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Number and percentage of public and private school teacher leavers who rated various factors as very important or extremely important in their decision to leave their 2007–08 base year school, by selected teacher and school characteristics in the base year: 2008–09
 
Teacher or school characteristic
in base year1
Total number
of leavers
  Because
I decided
to pursue
a position
other than
that of a
K-12
teacher
  Because
I decided
it was
time to
retire
  Because
I was
pregnant
or needed
more time
to raise my
child(ren)
  Because I was
dissatisfied
with the
administrator(s)
at last year's
school
  Because I was
dissatisfied
with the lack
of support
I received
from the
administration
at last year's
school
 
Total 347,000   24.9   22.4   13.7   12.8   12.3  
                         
Teaching experience2                        
1-3 years 75,800   28.6     10.1   9.6 ! 11.7 !
4-9 years 97,700   42.1   4.5 ! 24.6   12.8 ! 10.3  
10-19 years 58,600   20.4   14.3   16.4   15.7   15.3  
20 years or more 114,900   10.1   56.2     13.3   12.9  
                         
Age                        
Less than 30 years 69,700   37.2     21.5 ! 14.6 ! 9.5  
30-39 years 95,000   34.2   2.2 ! 24.7   9.1   11.5  
40-49 years 42,200   28.6   11.0 ! 5.6 ! 14.0 ! 14.7 !
50 or more years 140,100   11.4   50.6     13.9   13.5  
                         
Base salary                        
Less than $30,000 52,200   23.7   9.2   19.5   13.7   14.3  
$30,000-$39,999 80,300   24.7   8.5   16.5   11.1   14.6  
$40,000 or more 214,500   25.2   30.8   11.2   13.1   11.0  
                         
Sex                        
Male 78,000   37.4   23.8   2.5 ! 19.8   15.1  
Female 269,000   21.3   22.0   16.9   10.7   11.5  
                         
Race/ethnicity                        
White, non-Hispanic 288,300   21.0   24.2   14.3   11.6   12.1  
All other races/ethnicities 58,800   43.9   13.7   10.3 ! 18.7 ! 13.2  
                         
Teaching status                        
Full time 274,400   25.7   24.0   13.4   14.8   14.1  
Part time 72,600   21.7   16.3 ! 14.5 ! 5.0 ! 5.5 !
                         
Community type                        
City 106,700   33.3   17.3   11.6   17.2   14.9  
Suburban 120,600   27.8   19.2   13.0   10.3   10.8  
Town 37,000   18.8   33.8 !   10.2 ! 12.8 !
Rural 82,800   12.5   28.6   15.0 ! 11.7 ! 10.9  
                         
School level                        
Elementary 197,300   20.5   23.1   15.8   10.2   11.1  
Secondary 100,200   29.5   26.4   9.2 ! 18.1   14.9  
Combined 49,600   33.1   11.6   14.1 ! 12.4 ! 12.0  
                         
School enrollment                        
Less than 200 58,500   26.4   10.2   11.8 ! 7.6   9.0  
200-499 109,800   18.0   23.5   17.7   10.0   10.0  
500-749 49,900   26.2   33.7   15.6   19.0   21.3  
750 or more 128,800   29.5   22.7   10.3 ! 15.0   12.4  
                         
Percent of K-12 students who were approved
    for free or reduced- price lunches
0-34 125,000   25.0   26.8   16.9   10.0   10.8  
35-49 55,800   16.6   21.0   10.4 ! 14.0 ! 14.1  
50-74 72,800   26.6 ! 21.7 !   14.8 ! 10.6  
75 or more 34,800   27.2   32.0     18.8   18.1 !
School did not participate
   in free or reduced-price
   lunch program
58,600   29.1   9.5   16.6   11.2   12.5  
! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 30 percent or more of the estimate's value.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
1 Base year refers to 2007–08.
2 Teaching experience includes total years of full-time and part-time teaching experience.
NOTE: "Leavers" are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2007–08). Respondents were asked to rate the importance of various reasons in their decision to leave the teaching profession, although some reasons may be involuntary. Response choices were based on a 5-point scale, and included the following: "Not at all important," "Slightly important," "Somewhat important," "Very important," and "Extremely important."
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Teacher and Private School Teacher Data Files," 2007–08; Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teacher Data File," 2008–09.