As CTA has maintained for years, improving conditions at public schools is critical to retaining teachers, says Ken Futernick. His study, “A Possible Dream: Retaining California Teachers So All Students Learn,” was released in 2007 by the Center for Teacher Quality at CSU-Sacramento.
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| Giving teacher a say in curriculum decisions will lower turnover rates, says fifth-grade teacher Craig Bailey. |
“California should be following the lead of North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, Kansas and other states by surveying teachers about their teaching and learning conditions and fixing what is wrong,” says Futernick, a member of the California Faculty Association. “States that improve conditions are finding that fewer teachers are leaving before retirement age.”
Futernick conducted a Web-based survey of thousands of teachers and included the following retention strategies in his report:
- Conduct regular surveys and focus groups with teachers — and other school staff — to assess the quality of the teaching conditions in the school and the district. If conditions are poor, fix them.
- Elevate California’s student funding to adequate levels and increase per-pupil expenditures. The state currently ranks 43rd in the nation in per-pupil spending.
- Have school administrators in place who support teachers, include them in decision-making, and treat them like professionals.
- Refocus school leadership on instructional strategies, create Professional Learning Communities, and provide a positive working environment.
- Establish statewide standards for school environments that promote teacher retention and student learning.
- Assess and address specific challenges in retention of special education teachers, including workload, overly burdensome IEPs and related paperwork, insufficient support, and isolation from colleagues.
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Ken Futernick |
Implementing the above recommendations could have a huge impact in keeping teachers from leaving and possibly encourage others to return to the classroom, believes Futernick. “By reducing the rate of attrition by 30 percent and increasing the number of teachers re-entering the profession by 30 percent, California could reduce its projected annual teacher shortage by nearly a third.”
In the face of the growing teacher shortage, retaining teachers has taken on a new urgency, says CTA President David A. Sanchez. And that means improving the conditions at schools that are driving teachers out of the classroom.
“CTA has led the charge to change the climate that has been created under No Child Left Behind, and bring back the joy of teaching,” says Sanchez. “Hopefully, that can happen when No Child Left Behind is reauthorized under a new president.”
Increasing salaries would also help retain teachers. Teacher salaries in the U.S. have remained stagnant for the last decade, according to an NEA study.
However, letting veteran teachers transfer to low-income schools could help retain teachers and offset the imbalance of having too many new teachers working in the most challenging schools, say some CTA members. About a quarter of new classroom teachers in California are interns working on their credentials, and about half of these inexperienced teachers work in districts with the most challenging students. Studies show that having a majority of inexperienced teachers in the most challenging schools contributes to the shortage.
“They say that experienced teachers don’t want to work in challenging, low-performing schools, but it’s not true,” says Rick De Francesco, a member of the Sequoia District Teachers Association. “But when veteran teachers want to transfer to a new school district, they often come up much shorter on the pay scale than where they are, because they can’t transfer all their years of experience.”
“I would love to work with low-performing kids and go somewhere where I am needed more,” adds De Francesco, who has raised this topic at CTA’s State Council of Education. “But if I did, I would probably go down quite a bit on the pay scale. I would like it to become law that teachers who transfer to low-performing districts are paid for all their experience.”
Cindy Crawford, a member of the San Lorenzo Teachers Association, believes that pensions should also be a consideration. “My pension covers years of service and the highest level of pay I receive during my last few years of service. If I go to a low-performing district and get less pay, it lowers my overall retirement dollars.”
CTA President Sanchez hopes that the CTA-sponsored Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) will have an impact on teacher retention in the 488 schools that will share $2.9 billion over the next seven years. The money is earmarked for such reforms as smaller class sizes, more counselors, and better training for teachers and principals.
“This is a historic opportunity for positive changes at these disadvantaged schools,” says Sanchez of the money that resulted from the settlement of a lawsuit CTA filed against Gov. Schwarzenegger.
“We expect that at those schools there will be an increase in teacher retention.”
Administrators can also spell the difference between retaining and losing a teacher, according to Jan Richards, a National University professor in teacher education. He studied teachers in their first five years of teaching and found that new teachers need emotional support, but are often treated coldly instead.
“New teachers need reassurance that they are doing a good job and that they are showing professional growth,” states the report, “What New Teachers Value Most in Principals.”
“A principal’s willingness to offer suggestions and encouragement (and sometimes comfort) may be an undervalued commodity.”
A follow-up study of the same teachers after they had been in the profession six to 10 years found the same principal behaviors were still the most valued:
- Respecting and valuing teachers as professionals.
- Having an open-door policy and being accessible, available and willing to listen.
- Being fair, honest and trustworthy.
- Supporting teachers dealing with parents.
- Supporting teachers in matters of student discipline.
In some schools, a high turnover of principals contributes to a high turnover of teachers, says Nikita Gibbs, a teacher at Lockwood Elementary School in Oakland.
“The first year I had support, but after that it was a revolving door of administrators,” says the Oakland Education Association member. “It makes some people want to leave.”
Retaining teachers is a far larger problem than recruiting new ones — and a key to solving teacher shortages, says Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor at Stanford University’s School of Education. She estimates it costs $15,000 on average per recruit who leaves — at least $2 billion annually in California.
“These funds should be spent strategically on stronger teaching supports, rather than wasted on a fast-spinning revolving door.”
