The draft figures report — which you can find here— features both statewide levels and more granular data for individual school districts.
The state attrition rate is 11%, and New Hanover County Schools (NHCS) and Pender County Schools (PCS) were higher than the state average at approximately 12%. Brunswick County Schools (BCC) (9%) and Columbus County Schools (CCS) (7%) were lower.
This marks a significant increase in teacher departures from past years. For NHCS, for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years, attrition hovered around 9%. The most recent data, from last year, it’s increased by 3 percentage points. PCS has increased significantly—jumping 5 percentage points over the same period. CCS was the only attrition rate that improved by one point; BCS remained the same.
The main reasons teachers are leaving are personal. These could include increasing family responsibilities, moving, teaching in another state, changing careers, dissatisfaction with teaching, or resigning for health reasons. Behind that are ‘other reasons,’ where the reasons are “unknown” or “other.”
The data also has the category of ‘initiated by LEA,’ meaning those educators were dismissed or ‘beyond the control of LEA, ’ which means things like retiring with full benefits.
For NHCS, 80% of teachers left for personal reasons or ‘other.’ BCS, CCS, and PCS educators also mostly left for personal reasons.
BCS had some of the highest vacancy rates at 9%, followed by NHCS and PCS, both at 6%, and CCS had the lowest rate at 3%.
In a press release, researchers from NCDPI say the state’s rate is still below the national average – and that schools are doing better than other industries nationwide.
However, this data did show that more teachers are entering through alternative licensing routes, increasing by 23%.
In an NCDPI press release, State Superintendent Catherine Truitt noted the need for more support for early teachers.
“With nearly half of new teachers coming to us through alternative teacher preparation programs, we need to take a close look at how to better differentiate supports for those educators. I will continue to recommend that the state consider redesigning its teacher licensure and compensation system so that beginning teacher support is embedded earlier and systematically throughout a teacher’s career,” she wrote.
Another bellwether of the teaching profession is coming up – the biannual Teacher Working Conditions Survey, which will be released later this spring.
