Teachers at charter schools more than twice as likely to leave the profession

Research by the National Center on School Choice at Vanderbilt University shows that teachers at charter schools are more than twice as likely to leave the profession than are their peers at traditional public schools.  Teacher retention is a major concern in education.  Rather than solve this problem, the charter school movement appears to be doubling it.

Researchers found that 25% of charter school teachers turned over per school year, compared to 14% of traditional public school teachers. Fourteen percent of charter school teachers left the profession outright and 11% moved to a different school, while 7% of traditional public school teachers left the profession and 7% moved schools.

In analyzing the data, researchers found that the odds of a charter school teacher leaving the profession are 132% greater than those of a traditional public school teacher. The odds of a charter school teacher moving schools are 76% greater.

The high turnover rate of charter school teachers was known prior to this study, but this research provides quantifiable scientific documentation of the trend. The research also counters claims made by charter school operators that charter teacher turnover is higher because they get rid of under-performing teachers.

On the contrary, the data shows that the true reason for the "turnover gap" is found in differences between the type of teachers that charter schools hire compared to traditional public schools. Researchers describe the high teacher turnover of charter school teachers as "voluntary and dysfunctional" rather than as the weeding-out process charter school operators would have the public believe they are doing.

Charter schools tend to hire younger teachers than do traditional public schools, and these teachers are less likely to have standard certification or training. Such teachers often see teaching as a temporary job on the path to another career.

Furthermore, teachers at charter schools are less likely to belong to teacher's unions; and are thus more easily subjected to profit-driven work overload, pay cuts, and other factors leading to their decision to leave. One charter school teacher, identified as "Future X-Charter Teacher" on an online forum, described the charter school climate as "the Wal Mart model of breaking unions."

Future X-Charter Teacher explained further "Everyone comes in young, energetic, and naive - willing to take pay cuts since most of them are from Teach for America (another short term solution) - and then we (teachers) get pushed and pushed and pushed to do more work without job security. Teacher turnover is going to be constant until charters develop a more reasonable model."

Charter schools have not reached the level of popularity in Kansas as they have elsewhere. Topeka's Hope Street Academy and Lawrence's Virtual High School, an online learning program under management of K-12, Inc., are two area charter schools. In cities such as Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, Louisiana, charter schools now make up a significant portion of the local schools.

Past studies have shown that teacher stability is an important factor in school and, ultimately, student success. These findings regarding teacher turnover are an important consideration as our nation looks towards reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and the development of systems like "Race to the Top" which actively encourage anti-union, pro-charter legislation as well as alternative paths into the teaching profession.