• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Teacher Turnover Rates Falling

Posted on: Saturday, 6 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

Aug. 5--Teacher and administrator turnover rates continue to decline among southwest Dallas County school districts when compared with numbers from a few years ago.

Turnover rates for the 2004-05 school year showed the DeSoto school district at 21 percent, as 125 of the 609 teachers and administrators in 2004-05 submitted their resignations or retired. The Duncanville school district had the lowest turnover, at 15 percent, or 115 resignations and retirements in a teacher-administrator workforce of 762.

Lancaster had a 20 percent turnover, as 72 teachers and administrators resigned or retired. Cedar Hill had nearly 18 percent of its 550 teachers and administrators leave.

Those compare with 2001 turnover rates of 32 percent for DeSoto, 35 percent for Lancaster, 25 percent for Cedar Hill and 22 percent for Duncanville.

Still, the most recent numbers are higher than the average in the Region 10 Education Service Center, which serves 81 school districts, 650,000 students and 53,000 educators in North Texas.

Tom Parker, assistant director of human resources, said Region 10 posts about 850 jobs annually on its Web site.

"Overall, there's probably about an average 10 percent turnover rate among the teachers each year. Fifteen percent turnover is more the norm for suburban school districts," he said. "Typically, the larger they get, the more the turnover. Also, the younger the staff, the more turnover there is."

Officials from the four districts said reasons for the departures included leaving for more money, wanting to be closer to home and raising children.

But turnover rates have slowed in recent years because of retention efforts such as salary bonuses, mentors for less experienced teachers and team teaching.

Cedar Hill Superintendent Jim Gibson said turnover there was divided evenly among grade levels.

"I don't think the turnover is any greater in math and science, but finding quality math and science teachers continues to be a challenge," said Dr. Gibson, adding that the district also has trouble finding Spanish teachers. "It could be supply and demand. On math and science teachers, we're competing with the private sector."

Larry Davis, DeSoto school district's director of human resources, said one factor that hurts the district's recruitment and retention is its low starting pay.

DeSoto has a $36,440 starting salary for teachers with no experience. In Cedar Hill and Lancaster, the same teacher would start at $36,750. Duncanville's starting salary for rookie teachers is $37,500. Most districts are waiting on the Legislature to approve a new school finance package before approving any salary increases this year.

"We address the pay question daily," Mr. Davis said. "What we do to balance that is work on teachers' programs that help them in the classroom."

He said mentoring and a program called Coaches for Success, which brings back former and retired teachers, are two such programs.

More than money, though, Mr. Davis said teachers are becoming more comfortable with DeSoto's instruction methods and a new superintendent, Alton Frailey.

"People do their homework," Mr. Davis said. "They know what kind of district DeSoto is."

Sandra Burks, Duncanville's assistant superintendent of human resources, said her district's secret in retaining teachers is to ensure that every office supports them.

"We have an employee awards banquet that appreciates longevity," Ms. Burks said. "Some of our teachers always have at least 40 years of service."

Karla Brewer, Lancaster's director of human resources, said her district has made salaries more competitive.

However, Ms. Brewer said that as expectations of students have grown, the district's reputation has strengthened as well.

"When benefits and pay are close to the same, there has to be something else," Ms. Brewer said. "Every student is involved in some type of program. Maybe it's ROTC or FFA or band, but they're involved. We have candidates bringing people with them now."

Communications director Teri Wilson said she remembers when the Lancaster school district had hiring difficulties and was still filling dozens of positions the week before school started.

"Now, people are excited. They want to be here," Ms. Wilson said.

-----

To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Dallas Morning News

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Dallas Morning News

More News in this Category