One in four North Carolina teachers leave the profession in their first year

North Carolina teacher attrition rates were up about 4% last year compared  to the year before. 

Officials say the data indicates a need for stronger beginning teacher support. 

Last year, more than 10,000 teachers left their jobs in the North Carolina public school system. That’s an attrition rate of 11.5%, an increase from 7.8% the previous year. But these rates are worse for teachers who are just starting out. 

Thomas Tomberlin with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction shared this data from the annual State of the Teaching Profession Report at a meeting on Wednesday. 

He said that more than a quarter of teachers leave the profession within their first year. 

“They are leaving for a reason. They came in thinking they wanted to be a teacher. And after a year, they decided this is not what I want to do. One in four of them did," Tomberlin said. "And so decisions on these folks to leave the profession may include things like lack of mentor support, lack of a manageable workload, and other things that the State Board of Education does have policy control over.”

Beginning teachers are defined as having less than three years of experience. For that group, the attrition rate is about 15%.

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt says this highlights a need for stronger beginning teacher support in the state. 

“This is something that, you know, many of us have been saying for a while that teacher support needs to be embedded into licensure. And it's not right now," Truitt said. "We need to completely overhaul the way we license, compensate and support teachers.”

The overall attrition rate was slightly lower in the Piedmont Triad Region, at roughly 10%. 

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.