Teacher attrition declined in 2023-24 school year; still higher than average of past several years

The 2023-24 State of the Teaching Profession report, presented to the North Carolina State Board of Education today, shows an improved attrition rate for teachers in public school districts for 2023-24 over the previous year. 

The report also shows that over 90% of the principals in public school districts remained in that role from March 2023 to March 2024. 

Mandated by the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA), the report measures teacher attrition and vacancies between March 2023 and March 2024 for North Carolina’s 115 public school districts.

The attrition data shows how many teachers left their employment in North Carolina public schools. It does not include teachers who leave the classroom but stay employed in non-teaching roles such as school administration. The report also now includes data about the movement of school administrators, per the NCGA's request.

The attrition rate for 2023-24 was 9.88%, down from 11.5% in 2022-23. That represents almost 1,500 fewer teachers lost from a total of 89,972 teachers employed in a full-time permanent position. However, the 2023-24 attrition rate is higher than the average rate of 8.64% over the last seven years and is higher than any rate over those years other than 2022-23.

“While the report shows improvement in the percentage of teachers staying compared to prior years, there are still far too many teachers leaving the profession,” said North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice “Mo” Green. “We need to do a much better job of keeping them in the classroom once they are hired. That starts with revering these professionals for the amazing job they do and providing them with great salaries and opportunities for growth within our public schools.”

The superintendent’s joint legislative agenda with the State Board of Education calls for substantial increases in teacher compensation to raise their average salaries to the highest in the southeast. It also calls for the expansion of the state’s Advanced Teaching Roles Program, which provides meaningful advancement opportunities for highly effective teachers along with teacher salary supplements and additional grant awards for more school districts to start programs.

Teacher attrition is highest for newer teachers and those who have 28+ years in the field. In 2023-24, the attrition rate was between 11.7% and 17.5% for teachers with 0-5 years of experience and between 18.5% and 26.8% for veteran educators.

The number of new teachers entering classrooms under alternative licensure routes has decreased since last year but still makes up nearly half of all new educators in the state. Since 2017-18, this pathway has increased by 19.6%.

In his presentation to the state board, Dr. Tom Tomberlin – senior director of educator preparation, licensure and performance at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) – said the pipeline to becoming a highly qualified educator needs more supports.
Of the 3,635 teachers issued a permit to teach in the 2018-19 school year, approximately 61.2% converted to a residency license by 2023-24. For emergency licenses, of 2,628 issued in 2018-19, approximately 55% converted to a residency license by 2023-24.

“This middling conversion rate shows that we still have some work to do when it comes to supporting our alternatively prepared teachers,” Tomberlin said.

Vacancy Data 
State legislators broadened the definition of a vacancy for the 2021-22 academic year and beyond to include positions filled by teachers who are temporarily licensed and rehired retirees.

The vacancy rate for 2023-24 was 8.2% under this definition, an increase from 6.4% in 2022-23. However, Tomberlin cautioned that that the majority of what this report classifies as “vacant” positions are actually filled by an educator with a temporary license or a rehired retiree.

“If we’re just looking at unfilled positions and unresolved licenses, our vacancy rate would be much lower – approximately 1.9%,” Tomberlin said. “The reason that legislators made the change in definition was to get an idea of how far North Carolina public schools are from the ideal staffing scenario. While we do have room for improvement, our school and district leaders do a great job of trying to make sure all student needs are met with the staff members and resources they have.”

Principal Movement
This year’s report is the first that includes data on principals in public school districts as a result of new legislation.

At the end of the 2022-23 school year, 186 of 2,498 principals left employment in North Carolina public schools, for an attrition rate of 7.45%. Most of those who left – 65 percent – retired.

The vast majority, 92.4%, of principals remained employed as principals from 2023 to 2024. About 4.9% of principals who left did so to advance to a district-level role.

More than two-thirds of principals of low-performing schools remained at the same school.