"I couldn't accept that." Why Muskegon Heights teachers quit and how it impacts students

[proud2BlibKansan]

At least one in four teachers at the new Muskegon Heights school district have already quit the charter school this year. That’s after an emergency manager laid off all the former public school teachers in Muskegon Heights because he didn’t have enough money to open school in the fall. That means there have been a lot of new, adult faces in the district.

Students say the high teacher turnover has affected them and top school administrators say it has held back academic achievement this school year.

Students: teacher turnover causing issues in the classroom

17-year old Muskegon Heights senior Deaisha Cooper says many of her friends transferred out of Muskegon Heights schools over the summer. Then homecoming got canceled because of fights. It took a couple of weeks to get her class schedule right.

“It’s not like what your senior year is supposed to be,” Cooper frowned.

more . . . http://www.michiganradio.org/post/i-couldnt-accept-why-muskegon-heights-teachers-quit-and-how-it-impacts-students

[reteachinwi]

1. Turnover as policy

Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and Teacher Follow-Up Survey (TFS), we found that 25% of charter school teachers turned over during the 2003-2004 school year, compared to 14% of traditional public school teachers. Fourteen percent of charter school teachers left the profession outright and 11% moved to a different school, while 7% of traditional public school teachers left the profession and 7% moved schools. Using multi-nomial logistic regression, we found the odds of a charter school teacher leaving the profession versus staying in the same school are 132% greater than those of a traditional public school teacher. The odds of a charter school teacher moving schools are 76% greater.
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/schoolchoice/documents/stuit_smith_ncspe.pd
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/charterschoice/2012/06/tacking_teacher_turnover_at_charter_schools.html

It's not about the kids.

[Igel]

2. Perhaps not.

But the stats are only as good as the assumptions.

If they assume that the default is there should be the same amount of turnover, washouts, etc., in public and charter schools then the results are only as good as that assumption.

Most charter schools I've seen have had lower wages than public schools. They also attract greener teachers. I'd expect more turnover as green teachers have a higher washout rate and as they gain experience they often want to move to where they feel like they're actually teaching.

Most charter schools I've seen are where problem kids go--sometimes behavioral problems, but usually at the bottom 25% of the achievement distribution. They're kids who don't really want to learn or have trouble learning because they're easily distracted. Not ADHD. Just easily distracted. It's discouraging to know that after 9 months you've taught little, even if you've kept them engaged. Teachers usually want to move to where the kids learn.

A lot of charter schools also have capricious management. And management is a big factor in job satisfaction. If you think the principal has your back, you tend to stay more than if you think the principal is aiming at your back.

This isn't true of all charter schools. Some are great. But the great ones are swamped by the crap ones, and I'd expect that the crapper the school and wages and management, the greater the turnover.

[reteachinwi]

4. Teacher interviews in the OP

confirms much of what you say. Current school management seems to believe you hire good teachers rather than develop them. We'll see how that works out as our SoE is pushing the charter school movement.

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. Austerity is a social engineering project to privatize everything!

When teachers and the people do not resist, when they leave in disgust, the bullies get what they wanted in the first place. Everyone else leaving them kings of the sandbox. But we needed that sandbox...