Featured: VACANT: Students stare at an empty teacher's desk as they wait for a substitute teacher to arrive. Former Clarke Central High School English department teacher Jake Reuse believes that retaining teachers is important in establishing a better education for students. “I think that we need to make (teaching) a desirable place for people to (work) because we want to be an educated country,” Reuse said. “We want kids going out and doing great things and inspiring the next generation is huge. I think that we have to collectively do a better job of approaching that.” Illustration by Eleanor Robinson
RETENTION RATE CRISIS
The efficacy of student learning and faculty performance is being hindered by high teacher turnover rates in the CCSD. BY NICO WILLMAN BY SOFIA BALSAMO LAYOUT BY AUDREY ENGHAUSER News Editor News Staffer Print Editor-in-Chief
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LAYOUT BY CHLOE SEARS Print Managing Editor
tudent education is being impacted by rising teacher turnover rates, with an average of 14% of all Clarke County School District teachers departing annually. According to the CCSD Human Resources department, the teacher turnover rate at Clarke Central High School rose from 10.74% to 14.15% between 2019 and 2021, resulting in negative effects on student achievement and teacher morale. “It creates more challenges than most industries when a teacher leaves. There’s the (loss of) institutional knowledge that happens. They know how to do something (and) they know how to do it really well,” CCSD Executive Director of Recruitment and Development Dan Swartz said. “They’ve navigated that work environment for many years and they’ve put systems and structures in place to do things efficiently. When they leave, sometimes those have to (be) recreated and a loss of efficiency happens.”
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As the CCHS math department co-chair, Heather Julian has witnessed the effects teacher turnover has had on long-term teacher development. “(Turnover) definitely affects the cohesiveness of planning teams, as well as what different people have been trained on. Every year, (students) learn a little bit more math and get better at math. (Professional learning) is the same way, so (teachers) get better at teaching or instructional strategies,” Julian said. “When there’s a lot of turnover, that means that the new people haven’t necessarily gotten that training, or (we’re) constantly trying to get them caught up and into the vision of what we do here at Clarke Central." As of February 2022, the National Education Association reported that 55% of teachers nationwide considered leaving the profession earlier than planned, compared to the 37% in August 2021. According to CCHS Assistant Principal Dr. Summer Smith, this increases the shortage of hireable personnel and makes it more difficult to find experienced and skilled professionals. “Teacher turnover affects everything,” Smith said. “All the training and support and resources that we pour into teachers, if they just stay for a year and
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