Table 10. Percentage of 2004–05 public school teacher leavers who rated various reasons as very important or extremely important in their decision to leave the position of a K–12 teacher, by selected teacher and school characteristics in the 2003

Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)

Publications & Products|Data Analysis System (DAS)|Staff

Back

Download Excel

(39 KB)

Download SE Excel

(32 KB)

Table 10. Percentage of 2004–05 public school teacher leavers who rated various reasons as very important or extremely important in their decision to leave the position of a K–12 teacher, by selected teacher and school characteristics in the 2003–04 base year

Teacher or school characteristic in base year	Changed resi- dence		Preg- nancy/ child rearing		Health		Retire- ment		School staffing action (e.g., reduction- in-force, lay-off, school closing, school reorganization, reassignment)		Better salary or benefits		To pursue a position other than that of a K–12 teacher		To take courses to improve career oppor- tunities within the field of education		To take courses to improve career oppor- tunities outside the field of education		Dissatis- fied with teaching as a career		Dissatis- fied with previous school or teaching assign- ment
Total¹	11.2		18.7		11.8		31.4		14.6		14.2		25.3		8.9		5.3		14.6		16.0

Teaching experience
1–3 years	14.6		26.7		11.2		2.0		23.7		21.4		24.7		14.3		13.8		15.2		21.5
4–9 years	12.2		42.2		14.2		3.1		11.3		17.0		22.4		11.5		6.9		15.5		18.7
10–19 years	14.5		13.2		10.7		13.6		16.2		13.3		39.9		13.8		1.2		10.9		14.5
20 years or more	7.9		2.0		10.8		68.8		12.6		9.7		21.7		3.1	!	2.3		15.1		12.6

Age
Less than 30 years	15.8		38.0		4.5		0.2	!	12.9		20.6		24.6		9.0		11.8		18.2		17.9
30–39 years	18.2		44.6		14.6		3.0		9.7		20.4		31.3		16.8		4.4		9.9		12.6
40–49 years	4.5		4.2	!	13.0		5.5		23.7		20.9		53.7		16.4		4.6		18.9		21.2
50 or more years	8.7		4.1	!	13.3		67.5		14.2		6.0		12.3		2.6		3.0		13.4		14.7

Base salary
Less than $30,000	14.6		17.4		9.2		14.2		23.9		18.8		22.2		8.7		8.0		12.3		15.2
$30,000–$39,999	11.5		21.7		14.5		10.3		14.5		21.5		27.9		10.7		7.4		21.2		22.7
$40,000 or more	10.1		17.4		10.9		47.6		12.1		8.9		24.7		8.0		3.3		11.6		12.5

Sex
Male	5.9		3.0		10.5		35.6		15.2		18.5		23.0		10.5		5.3		12.7		21.7
Female	12.8		23.2		12.1		30.2		14.5		12.9		25.9		8.4		5.3		15.1		14.3

Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic	10.1		19.5		10.7		31.0		15.7		12.7		24.5		8.0		5.1		14.8		16.2
Black, non-Hispanic	21.8	!	9.6		10.4		40.2		12.1		11.0		24.8		14.8		3.0	!	14.2		14.2
Hispanic, single or more than one race	12.2	!	24.8		20.5		15.9		3.9	!	37.7		31.0		13.2		4.0	!	10.6		13.7
Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic	4.7	!	9.5	!	27.9	!	42.9		8.4	!	16.3	!	45.2		4.7	!	26.0	!	13.7	!	12.3	!
American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic	3.2	!	15.2	!	#		36.9		15.3	!	35.3		19.5		23.6		4.9	!	13.0		34.6
More than one race, non-Hispanic	10.0	!	37.0	!	54.9		16.3	!	17.1	!	57.9		34.3	!	6.7	!	18.4	!	20.3	!	33.3	!

Teaching status
Full time	12.4		20.5		13.1		32.0		14.7		14.3		23.1		9.2		5.9		14.0		16.6
Part time	5.7		10.5		5.6		28.4		14.2		13.5		35.0		7.3		2.6		17.3		13.3

Community type
Central city	16.5		22.4		12.9		27.0		13.3		12.2		19.6		9.6		6.0		12.1		18.7
Urban fringe/large town	8.7		19.8		11.4		30.4		12.4		14.0		28.3		9.4		5.2		17.3		15.4
Rural/small town	9.0		8.8		10.9		42.0		23.5		18.2		26.6		6.1		4.2		10.9		12.9

School level
Elementary	8.6		21.5		12.8		28.3		14.8		13.7		26.2		8.9		4.2		15.1		15.6
Secondary	17.2		14.1		9.9		38.5		14.1		14.4		24.5		8.3		7.2		14.1		16.3
Combined	8.1		7.6	!	9.7	!	26.7		17.0		20.7		16.1		13.3		6.9		9.2		19.5

School enrollment
Less than 200	6.3		16.4		16.4		25.5		16.2		17.9		16.2		10.5		5.4		10.4		20.6
200–499	9.0		16.3		12.6		31.4		16.4		15.2		24.6		7.1		4.2		17.0		18.8
500–749	11.1		22.7		10.4		32.3		14.6		13.0		22.7		6.4		3.0		10.8		9.6
750 or more	14.0		18.9		11.2		31.6		12.8		13.4		28.6		11.7		7.6		15.0		16.3

Percent of K–12 students who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches
Less than 15	5.0		12.3		6.6		35.3		13.5		5.6		28.6		9.0		2.9		11.1		13.1
15–49	14.2		17.5		12.0		35.0		11.6		16.4		26.6		9.5		7.4		20.5		17.4
50 or more	11.9		23.5		14.1		27.5		17.8		14.9		23.1		8.6		4.3		11.9		14.8
School did not parti- cipate in free or reduced-price lunch program	21.9		23.8		10.5	!	16.8		23.6		20.2		25.5		11.4		7.1	!	12.9	!	24.1

Percent of K–12 students who were minorities
Less than 10	6.7		14.3		13.7		36.3		14.9		13.7		26.8		5.4		3.3		18.6		15.5
10–34	13.9		13.4		12.4		37.1		11.7		8.8		21.6		11.7		6.1		14.9		17.2
35 or more	12.6		23.1		10.5		26.5		15.6		16.5		25.9		9.7		6.0		12.3		15.8

# Rounds to zero.

! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 percent or more of the estimate's value.

¹ Free or reduced price lunch program data are collected at the school level and placed on the teacher file. In cases where the sampled school did not respond, data were imputed from the Common Core of Data (CCD). In some cases, CCD data were not available for the school's free or reduced price lunch program participation. A very small number of teachers from these schools are missing data for this variable.

NOTE: Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2003–04). Respondents were asked to rate the importance of various reasons in their decision to leave the teaching profession, although some reasons may be involuntary. Response choices were based on a 5-point scale, and included the following: "Not at all important," "Slightly important," "Somewhat important," "Very important," and "Extremely important."

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Teacher Data File," 2003–04; Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teacher Data File," 2004–05.

Back

Download Excel

(39 KB)

Download SE Excel

(32 KB)

NCES Headlines