Turnover is higher in charter schools (17.8%) than traditional public schools (14.9%) and higher in city schools (17.7%) than other locales¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2031: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Charter school turnover (17.8%) exceeded traditional public school turnover (14.9%), driven largely by higher mover rates. → Tan 2026 q2 i? City schools had the highest turnover (17.7%) compared with rural (14.5%), suburban (13.9%), and town (13.7%) schools. → Tan 2026 (2)

Evidence¶

Tan 2026¶

Tan, T., Wei, W., Carver-Thomas, D., & García, E. (2026). Teacher turnover in the United States: Who moves, who leaves, and why. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/248.479

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Descriptive analysis of turnover by type of public school (Table 3) using NTPS/TFS data. The report finds charter turnover of "17.8%" versus "14.9%" in traditional public schools, with movers accounting for most of the difference.

"turnover rates are higher in charter schools (17.8%) than in traditional public schools (14.9%), driven largely by a greater share of teachers moving schools (10.3% vs. 8.0%) and a slightly higher rate of teachers leaving the profession (7.4% vs. 6.9%) in charter schools"

Tan 2026 (2)¶

Tan, T., Wei, W., Carver-Thomas, D., & García, E. (2026). Teacher turnover in the United States: Who moves, who leaves, and why. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/248.479

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Descriptive analysis of turnover by school locale (Table 3). The report finds "city schools experience the highest turnover rates (17.7%)" relative to rural, suburban, and town schools.

"teachers in city schools experience the highest turnover rates (17.7%), those in rural schools have lower turnover rates (14.5%), and teachers in suburban or town schools have the lowest turnover rates (13.9% and 13.7%, respectively)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Turnover is highest in ESL/bilingual education (19.0%), foreign languages (18.3%), CTE (17.5%), and special education (16.4%) — related
• Between 2020–21 and 2021–22, 15.1% of U.S. public school teachers moved schools or left the profession, and turnover is now about 20% higher than in 1992 — a broader claim this one bears on
• Charter administrators reported greater difficulty recruiting and hiring teachers and much higher teacher turnover, but far less difficulty removing poor teachers, than non-charter administrators in 2017 — related
• The evaluation examined charter school effects by years of operation, grades served, mission, and demographics, plus student composition and turnover — related
• Overall U.S. teacher turnover is about 16% annually, with about 8% leaving the profession and about 8% moving schools — related
• Teachers who are not fully certified have higher turnover than fully certified teachers (20.1% vs. 14.7%), with a larger gap among early-career teachers — related
• Teachers reporting higher leadership effectiveness and supports have lower predicted turnover (9.0% vs. 18.7% for low-leadership teachers) — related