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

	Level of importance									Most important reason for leaving
Voluntary reasons for leaving	Not at all important	Slightly important		Somewhat important		Very important		Extremely important		Most important reason for leaving
Public school teacher leavers
Personal life factors
Because I wanted to take a job more conveniently located or because I moved	75.5	6.9		6.3		3.8		7.5		5.7
Because of other personal life reasons (e.g., health, pregnancy/childcare, caring for family)	41.3	11.5		12.2		12.8		22.2		13.5
Because I decided to retire or receive retirement benefits from last year’s school system	67.1	4.2	!	4.1		7.6		17.1		16.6
Because of changes in childcare arrangements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic	86.7	4.0		3.2		1.7		4.3		‡
Salary and other job benefits
Because I wanted or needed a higher salary	51.5	10.1		9.7		12.1		16.6		9.2
Because I needed better benefits than I received at last year’s school	70.8	6.8		7.6		6.5		8.3		‡
Because I was concerned about my job security at last year’s school	83.8	6.7		3.4		2.5		3.6	!	‡
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)	79.8	5.6		5.0		4.7		4.9		0.3	!
Career factors
Because I decided to pursue a position other than that of a K–12 teacher	41.6	6.6		10.7		15.7		25.4		13.6
Because I decided to take courses to improve career opportunities within the field of education	70.1	6.6		6.9		7.4		9.0		3.2
Because I decided to take courses to improve career opportunities outside the field of education	79.9	6.2		5.4		2.6		5.9		‡
Because I was dissatisfied with teaching as a career	38.9	9.5		19.0		11.2		21.5		7.4
Because there were not enough opportunities for leadership roles or professional advancement at last year’s school	68.2	7.4		9.6		6.3		8.6		1.3
Assignment and classroom factors
Because I was dissatisfied with my job description or assignment (e.g., responsibilities, grade level, or subject area)	52.2	11.5		11.9		11.1		13.3		5.1
Because I did not have enough autonomy over my classroom at last year’s school	59.1	10.9		12.3		9.3		8.4		0.7	!
Because I was dissatisfied with the large number of students I taught at last year’s school	62.0	9.0		11.0		8.2		9.7		0.7	!
Because I felt that there were too many intrusions on my teaching time at last year’s school	47.3	13.3		10.5		13.0		15.9		1.2	!
School factors
Because I was dissatisfied with the way my school or district supported me during the coronavirus pandemic	52.7	10.9		11.7		8.5		16.1		1.7
Because I was dissatisfied with workplace conditions (e.g., facilities, classroom resources, school safety) at last year’s school	55.5	14.8		9.8		6.0		13.9		0.9
Because student discipline problems were an issue at last year’s school	53.1	13.5		12.5		7.6		13.4		2.3	!
Because I was dissatisfied with the administration at last year’s school	54.2	11.3		9.3		6.9		18.4		2.2
Because I was dissatisfied with the lack of influence I had over school policies and practices at last year’s school	52.2	12.9		11.2		9.3		14.4		‡
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	54.7	10.7		10.8		9.7		14.2		2.0	!
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	70.2	9.3		7.4		5.3		7.7		0.5	!
Because I was dissatisfied with the support I received for preparing my students for student assessments at last year’s school	68.6	8.4		9.2		6.0		7.8		‡
Other factors
Because of other factors not included in previous items	84.4	1.3	!	0.6	!	1.9	!	11.8		7.4

Private school teacher leavers
Personal life factors
Because I wanted to take a job more conveniently located or because I moved	79.3	3.6	!	‡		5.5		7.5	!	6.6	!
Because of other personal life reasons (e.g., health, pregnancy/childcare, caring for family)	38.2	7.2		8.7		13.9		32.0		24.4
Because I decided to retire or receive retirement benefits from last year’s school system	81.4	2.6	!	‡		5.9	!	8.7		13.3
Because of changes in childcare arrangements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic	93.9	‡		2.4	!	2.1	!	‡		‡
Salary and other job benefits
Because I wanted or needed a higher salary	51.1	3.9	!	14.2		13.6		17.2		11.2
Because I needed better benefits than I received at last year’s school	71.3	2.3	!	7.9	!	6.8	!	11.7	!	‡
Because I was concerned about my job security at last year’s school	89.7	2.9	!	5.2	!	‡		0.7	!	‡
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)	87.5	‡		‡		6.6	!	2.3	!	‡
Career factors
Because I decided to pursue a position other than that of a K–12 teacher	51.1	6.8	!	9.8		15.0		17.3		10.3
Because I decided to take courses to improve career opportunities within the field of education	83.1	7.5	!	2.3	!	2.2	!	4.9	!	‡
Because I decided to take courses to improve career opportunities outside the field of education	83.3	4.8	!	4.7	!	2.7	!	4.5	!	‡
Because I was dissatisfied with teaching as a career	53.6	8.0		13.5		9.0		15.9		6.5
Because there were not enough opportunities for leadership roles or professional advancement at last year’s school	73.3	9.9		8.4		4.0	!	4.5		‡
Assignment and classroom factors
Because I was dissatisfied with my job description or assignment (e.g., responsibilities, grade level, or subject area)	58.8	7.7		17.1		3.8		12.6		2.5	!
Because I did not have enough autonomy over my classroom at last year’s school	70.1	7.1	!	8.4		8.8		5.6	!	‡
Because I was dissatisfied with the large number of students I taught at last year’s school	84.0	7.1		4.5		‡		2.4	!	‡
Because I felt that there were too many intrusions on my teaching time at last year’s school	65.2	7.6		14.7		6.8	!	5.7		‡
School factors
Because I was dissatisfied with the way my school or district supported me during the coronavirus pandemic	68.5	5.1		9.5	!	6.5		10.4		‡
Because I was dissatisfied with workplace conditions (e.g., facilities, classroom resources, school safety) at last year’s school	68.8	8.6		8.6		4.5	!	9.5		‡
Because student discipline problems were an issue at last year’s school	66.1	14.8		7.3	!	5.0	!	6.9		‡
Because I was dissatisfied with the administration at last year’s school	59.7	8.1		11.5		8.4		12.3		4.5	!
Because I was dissatisfied with the lack of influence I had over school policies and practices at last year’s school	66.3	9.5		11.1		6.3		6.9	!	‡
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	80.2	9.9		5.1	!	1.7	!	3.0	!	‡
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	89.0	2.2	!	‡		‡		3.0	!	‡
Because I was dissatisfied with the support I received for preparing my students for student assessments at last year’s school	82.6	6.0		‡		4.4	!	2.8	!	‡
Other factors
Because of other factors not included in previous items	88.3	‡		‡		2.8	!	6.4	!	7.3	!

! 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. “Leavers” are teachers in the 2020–21 NTPS school year who were no longer teachers in the 2021–22 TFS school year. In the 2021–22 school year, 8.4 percent of teachers were categorized as “leavers” (7.9 percent for public school teachers and 11.7 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 leaving 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), "Former Teacher Data File," 2021–22.