Teacher Attrition and Migration - ISSUE BRIEF - November 1992 - IB-2-92 - Why do teachers leave teaching?

Sep 2, 2026

Teacher Attrition and Migration issue brief analyzes how many teachers left the profession (attrition) or moved to other schools (migration) during the 1987–88 school year, using NCES Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) data linked to the 1988–89 Teacher Followup Survey (TFS). About 5.6% of public and 12.7% of private teachers left teaching in one year, and about 8.0% of all teachers moved schools, with private movers more likely to shift sectors. Reasons are examined across pay, career, dissatisfaction, family and health, retirement, and school-staffing actions.

LanguageEnglish

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Reading Time5 min

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Why do teachers leave teaching?

Why do teachers change schools?

Teacher Attritionand Migration ISSUE BRIEF NOVEMBER 1992IB-2-92 ow many teachers leave the profession in a year's time?And why?LAre public school teachers more or less likely than private schoolteachers to leave the profession or move to different schools? These questions and others about teachers in the 1987-88 school year wholeft the profession(attrition)or moved to other schools(migration)in ayear's time can be addressed by data from NCES's 1987-88 Schools andStaffing Survey(SASS)and 1988-89 Teacher Followup Survey(TFS). What percentage of the nation's 1987-88 teachers leftthe profession in a year's time?Are public or privateschool teachers more likely to leave teaching? About 5.6 percent of the approximately 2,323,200 public schoolteachers in the 1987-88 school year had left teaching by the fol-lowing year(Figure 1).This percentage is close to NCES official pro-jections of around 6 percent for previous years.In the same school year 12.7 percent of the 307,131 private school teachers had left teaching bythe following year.If this difference between public and private schoolteacher attrition rates were fairly constant over the years,it would meanthat private schools regularly have to replace a larger percentage oftheir teacher work force than do public schools. Figure 2.—Percentages of teachers in the1987-88 school year who moved toother schools in a year's time,withpercentages of movers whochanged sectors What percentage of the nation's 1987-88 teachersmoved to other schools in a year's time?Are public orprivate school teachers more likely to change schools? While teachers who move to other schools do not represent a lossto the profession,they do represent a loss to the schools fromwhich they move,and replacements must be recruited and hired.TheSASS and TFS data provide the first national look at the rate at whichteachers move to other schools. About 8.0 percent of all teachers in the 1987-88 school year had movedto other schools by the following year(Figure 2).The percentage ofthese"movers"was similar for public and private schools. Approximately 7.8 percent of public and 9.5 percent of private schoolteachers moved to other schools.However,nearly half of the privateschool "movers"left the private sector to teach in public schools,whileless than 3 percent of the public school “movers”left the public sectorto teach in private schools.The combination of attrition and migrationmeans an even larger proportional loss of teachers for the private sectorin comparison with the public sector. Percent of movers whochanged sectors SOURCE:All data in this Issue Briefare from Schools and Stafing in the United States:A Staistical Profile.1987-88.National Center for Education Statistics,NCES 92-120. U.S.Department of EducationOffice of Educational Research and Improvement # Why do teachers leave teaching? | Table 1.—Reasons why former teachers left
teaching:1988-89 | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | Main reason | Percentage of former
teachers who picked
each reason | | | | Public in
1987-88 | Private in
1987-88 | | For better salary or
benefits | 4.5 | 9.2 | | To pursue another career
outside of education | 14.8 | 12.5 | | Dissatisfied with teaching
as a career | 8.9 | 6.7 | | Family or personal move,
or health,or pregnancy/
childrearing | 34.7 | 47.3 | | To retire | 22.5 | 5.5 | | Other or not reported | 14.6 | 18.8 | Popular belief is that many who leave teaching do so for better payor other career opportunities.About 19 percent of public and 22percent of private school teachers who left the profession picked theseas their main reasons for leaving(Table 1).Another 8.9 percent of pub-lic and 6.7 percent of private school teachers who left were dissatisfiedwith teaching as a career. However,substantial percentages of teachers who left teaching gavereasons that appeared to be unrelated to teaching

FAQs

How many teachers left teaching in one year during the 1987–88 school year?

About 5.6% of public school teachers and 12.7% of private school teachers left teaching by the following year.

What share of teachers moved to other schools in a year's time?

Approximately 8.0% of teachers in the 1987–88 school year moved to other schools by the following year.

What were the main reasons former teachers left teaching?

The largest shares cited family or personal move, health, or pregnancy/childrearing (about 34.7% public and 47.3% private) and retirement (about 22.5% public and 5.5% private).

Why did teachers change schools, and did it differ by sector?

About 32% of public and 18% of private teachers changed schools due to school-staffing actions, and many others moved for family or personal reasons. Private-sector movers were much more likely to switch into public schools than vice versa.

Sep 2, 2026

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