Wisconsin teacher turnover rates are improving since pandemic, but they remain high

When Hallie Schmeling started teaching in 2010, the School District of South Milwaukee had a group called the Caucus of Millennial Educators. 

It gave the young teachers a chance to get together to talk about how their new jobs were going. 

“Two, three years later, there were only three of us left,” Schmeling said. 

Schmeling, who taught math and special education, left the profession in June 2023. 

“I know on the surface what we hear is that it’s salary or student behavior, but what I would say from the countless teachers I talk to and even my experience, is it is much more about losing our working conditions,” Schmeling said. 

Schmeling wasn’t alone in leaving the teaching profession in 2023. 

That was a peak year for turnover for Wisconsin teachers, principals and superintendents. 

According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, from 2009 to 2023, an average of 11.5 percent of the state’s teachers turned over each year. But in the 2022-23 school year, turnover rose to 15.8 percent. 

A new policy forum report released Friday found turnover rates for teachers dropped to 14 percent in 2024 and are at 12.9 percent this year. 

Principal and superintendent turnover has not stabilized and is trending upward this year, the report finds.

“It is too early to tell whether the recent declines in teacher turnover indicate that the profession is on a path back toward pre-pandemic levels, or if schools are facing a new, elevated norm,” the report states. 

Educator turnover is disproportionate across the state. 

Wisconsin’s smallest districts, districts serving a majority of low-income students or students of color, city districts, and teachers of color are leaving the profession more often. 

When Schmeling talked about her working conditions, she said she faced many issues during her 13 years as a classroom teacher that ultimately pushed her out of the profession. 

Schmeling said teaching became formulaic. As a math teacher, she knew she had to get the day’s content delivered and move on, even if the students didn’t fully comprehend the material. 

“And so it is kind of this, like, moral dilemma I think a lot of teachers are going through of like, what I went into teaching for was to really be with students and to help them grow and flourish,” Schmeling said. “But what I’m being told to do isn’t, honestly, developmentally appropriate.”

She thought the pandemic and school shutdown would give schools a chance to redefine how they were teaching. 

But Schmeling said the return to school was more of the same, except the students had missed out on social and emotional growth for a year, making teaching even more difficult.

“It was just shocking to me that ‘get back to school,’ was just ‘get back to the brick and mortar,’” she said. 

The policy forum report found it is too early to tell whether the recent declines in teacher turnover indicate that the profession is on a path back toward pre-pandemic levels, or if schools are facing a new, elevated norm.

Amy Theisen recently left the teaching profession after a series of job eliminations. 

Theisen taught high school math in Milwaukee Public Schools for 10 years before deciding to get certified to become a school librarian. 

She transferred to West Allis Central High School, but the district cut all librarian jobs. 

Theisen transferred back to MPS for one year, working at five different schools as a librarian. 

Theisen found a school librarian job in Kenosha, but in April, she found out her job was being eliminated. 

“They offered me a math position. I was willing to make the drive for a library job, but not math,” she said. “I decided to retire early. I figured I’d rather be broke and happy for a couple of years than be better off financially and miserable.”