Teaching in the 21st Century: The Landscape
Teacher Turnover: A Hefty Price Tag
$7.3 billion. That’s the estimated annual cost of teacher turnover in U.S. schools according to a recent policy
brief published by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF). And in a recent
cost study, NCTAF estimates that the cost of losing teachers in their first three years of employment ranges
from $4,300 in rural schools to $17,800 in large urban districts. While consumer, business and professional
media cover the student drop-out dilemma in our nation’s schools, another, equally alarming problem is
gaining momentum. Teachers are leaving the profession at a rate that has grown by more than 50% over
the past 15 years. Each year 16.8% of our nation’s teachers leave, and in urban schools, that number spikes
to 20%.