NC teacher turnover stable in 2025, while number of teaching positions drops

Teacher turnover in North Carolina was stable from 2024 to 2025, new data shows, while the number of teaching positions dropped this fall.

The new state data shows continued problems for schools to recruit and retain teachers, though the situation has recently stabilized as schools increasingly fill gaps with international teachers and people switching careers into the teaching profession.

Turnover from March 2024 to March 2025 was 10.1%, virtually the same as the 9.9% from March 2023 to March 2024. More than 6,700 teaching positions were not filled by a qualified person on the 40th day of the 2025-26 school year, down from more than 7,100 the previous fall, a minimal drop to 7.4% from 7.6% of all teaching positions. At the same time, schools reported having about 2,600 fewer teaching positions to begin with.

It's not clear why schools have cut teaching positions, but a few things changed from 2024 to 2025. Enrollment dropped for nearly all school systems across the state and many charter schools, as well, leading to fewer classroom needs and fewer state per-student funding.

But schools also often scrap positions if they can't hire for them, said Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators.

"Ultimately, school districts are trying to do everything they can to ensure that they have a high quality, well compensated professional in front of students every single day," Walker Kelly said. But she said they don't get paid enough, and the increasing demands of the job are burning out young people who make the least amount of money and have the least experience in education.

Questions and solutions

Walker Kelly says state lawmakers need to boost salaries. Various budget proposals in the legislature would do so but at widely varying levels. Meanwhile, lawmakers haven't agreed on a new state budget for the current fiscal year, which Walker Kelly said is making it challenging for school districts to plan.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction data shows the highest turnover for teachers around retirement age and for teachers in their first five years.

DPI released the data Wednesday its annual report on teacher turnover and classrooms without a qualified teacher, called the State of the Teaching Profession report.

The department presented the report to the State Board of Education, along with a report on the continued drop in the share of North Carolina teacher college graduates staying in the profession past three years. That report suggested the state's teacher colleges still aren't producing enough graduates to meet the demand driven by the number of teachers who are quitting or retiring each year.

"Why are they not teaching?" Board Member Jill Camnitz asked, referring to the students who enter a teacher college but don't end up being long-term teachers. "Do we have any idea?"

"No," said Andy Baxter, educator preparation data analyst for DPI. The department does not formally survey that.

WRAL News asked DPI officials why they believed the numbers presented Wednesday showed what they did and what they are doing or recommending others do to reverse these trends. Officials did not immediately respond to the questions.

Board Member Olivia Oxendine told officials she wanted to hear from those in charge of the state's beginning teacher support program to find out how it's going.

Board Chairman Eric Davis said it's critical for that program to succeed, if the state wants to improve its academic performance nationally. He called it a "mindset change."

"If we are going to be the best by 2030, we must have the best educator support program in the nation," Davis said.

Recently worsening numbers

The number of classrooms without a qualified teacher has been growing for years now, though vacancies have stabilized.

More than 4,600 classrooms didn't have a qualified teacher in fall 2025, according to the new data. That number topped 6,700 classrooms by the 40th day of the school year, a point at which schools may have cut or added positions based on enrollment or had success or issues hiring or maintaining initial hires.

More than 6,200 classrooms didn't have a qualified teacher in fall 2024, on the first day of school. That number topped 7,000 on the 40th day of the school year.

This is most common in special education and math classrooms.

For decades, North Carolina has reported in annual federal reports that special education, math and science are subject areas that are perennially challenging to hire for. Recently, the state has listed many other subject areas as schools have struggled more than ever to find a qualified teacher.

Schools are increasingly turning toward recruiting people to switch careers into teaching and recruiting teachers from abroad. Some have even contracted with virtual education companies for a teacher to teach their classes via webcam.

Teachers and many educator advocacy groups have long blamed the drop in interest in the teaching profession on a drop in benefits for teachers and teacher pay that hasn't kept up with inflation for decades.

Teachers make far less than the average college graduate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. North Carolina ranks toward the bottom nationally in average teacher pay, per the National Education Association.