Stress is a leading cause for leaving teaching in a public school: Percent share of teachers citing each possible reason
| Reason | Percentage |
|---|---|
| The stress and disappointments of teaching weren’t worth it | 43% |
| I didn’t like the way things were run at my school | 32% |
| Other | 32% |
| I did not get enough support from my district or school | 29% |
| My pay was not sufficient | 24% |
| I found a better job that is education-related (e.g. school administration, tutoring) | 23% |
| I found a better job that is not education-related | 13% |
| COVID-19 was the only reason I left public school teaching | 7% |
| I found a better traditional teaching job in another school | 6% |
| I found a better nontraditional teaching job (e.g. leading a learning pod or teaching in a micro school) | 5% |
Notes: December 2020 responses from 958 K–12 public school teachers who had left teaching in a public school before or after the March 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to the survey question: “What were the reasons you left teaching in a public school, regardless of whether COVID-19 influenced your departure?” Respondents were allowed to cite more than one reason, therefore reasons listed do not sum to 100%.
Source: Table B.8 from Melissa Kay Diliberti, Heather L. Schwartz, and David Grant, "Stress Topped the Reasons Why Public School Teachers Quit, Even Before COVID-19," RAND Corporation, 2021.