Kansas second in nation for teachers leaving the job

TOPEKA (KSNT) - A study by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found Kansas was second in the nation for teachers leaving the profession.

The study by NCES looked at three categories: "stayers" - teachers staying in the same school, "movers" - teachers who moved to a different school and "leavers" - teachers who are no longer teachers.

Kansas was second for the highest percentage of teachers leaving the profession with 5.36%, falling behind Vermont which had 7.28%.

Nationwide, retirement was the most commonly cited reason teachers gave for leaving the profession in the 2021-22 school year, according to the most recent NCES survey data available. While Vermont ranks high for an aging population Kansas is in-line with the nation in terms of age.

“Most teachers feel overworked and underpaid, but we didn't know what teachers considered to be fair pay or how the amount of their desired pay is related to cost of living and the working conditions in their schools,” said Elizabeth D. Steiner, lead author of the report and a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. “Teachers at all levels of experience said they deserved higher pay, suggesting the importance of raising pay across the salary schedule.”

In 2023, the RAND Corporation conducted a survey on teacher base salary. The study found 66% of teachers in the U.S. thought their salary was inadequate compared to 39% of working adults.

Kansas ranks in the bottom third for teacher salaries nationwide and average pay by district ranges from $41,318 to $74,989, according to government records.

From 2021 to 2022, the total average teacher salary in Kansas was $64,148. The salary saw a 2.04% increase from the year prior, meanwhile, the national annual inflation rate in 2021 was 7%, outpacing salary increases.

“The survey shows that pay, hours worked and working conditions are interrelated, suggesting that pay increases alone—without improvements in working hours or conditions—are unlikely to bring about large shifts in teachers' well-being or intentions to leave the profession,” said Ashley Woo, coauthor and an assistant policy researcher at RAND.

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