Efforts being made to retain teachers

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Many schools are still feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and divisions are struggling to get teachers to return.

“Prior to the pandemic, about 81% of teachers returned to the same school the following year. The first year of the pandemic, that increased to about 82%. Then, it decreased to 78.6%, " UVA Research Associate Professor Luke Miller said.

That small percentage drop actually equals around 3,500 teachers.

“The increase in the turnover rate was highest among minority teachers, among Black teachers and Hispanic teachers,” Miller said.

Virginia has been working to increase teacher diversity, but these pandemic-related departures are undoing those efforts.

The federal government is actively doing things to bring educators in.

“They are mostly focused at recruiting folks to become teachers, particularly folks from groups that have not typically been able to earn the credentials to become a teacher in our schools,” Miller said.

Miller says if school divisions don’t act quickly to keep teachers, the retention rate will continue to decrease.

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