NYC Teacher Attrition Rates

A report published on the NYC.gov website back in 2009 points out the glaring issue of teacher attrition and disparities from district to district.

Some interesting summarizing points in this report:

• 70% of the most experienced teachers are likely to retire within the next two years.
• The 2-year attrition rate is 25% with 19-25% of teachers leaving after their first year (compared to only 10% nationally).
• 29% of new teachers say it is unlikely that they will remain teaching in the next 3 years, based on telephone surveys.
• The DOE estimates the 3-year attrition rate is approximately 40%.  The UFT verifies this at 42%.
• 23% of surveyed new teachers (1-5 years of experience) said they would be teaching outside NYC by the following year.
• The report contains median teaching salaries of neighboring districts: Scarsdale, Bronxville and others for comparison to the NYC salary. NYC is the lowest-paying of the neighboring districts.

Commonly emphasized solutions to teacher attrition in NYC:

• Increase salaries and benefits to more competitive levels.
• Decrease class sizes.
• Increase Teacher's Choice allocations.
• Improve school safety.
• Improve disciplinary measures.