# ‘I Just Found Myself Struggling to Keep Up’: Number of Teachers Quitting Hits New High  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Matt Barnum]] - Full Title:: ‘I Just Found Myself Struggling to Keep Up’: Number of Teachers Quitting Hits New High - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/03/06/more-teachers-quitting-than-usual-driven-stress-politics-data-shows/11390639002/?utm_source=usatoday-NewsAlert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alerts&utm_term=news_alert&utm_content=USAT-8872UT-E-NLETTER01 ## Highlights #### Chalkbeat > The data is in: More teachers than usual exited the classroom after last school year, confirming longstanding fears that [pandemic-era stresses would prompt an outflow of educators](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2022/12/21/why-there-teacher-shortage-schools-struggled-nationwide-2022/10882103002/) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtyt9xchtr0gv4etaab8qys5)) > In Washington state, more teachers [left the classroom](https://caldercenter.org/publications/teacher-turnover-three-years-pandemic-era-evidence-washington-state) after last school year than at any point in the last three decades ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytab652n5c10s6v9z9gf4d)) > Maryland and Louisiana saw more teachers depart than any time in the last decade ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytah4gwkpekep118f26y49)) > And North Carolina [saw a particularly alarming trend](https://epic.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1268/2023/02/Educator-Attrition-and-Hiring-in-NC.pdf) of more teachers leaving mid-school year. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytapbnczhezy4kx1v7ngpz)) #### Across 8 states, more teachers left the classroom following last school year > As this school year began, widespread reports of teacher shortages suggested that turnover had jumped more significantly. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytccv69exkq12s708szftf)) > But Chalkbeat was able to obtain the latest teacher turnover numbers from eight states: Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytdbpzartmpmaedrtz2fv9)) > In all cases, turnover was at its highest point in at least five years – typically around 2 percentage points greater than before the pandemic ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytdsamd4mqkv1xrb91vkny)) > For Kimberly Biondi, who taught high school English for 21 years in a district outside Charlotte, her reasons for leaving were wrapped up in the politics of education ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytff3rf3rvk1m4dxgj48zn)) > taught AP language where we were supposed to teach very controversial work. I taught Malcolm X. I taught all sorts of philosophers and speakers,” she said. “I could only imagine how I would be targeted for continuing to teach this.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytg8225nhcdmb0sfpxjqrg)) > Other former teachers cited growing workloads and more difficulty managing student behavior ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytgjctmvfbc553f0m5z4yv)) > In Hawaii, more teachers than usual identified their work environment as the reason for leaving. (In both states, personal reasons or retirement were still far more common explanations.) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytjxg9pmjqf0v4qre1pagw)) > district. In Austin, Texas, turnover jumped from 17% to 24%. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytm3mdgr52v2frdv6je3r3)) > North Carolina saw over 17% of principals depart last school year, compared to an average of 13% in the three years before the pandemic ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytmm5y72fygf1q4x6swkzg)) #### Why rising teacher turnover is concerning > This year, schools may have been in a particularly fraught position. Teachers appear to be leaving at higher rates, and there’s been a longer-standing decline in people training to become teachers ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytq3x9cprkexb4bqx96r0x)) # ‘I Just Found Myself Struggling to Keep Up’: Number of Teachers Quitting Hits New High  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Matt Barnum]] - Full Title:: ‘I Just Found Myself Struggling to Keep Up’: Number of Teachers Quitting Hits New High - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/03/06/more-teachers-quitting-than-usual-driven-stress-politics-data-shows/11390639002/?utm_source=usatoday-NewsAlert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alerts&utm_term=news_alert&utm_content=USAT-8872UT-E-NLETTER01 ## Highlights #### Chalkbeat > The data is in: More teachers than usual exited the classroom after last school year, confirming longstanding fears that [pandemic-era stresses would prompt an outflow of educators](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2022/12/21/why-there-teacher-shortage-schools-struggled-nationwide-2022/10882103002/) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtyt9xchtr0gv4etaab8qys5)) > In Washington state, more teachers [left the classroom](https://caldercenter.org/publications/teacher-turnover-three-years-pandemic-era-evidence-washington-state) after last school year than at any point in the last three decades ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytab652n5c10s6v9z9gf4d)) > Maryland and Louisiana saw more teachers depart than any time in the last decade ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytah4gwkpekep118f26y49)) > And North Carolina [saw a particularly alarming trend](https://epic.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1268/2023/02/Educator-Attrition-and-Hiring-in-NC.pdf) of more teachers leaving mid-school year. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytapbnczhezy4kx1v7ngpz)) #### Across 8 states, more teachers left the classroom following last school year > As this school year began, widespread reports of teacher shortages suggested that turnover had jumped more significantly. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytccv69exkq12s708szftf)) > But Chalkbeat was able to obtain the latest teacher turnover numbers from eight states: Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytdbpzartmpmaedrtz2fv9)) > In all cases, turnover was at its highest point in at least five years – typically around 2 percentage points greater than before the pandemic ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytdsamd4mqkv1xrb91vkny)) > For Kimberly Biondi, who taught high school English for 21 years in a district outside Charlotte, her reasons for leaving were wrapped up in the politics of education ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytff3rf3rvk1m4dxgj48zn)) > taught AP language where we were supposed to teach very controversial work. I taught Malcolm X. I taught all sorts of philosophers and speakers,” she said. “I could only imagine how I would be targeted for continuing to teach this.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytg8225nhcdmb0sfpxjqrg)) > Other former teachers cited growing workloads and more difficulty managing student behavior ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytgjctmvfbc553f0m5z4yv)) > In Hawaii, more teachers than usual identified their work environment as the reason for leaving. (In both states, personal reasons or retirement were still far more common explanations.) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytjxg9pmjqf0v4qre1pagw)) > district. In Austin, Texas, turnover jumped from 17% to 24%. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytm3mdgr52v2frdv6je3r3)) > North Carolina saw over 17% of principals depart last school year, compared to an average of 13% in the three years before the pandemic ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytmm5y72fygf1q4x6swkzg)) #### Why rising teacher turnover is concerning > This year, schools may have been in a particularly fraught position. Teachers appear to be leaving at higher rates, and there’s been a longer-standing decline in people training to become teachers ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gtytq3x9cprkexb4bqx96r0x))