Teachers are struggling to continue their careers as educators all over the country. Teachers leaving their positions is one of the rising critical issues facing schools. School staff say many problems compound in a school setting including behaviors as a result of COVID-19, and the feeling of being underpaid are all underlying causes of teacher turnover. According to the federal government, one out of fifty teachers are leaving, and turnover is at the highest point in five years. The Colorado Education Association also says around 60% of teachers across Colorado are considering leaving the teacher profession. According to the Colorado Department of Education, the number of unfilled teacher positions increased by 178% from 2022 to 2023. As of March 2023, New McKinsey research shows that nearly a third of US K–12 educators are thinking of leaving their jobs.
Teacher retention commonly known as the ‘Teacher Turnover’ is when teachers are leaving their positions. This has severe consequences for the school’s financial health and the education of students. Many schools increased teachers’ pay or increased teacher resources so they can stay in their position. But budgets are very tight across the state.
Students feel a lack of consistency in learning when teachers come and go, “When the new teachers come, they don’t understand what we’re learning at that point,” Alexandra Fox, a sophomore at Englewood High School said. She believes different teaching methods can affect the amount or quality of education students can get in a classroom. Fox states the feeling of having a different teacher than before is like “a roller coaster.”
Matthew Bednorz has been teaching for 28 years, 20 of them at Englewood. He believes a lot of financial resources go to increasing pay for incoming teachers, “But us teachers who have been here for 20-25 years, I believe we deserve a little bit more,” Bednorz said.
Teacher Mark Fornnarino says now, more than ever in his career, “Teachers are asked to do more usually with less, which means they have to work harder and get less compensation.” He believes students benefit when teachers are funded at a higher level, “You are really not just helping out the teachers, but you are helping out the students most importantly, that’s why we all do this job and the community.”
The SuperIntendent of Englewood School District, Joanna Polzin, points to the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan that outlines the District and Board of Education Goals for Student Experience and Staff Experience. There are five goals under the heading of Staff Experience aimed at recruiting and keeping high-quality educators. Polzin believes the goals of the plan, including finding the best educators, providing value-added staff development, giving them opportunities to be advocates for their self-care and well-being, creating opportunities for meaningful teamwork, collaboration, and support and empowering and entrusting each staff member to build and lead schools with a culture of excellence and belonging, “Research has shown that the more professional development opportunities, as well as how much you appreciate your staff is one of the main reasons that they stay,” Polzin said.
Polzin said it is important to take care of new and experienced staff. New staff may be harder to find. She said she noticed a decline in the number of candidates for education positions. Polzin mentioned that at the most recent job fair she attended, “there were two hundred candidates where normally there’d be four or five hundred.”
Polzin said she wants “to reinforce the quality of the teacher.” Polzin believes the quality of the teachers they hire is one of the most important matters to the student’s education. “Just to reinforce that the quality of the teacher that we put in front of the student, it matters, it matters greatly. So we always do our best to hire and make sure we have the right people teaching our kids and supporting our kids with anything and everything they are going through in life to help them be the best that they can be as they grow into adults.”
