Across the United States the rate of teachers quitting each year is increasing. There is a constant debate in the education system about teachers, their salaries and ethics in school. Teachers have the most important job and they deserve salary increases depending on how long they work at a school or in a school system.
To be a teacher a person must receive a Bachelors degree, which requires four years of college education and often a student teaching portion. In today’s society, teachers are not paid well, which might have a big part to play in the increasing turnover rates. A turnover rate is often the amount of time that a teacher quits after they have started their official position in a school system.
To go to school and study to become a professional and then leave the career shortly after makes no sense. There is a difference between being dissatisfied and giving up. If a teacher or someone from any career is unhappy there are steps that a person should take before giving up.
According to Cynthia Kopkowski from the National Educational Association, “Nationally, the average turnover for all teachers is 17 percent, and in urban school districts specifically, the number jumps to 20 percent and according to the National Center for Education Statistics.”
She explains how forty-six percent of teachers are gone within three years of teaching. Attending school for four years, receiving a degree to only leave the career after a few years seems confusing.
Specifically in North Carolina, 14.3 percent of teachers left their positions last school year, which is an increase of 12.1 percent from the year before. These teachers claimed to be dissatisfied with the school or just wanted a career change.
Being dissatisfied is a legitimate reason to leave a career but teachers should know what they are getting themselves into beforehand. Wanting a career change is understandable too but teachers need to realize this before the school year or after the school year ends. It often happens where a teacher suddenly leaves during the school year and then their students have to deal with substitutes and it can affect their learning in a negative way.
In North Carolina, teachers without special degrees or national certification must work 15 years before they make any more than $40,000 a year on the state pay scale, according to Lynn Bonner from the News and Observer.
Teachers have one of the most important jobs and it is scary that their turnover rate is increasing. Students nowadays don’t even consider being a teacher because of how poorly they are paid. An increase in salary for teachers after they have worked a certain number of years would alleviate turnover rate and would motivate teachers to provide the best instruction possible for current students who are the future leaders of society.
