Richard Ingersoll of the University of Pennsylvania says that teacher turnover costs schools more than $2.2 billion annually."One of the reasons teachers quit, he says, is that they feel they have no say in decisions that ultimately affect their teaching. In fact, this lack of classroom autonomy is now the biggest source of frustration for math teachers nationally." The constant churn affects schools' ability to provide all students with skilled teachers. most of the turnover is driven by school conditions. Salary is not the main thing. It's important, but not the main thing. And that's an important finding because the teaching force is so large -- it's now America's largest occupation -- that raising everyone's salaries is a very expensive proposition. "What are some of the important factors driving the decision to stay or leave? |