Teachers are quitting their jobs at the highest rate since 2001 [View all]

[demmiblue]

Americans are quitting their jobs at elevated rates, thanks to a tight labor market with historically low unemployment. Among them are public educators, who are leaving the field at the highest rate since 2001.

According to the Labor Department, educators quit at an average rate of 83 per 10,000 a month for the first 10 months of 2018. This is still lower than the average rate for American workers overall, which totals 231 per 10,000 workers, but is the highest rate for educators since data collection began 17 years ago.

By contrast, the lowest number of public educators quitting was in 2009 when 48 educators per 10,000 left their jobs voluntarily.

Since 2015, school districts reported having trouble finding enough qualified teachers to fill open positions. This, according to nonpartisan education-policy research group Learning Policy Institute, has lead states to open up temporary teaching jobs to people with no official training.

The increased rate of public educator departures is likely to exacerbate that trend, the Wall Street Journal reported.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/12/29/teachers-are-quitting-their-jobs-highest-rate-since/06hsVQgN1IQWxhaJz2OigK/story.html