Proximity Learning Team
There’s nothing more frustrating for a district than hiring a great teacher only to lose them 18 months later. A lot of time and effort goes into the recruiting process to find the right fit for each open position, only to end up back at square one with another vacancy. The hiring team has to start from scratch, and other teachers often end up with increased workloads in the meantime. Teacher turnover doesn’t just impact administrators and other staff members. It also affects the students. Mid-year teaching changes or hiring delays can cause classroom disruption and shifts in learning engagement and academic achievement. There is a lot districts can do to support new hires and create a supportive environment for everyone to encourage retention. Here are five controllable causes of turnover districts can control.
Key Takeaways
- All teacher turnover is not inevitable. While retirement and relocation contribute to inevitable attrition, there are a variety of controllable factors that districts can address to reduce rates of turnover.
- High workloads and support gaps drive most of the factors of controllable attrition. When teachers feel overwhelmed and unsupported, turnover increases.
- The most common causes of controllable teacher turnover include chronic overload from unfilled vacancies, classroom disruptions from inconsistent substitutes, paperwork burden, rigid vendor contracts, and lack of real-time support from district leadership.
- Staffing model choices matter. Hiring dedicated virtual instructors can support positive learning outcomes and support in-person teachers.
Why “Controllable” Turnover Matters More Than Total Turnover
All turnover is not created equal. When it comes to teacher turnover, there is both inevitable attrition and controllable attrition. The former is primarily due to retirement and relocation, neither of which districts have any control over. These are natural reasons teachers leave positions, and they do reflect any deeper underlying issues. Controllable attrition, on the other hand, is due to factors that the district does have control over. Examples include teacher workload, support, and compensation structure. If rates of controllable turnover are higher than expected, there is often room for improvement. A great starting point is looking at factors like workload and support and brainstorming potential changes to make sure teachers feel valued. In 2025, 16% of teachers reported plans to leave their jobs. This statistic was 22% in 2024, indicating that demonstrable change can be made to lower this figure and improve teacher retention. This underscores the importance of looking into the root causes of controllable turnover, seeing which apply to your individual district or school system, and finding ways to address them.
Cause 1: Chronic Overload From Covering Unfilled Vacancies
Unfilled teaching positions have a ripple effect on the district. Human resources devotes time and resources to recruitment, interviewing, and negotiating. Students are often redistributed to other classrooms and may have to deal with schedule and subject matter changes. Then, there is the impact on the current teaching staff. Student redistribution leads to larger class sizes, stretching enrollment caps. Teachers may need to give up their planning periods as they are assigned additional course sections or asked to take turns covering rooms, study halls, or lunches. The effects of understaffing trickle down to the teachers’ lounge in a big way. Educators lose prep and lesson planning time while being expected to deliver more lessons, not less. Lesson quality can then suffer, and teachers may feel less able to effectively connect with their students. Test scores, scholastic achievement, and both teacher and student satisfaction often decline as a result. A 2026 survey found that 55% of K-12 public school teachers reported dealing with frequent job-related stress. Chronic overload can have a significant negative impact on teacher wellbeing. Educators may feel overwhelmed and need a break, requiring substitutes.
Cause 2: Inconsistent Substitute Quality Undermining Classroom Stability
When substitutes step in, there is inevitable disruption to lesson continuity and teaching quality. The experience level and subject matter knowledge of substitute teachers varies greatly. When there is a pattern of frequent, inconsistent subbing, students and teachers pay the price. Students may have trouble understanding important concepts and fall behind if substitutes are not well-versed in the subject or have trouble delivering the lesson. 25% of substitutes report receiving zero training, leading to difficulties managing classrooms and successfully teaching core concepts. If substitutes are used on a regular basis to staff classes affected by teacher vacancies, there can be lasting problems. A rotating staff of substitutes with varying approaches to teaching and course expertise can lead to learning gaps that will have a long-term impact on student achievement. In the case of temporary substitution where teachers come back to the classroom after taking a much-needed break, they are tasked with repeating lessons and trying to find ways to make up lost time during an already packed school year. On top of paperwork and compliance duties, this can increase teacher stress levels.
Cause 3: Compliance and Paperwork Burden Without Support Staff
When districts have fewer support staff available or unfilled administrative positions, the burden of completing paperwork falls on the teachers. Instead of spending valuable time lesson planning or grading work, educators can become bogged down in a sea of forms and other red tape. Teachers are often required to fill out student progress forms, file incident reports, and parent communication logs. They also have to keep track of specialized paperwork such as Individual Education Plans or IEPs and Behavior Intervention Plans or BIPs. When there is not a dedicated department or staff handling these matters, the forms can pile up quickly and seriously disrupt regular teaching duties. Teachers may have to put in extra hours before or after school to try to catch up on all of this paperwork. This again cuts into lesson prep time and can increase feelings of stress and frustration. According to the Pew Research Center, 84% of teachers state that they are unable to complete duties like answering emails, filing paperwork, and grading and prepping work during their standard work day. This figure indicates that the average teacher workload is out of proportion with the time they have to complete work. Teachers are left working extra hours without compensation or dealing with extra pressure to get things done whenever they can. Districts may lack the flexibility to easily address these issues.
Cause 4: Rigid Vendor Contracts That Don’t Flex With Enrollment
School districts often have fixed vendor contracts for various services that are locked in for long-term contracts. These contracts are typically not tied to enrollment. That means that even if the number of enrolled students increases or decreases, there is no change in the vendor contracts. Services affected by these contracts could include food service, busing, technology, tutors, and online teachers. For example, even if student enrollment has significantly declined, a school could be locked into a contract for a certain number of buses. They would have to honor that contract and have fewer students on each bus, instead of fewer buses overall. Instead of saving money by paying for fewer buses, the original contract stays in place no matter what. If the budget is strained, cuts have to be made in other areas that are not tied to these rigid contracts. That could mean cutting staff positions or reducing paid teacher hours, contributing to educator dissatisfaction.
Cause 5: Lack of Real-Time Support From District Leadership
When educators don’t feel supported in real-time, morale can suffer. Upper-level administrators and leadership staff might take days or weeks to return educator emails or calls. When the subject of these messages is serious or time-sensitive, this delay matters. If a teacher is reaching out about a behavioral issue, safety concern, parent conflict, or resource request, a timely response can make a big difference. These issues often need to be addressed immediately, and delays in response leave teachers to handle them completely on their own. This increases administrative burden for educators and leaves them feeling like they’re not being heard. A survey found that 53% of K-12 teachers with leadership that fail to provide support planned to leave their jobs, compared to only 28% of teachers with supportive staff. Inadequate support is a major contributor to teacher turnover. It is also a highly controllable factor, meaning that districts can take action to address this issue and others and see improvements in teacher retention.
What Districts Can Do About Each One
Build Flexibility Into Staffing Contracts
An alternative to rigid, traditional staffing contracts is taking a modernized, flexible approach to the hiring process. Districts can include room for adjustments within contracts. For example, traditional contracts might dictate that only teachers with a certain level of experience or degree can teach a certain subject. Flexible contracts allow teachers to move around between schools and classrooms and find the best fit based on current fluctuating needs. Contracts can also allow for changes in working hours, professional development days, and remote learning to provide extra support when needed. Proximity Learning has a no-annual-contract flexibility, ensuring districts can scale virtual teaching services up or down in real-time based on changes in student enrollment and staffing needs.
Add Layered Support, Not Just More Staff
Hiring a few additional employees is not as important as building a dedicated district-wide support system. Districts should focus on identifying the specific needs and gaps in their schools, and finding resources that directly address these concerns. Schools might consider adding social workers or therapists to address student mental health, tutors to address learning gaps, and skilled remote substitutes to address inconsistent subbing. Proximity Learning partners with ESS to match on-site classroom facilitators and experienced virtual substitutes with your district needs.
Track Vacancy Cost, Not Just Vacancy Count
Counting the number of vacant positions doesn’t provide the full picture of what’s going on. There is a higher cost to vacancy. At the surface level, putting in the work to fill vacancies costs money in human resources time and recruitment efforts. Beyond that, districts often shell out a lot of money in staffing coverage, whether in the form of hiring subs or paying overtime to the existing workforce. Vacancy cost is more than monetary. It can reduce academic performance, increase teacher overload, and make the learning environment less enjoyable for staff and students. Taking stock of true vacancy cost can encourage districts to redistribute resources and allocate funds into efforts to improve teacher retention and prevent future vacancies.
Turnover is Preventable
Effectively addressing teacher turnover is not a one size fits all approach. There is no single solution for reducing teacher turnover, and each district may have its own combination of factors causing attrition. Chronic overload from unfilled vacancies can put excess stress and external pressure on remaining teachers. A steady stream of untrained substitutes lead to learning gaps and classroom disruptions. When teachers have to take on extra administrative duties, they end up burdened with piles of paperwork and lose essential lesson prep time. Fixed vendor contracts make it difficult to re-allocate resources to areas of concern when enrollment fluctuates. Delayed support from leadership staff can make teachers feel alone and unappreciated. The best way to manage teacher turnover is to take a look at your district’s individual situation, see which of these root causes apply, and then take thoughtful action to improve them. Virtual staffing with Proximity Learning can address teacher turnover on several levels. Synchronous online teachers can cover courses affected by vacancies without overburdening existing staff. Experienced virtual substitutes maintain learning continuity and improve academic outcomes. Hiring dedicated virtual instructors means students don’t have to deal with classroom turnover or inexperienced substitutes, and gives in-person staff more time for lesson planning and delivery. CTA: Talk to Us FAQs
- What causes the most teacher turnover in K-12 districts?
Job-related stress and a lack of support causes the most teacher turnover in K-12 districts. Five of the most common root causes of teacher turnover include chronic overload, disruptions to classroom stability, administrative and paperwork burden, rigid vendor contracts, and a lack of real-time support from leadership staff.
- How can districts reduce turnover without a bigger budget?
Districts can reduce turnover without increasing their budget by directly addressing root causes of teacher turnover. Steps can be taken to foster a supportive environment for teachers and staff so educators feel valued, not overlooked. Encouraging timely communication between leadership and teachers to address real-time concerns can help teachers feel heard. Removing some of the administrative burden on teachers can help dedicate time for lesson prep. Hiring dedicated virtual instructors instead of spending money on substitutes minimizes classroom disruptions and ensures in-person educators are not overburdened.
- What is the national teacher turnover rate?
The national teacher turnover rate was estimated at around 16% in 2025, down from 22% in 2024.
- Is teacher turnover always about pay?
No. Teacher turnover is not always about pay. Support from school leadership and workload are major contributing factors to teacher turnover. A supportive working environment with a reasonable workload can have a significant impact on retention.
- Won’t flexible staffing just create more turnover?
No. Flexible staffing helps address the causes that lead to teacher turnover. It improves work-life balance, gives teachers more lesson planning time, and reduces learning gaps and classroom disruptions. Teachers can focus less on dealing with the aftermath of rushed lesson plans or inconsistent substitutes and more on delivering high-quality lessons.
