2010, there were about 280,000 incoming
teachers, compared to a decrease in 2020 to about 200,000. This number is projected to drop
even more to 150,000 by 2025 (Henry Tran. 2022. Para. 4). There is clear evidence of a teacher
shortage and indication of it not improving. There are many contributing factors to the declining
number of teachers that can be identified. In many cases, teachers are overwhelmed to the point
of finding a new profession. The increase in teacher turnover within the past decade can be
attributed to increased financial strain, overwhelming stress, and lack of respect from parents and
students.
Financial concerns can be considered an issue attributing to the teacher shortage.
Teachers are often trying to pay back student loan debt and also have out of pocket classroom
expenses. This can cause a large amount of financial strain. The average teacher makes roughly
$60,000 a year (USA facts, 2022. Para. 1). Financial budgeting often leaves low discretionary
income after subtracting student loan payments and out of pocket expenses. Some teachers are
still living paycheck to paycheck. Depending on the amount of time they spent in college they
have an immense amount of debt. According to the NEA (2021),
just shy of half of teachers still
struggle with student loan dept, owing on average of $59,000 (Para. 2).
Teachers are also often
being denied relief from the federal public service loan forgiveness program that is intended to
provide relief. The denial reasons are unknown and causes much frustration and financial stress.
In addition to the burden of student loan debt, teachers have out-of-pocket expenses for
classroom supplies. They are purchasing supplies, like crayons and pencils, when their classroom
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becomes low. These expenses are often out of their own pockets and not reimbursed. Teachers
are also purchasing holiday party supplies for their students to have fun and relax as well as any
decorations they may want for their classroom. In the most recent study done by the Department
of Education on teacher spending, about 44% of teachers spent between $250-$500 of their own
money on school supplies and other classroom essentials (2021. Para. 7). These costs definitely
contribute to the financial burden of this profession.
Another factor that is prevalent in education is overwhelming stress. The lack of
administrative support and lack of preparation to work in inclusive classrooms are only a few
things contributing to the overwhelming amount of stress that teachers deal with. Virtually 25%
of the teacher turnover is attributed to poor leadership and support. This is more than double the
number of teachers that say their administrators are supportive (LPI. 2017. Para. 4). Not having
this support system is frustrating and can make it feel like they are on their own with no
resources to turn to when things get tough. Another cause of overwhelming stress is lack of
preparation for an inclusive classroom. 17% of teachers feel that their level of preparedness
depends on the type of struggle the students are having (NCLD & Understood. 2019. Para. 25).
Teachers often feel that not having the proper preparation to help these students creates a
stressful environment. A teacher’s intention is to help all children learn and not being able to
help a select few students is frustrating. These stressful situations are causing teachers to not
want to go to work as they question the point if they are unable to do the job correctly.
Finally, teachers are dealing with students disrespecting them as well as fellow students.
Parents blaming teachers for students’ failures is another prevalent factor as well. They are trying
to overcome challenges with disrespectful language and gestures as well. As teachers deal with
disrespect, it can create a very negative and unproductive day. Trying to keep a healthy
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environment for students when they are dealing with personal discouragement can be exhausting.
Teachers have come to the point of directly suggesting parents do something with their children.
Suggestions to provide some kind of consistent discipline, whether it is taking their phone or
grounding them. Children need to have structure in their everyday lives (Sara Santora. 2022.
Para. 4). In most instances, teachers teach to their best ability, but there are some students that
just do not want to learn. They refuse to put in any effort, or even try. Steven Singer (2019) said,
“I can lead a student to knowledge, but I can’t make them think.” (Para. 42). Parents do not see
that the teacher is doing their best to teach the student. They often only see that their child is
failing. The students need to be encouraged to provide just as much effort as the teachers do. The
education of a student should be recognized as a joint effort between students and teachers
instead of solely one or the other. A students’ failure should not be placed solely on the teacher
although this is often common. These types of disrespect and lack of effort create a very
discouraging and negative environment that teachers deal with often.
These are only a few reasons as to why the teacher turnover rate has increased. Teachers
grow weary of the financial strain, overwhelming stress, lack of respect, and discouraging
environment. These issues are within the district and problems with the students and parents. All
of these are reasons often drive teachers to find a new careers. They are an important part of the
community but are often treated as if they are important at all. Teachers are necessary to the field
of education and outcome of student education. As these issues are defined initiatives should be
taken to restore the field of education.
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References
DeLaRosa, J. (2022, June 30).
Public State and Local Education Job Openings, Hires, and
Separations for December 2021
. National Center for Education Statistics.
https://nces.ed.gov/blogs/nces/2022/06/30/default
Flannery, M. E. (2021, July 27).
The Depth of Educators’ College Debt
. National Education
Association.
https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/depth-educators-
college-debt
LPI. (2017, February 27).
The Role of Principals in Addressing Teacher Shortages
. Learning
Policies Institute.
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/role-principals-addressing-
teacher-shortages-brief
NCES. (2021, March).
Public School Teacher Spending on Classroom Supplies
. Us Department
Of Education.
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018097rev.pdf
NCLD & Understood. (2019).
Forward Together
. National Center for Learning Disabilities.
https://www.ncld.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Forward-Together_NCLD-report.pdf
Santora, S. (2022).
Teacher Begs Parents to Discipline “Disrespectful” Kids in Viral Video.
Newsweek Digital LLC.
https://www.newsweek.com/teacher-begs-parents-discipline-
disrespectful-kids-viral-video-1701487
Singer, S. (2019).
Teachers Are Not Responsible for Student Growth or Achievement.
Gadfly On
The Wall.
https://gadflyonthewallblog.com/2019/11/29/teachers-are-not-responsible-for-
student-growth-or-achievement/
Tran, H. (2020, August).
The Most Recent Efforts to combat Teacher shortages don’t address the
Real Problems.
University of South Carolina.
https://sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2022/08/conversation-teacher-shortages.php#.Y3BAR73MLIU
6
USA Facts. (2022).
Average Public School Teacher Salary.
Usa Facts.
https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/education/k-12-education/public-school-
teacher-salary-average/
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