"Attracting and retaining excellent educators is one of the most important drivers of a well-functioning education system— a system that must prepare diverse students with complex needs to participate in today’s knowledge-driven economy. However, a recent surge in the demand for teachers, alongside a diminishing supply and a steady rate of teachers leaving the profession, threatens students’ academic and economic welfare.3 Teachers who leave the profession prematurely hurt student learning and cost taxpayers. For example, one study found that replacing teachers who leave—which can cost in today’s dollars as much as $20,000 per teacher in a large urban district—produces a national price tag of $8.5 billion a year.

"Attracting and retaining excellent educators is one of the most important drivers of a well-functioning education system— a system that must prepare diverse students with complex needs to participate in today’s knowledge-driven economy. However, a recent surge in the demand for teachers, alongside a diminishing supply and a steady rate of teachers leaving the profession, threatens students’ academic and economic welfare.3 Teachers who leave the profession prematurely hurt student learning and cost taxpayers. For example, one study found that replacing teachers who leave—which can cost in today’s dollars as much as $20,000 per teacher in a large urban district—produces a national price tag of $8.5 billion a year.