Percentage distribution of the level of importance that public and private K–12 school teachers who voluntarily moved to a different school between the 2020–21 and 2021–22 school years attributed to any reason for moving and percentage who listed a given reason as the most important reason for moving, by selected reason for moving voluntarily: School year 2021–22

	Level of importance									Most important reason for moving
Voluntary reasons for moving	Not at all important	Slightly important		Somewhat important		Very important		Extremely important		Most important reason for moving
Public school teacher movers
Personal life factors
Because I wanted to take a job more conveniently located or because I moved	44.1	5.6		10.0		14.2		26.1		20.1
Because of other personal life reasons (e.g., health, pregnancy/childcare, caring for family)	49.3	10.5		11.5		12.7		16.0		5.7
Because I wanted to receive retirement benefits from last year's school system	82.5	4.8		4.7		3.2		4.8	!	‡
Because of changes in childcare arrangements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic	89.8	2.1		2.6		2.9		2.7		‡
Salary and other job benefits
Because I wanted or needed a higher salary	49.4	8.1		13.5		12.1		16.8		7.0
Because I needed better benefits than I received at last year’s school	66.7	5.6		9.6		10.1		8.0		0.3	!
Because I was concerned about my job security at last year’s school	75.8	5.5		6.0		6.3		6.4		1.1
Because I wanted or needed a way to pay off debt from my undergraduate or graduate education (such as higher pay and/or debt forgiveness)	80.8	6.9		2.9		3.2		6.3		0.8	!
Assignment and classroom factors
Because I was dissatisfied with my job description or assignment (e.g., responsibilities, grade level, or subject area)	36.8	11.7		16.7		12.5		22.3		7.4
Because I did not have enough autonomy over my classroom at last year’s school	51.2	14.1		11.1		11.0		12.7		0.9
Because I was dissatisfied with the large number of students I taught at last year’s school	53.7	13.0		14.3		10.5		8.5		‡
Because I felt that there were too many intrusions on my teaching time at last year’s school	43.1	12.2		12.1		14.3		18.2		1.8	!
School factors
Because I wanted the opportunity to teach at my current school	28.8	7.2		12.2		22.6		29.2		11.0
Because I was dissatisfied with the way my school or district supported me during the COVID-19 pandemic	49.9	10.7		10.7		10.5		18.2		5.7
Because I was dissatisfied with workplace conditions (e.g., facilities, classroom resources, school safety) at last year’s school	43.5	10.4		10.9		13.5		21.7		2.2
Because student discipline problems were an issue at last year’s school	47.2	8.8		11.6		10.6		21.9		2.0
Because I was dissatisfied with the administration at last year’s school	36.2	8.4		10.8		11.2		33.3		8.3
Because I was dissatisfied with the lack of influence I had over school policies and practices at last year’s school	45.9	13.4		14.0		9.1		17.7		0.4	!
Because there were not enough opportunities for leadership roles or professional advancement at last year’s school	59.3	8.5		14.1		6.5		11.6		‡
Student performance factors
Because I was dissatisfied with how student assessments and school accountability measures impacted my teaching or curriculum at last year’s school	61.3	8.9		9.9		8.9		11.0		‡
Because I was dissatisfied with how some of my compensation, benefits, or rewards were tied to the performance of my students at last year’s school	76.1	8.2		6.2		4.1		5.5		‡
Because I was dissatisfied with the support I received for preparing my students for student assessments at last year’s school	63.4	10.0		9.2		6.6		10.7		‡
Other factors
Because of other factors not included in previous items	61.4	0.5	!	0.8	!	6.5		30.8		20.2

Private school teacher movers
Personal life factors
Because I wanted to take a job more conveniently located or because I moved	43.8	13.9		4.8	!	10.9	!	26.6		18.1
Because of other personal life reasons (e.g., health, pregnancy/childcare, caring for family)	48.4	9.7	!	11.1		11.3		19.4		6.4	!
Because I wanted to receive retirement benefits from last year's school system	68.4	13.4	!	7.5	!	‡		6.0	!	‡
Because of changes in childcare arrangements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic	88.1	7.0	!	3.1	!	‡		‡		‡
Salary and other job benefits
Because I wanted or needed a higher salary	17.3	7.5	!	14.0		19.3		41.9		27.2
Because I needed better benefits than I received at last year’s school	32.5	5.4	!	12.0	!	16.5		33.6		‡
Because I was concerned about my job security at last year’s school	65.2	1.9	!	12.0	!	8.7	!	12.2		‡
Because I wanted or needed a way to pay off debt from my undergraduate or graduate education (such as higher pay and/or debt forgiveness)	64.6	6.3	!	‡		‡		23.3		‡
Assignment and classroom factors
Because I was dissatisfied with my job description or assignment (e.g., responsibilities, grade level, or subject area)	45.9	8.2	!	17.5		13.3		15.1		4.7	!
Because I did not have enough autonomy over my classroom at last year’s school	68.5	9.9		8.1	!	3.6	!	10.0	!	‡
Because I was dissatisfied with the large number of students I taught at last year’s school	82.5	8.2	!	4.6	!	‡		‡		‡
Because I felt that there were too many intrusions on my teaching time at last year’s school	65.5	9.2	!	8.0	!	8.5		8.8		‡
School factors
Because I wanted the opportunity to teach at my current school	37.6	‡		16.7		15.3		25.0		5.0	!
Because I was dissatisfied with the way my school or district supported me during the COVID-19 pandemic	51.6	12.3	!	9.0	!	9.1		18.0		5.2	!
Because I was dissatisfied with workplace conditions (e.g., facilities, classroom resources, school safety) at last year’s school	50.3	14.3		14.5		3.7	!	17.3		‡
Because student discipline problems were an issue at last year’s school	61.8	17.0		9.3	!	4.8	!	7.2	!	‡
Because I was dissatisfied with the administration at last year’s school	39.3	7.6	!	7.8	!	16.4		28.8		7.2	!
Because I was dissatisfied with the lack of influence I had over school policies and practices at last year’s school	47.4	13.3		11.4	!	11.4		16.5		‡
Because there were not enough opportunities for leadership roles or professional advancement at last year’s school	49.8	10.4	!	13.0		12.1		14.7		‡
Student performance factors
Because I was dissatisfied with how student assessments and school accountability measures impacted my teaching or curriculum at last year’s school	75.0	12.7		5.5	!	4.0	!	2.9	!	‡
Because I was dissatisfied with how some of my compensation, benefits, or rewards were tied to the performance of my students at last year’s school	77.9	‡		8.5	!	4.5	!	5.7	!	‡
Because I was dissatisfied with the support I received for preparing my students for student assessments at last year’s school	79.7	2.7	!	10.2	!	‡		5.4	!	‡
Other factors
Because of other factors not included in previous items	68.1	‡		‡		‡		27.2		12.5	!

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 percent and 50 percent (i.e., the standard error is at least 30 percent and less than 50 percent of the estimate).

‡ Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate, or the coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 50 percent or greater (i.e., the standard error is 50 percent or more of the estimate).

NOTE: Data are weighted estimates of the population. “Movers” are teachers who were still teachers in the 2021–22 TFS school year but had moved to a different school from their 2020–21 NTPS school. In the 2021–22 school year, 7.8 percent of teachers were categorized as “movers” (7.9 percent for public school teachers and 6.4 percent for private school teachers). Respondents were asked to choose the most important reason in their decision to leave their 2020–21 NTPS school from a detailed list of various reasons. Teachers who did not indicate their most important reason for moving are not included in this table. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2020–21 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) and 2021–22 Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current Teacher Data File," 2021–22.