New Report: Pay and Benefits Are Top Reasons Teachers Quit, but There’s a Path Forward

WASHINGTON-Today, AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement on a new Rand Corp. report on the results of its 2024 State of the American Teacher Survey, which found larger pay increases and adequate benefits could improve teacher retention:

"This report confirms what anyone who knows a teacher knows: Better pay and benefits help retain teachers, and unions make a huge difference in securing better teacher pay and benefits."

According to the new Rand report, low pay is a top reason teachers consider leaving their jobs and is a top source of job-related stress for 1 in 3 teachers. And in the survey, over 25 percent of teachers reported performing unpaid extra work, with Black teachers disproportionately affected.

"The fact is, teachers still lag in compensation. Teachers want to make a difference in their students' lives, but their love for their students alone can't pay the bills. For too many years, our public schools and public school educators have faced the twin problems of lack of support and lack of adequate pay, and many are at a breaking point.

"Parents and voters get it. In November's election, voters approved school funding measures across the country, and they rejected school voucher proposals everywhere they were on the ballot. They made it clear they support public education, the educators who teach their children, and unions."

In the Rand survey, teachers in states requiring collective bargaining reported higher salaries and larger pay increases compared with those in states where bargaining is prohibited.

"But this election also highlighted working families' anxiety over the cost of living. That's why we fight for commonsense solutions for a better life for America's families, including higher wages, decent retirement, and lower healthcare, housing and grocery costs.

"We will continue fighting to strengthen public schools, to ensure that they are safe and welcoming for students and staff, and to ensure that all Americans have the right to belong to a union."

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The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.