BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – The overall rate at which teachers are leaving public schools has been steady in recent years, despite a recent sharp increase in retirements, Louisiana education officials said Jan. 28.
The state’s teacher retirement system figures showed the number of those calling it a career increased to 3,295 in the year that ended June 30, compared to 2,598 the previous year. The apparent retirement uptick came as Gov. Bobby Jindal pushed an education overhaul package through the legislature.
The Department of Education analysis released Monday shows the overall rate of teachers leaving their jobs – for retirement, promotion or other reasons – has held steady at around 12 percent. Retaining high-performing teachers is always a challenge, said State Superintendent of Education John White.
