Held Together by Hope: The State of Teaching in North Carolina
Welcome to The RootED Weekly
Deeply Rooted in Education and Equity
Issue 03 | 4 April 2025
A Note from Dayson
I remember the first time I thought about leaving the classroom.
A change in administration had shifted the school’s climate overnight. What once felt like a supportive, collaborative community quickly became a space where teachers no longer felt seen or valued. The support disappeared. The consistency vanished. And for the first time, I wondered whether I could keep doing the work I loved.
I stayed, like most do, for my students.
They still showed up every day, and I was determined to be someone they could count on. I took pride in building a classroom they wanted to walk into, where learning snuck up on them, where curiosity and care were part of the culture.
But I won’t pretend it was easy. Consistent, visionary leadership would have helped. So would fair pay. I knew I could make twice as much in the private sector. What kept me there was purpose. But purpose alone shouldn’t be what keeps educators going.
When I read this year’s State of the Teaching Profession report, the thing that stopped me in my tracks wasn’t the attrition numbers, it was how many of our newest teachers are entering classrooms with emergency or temporary licenses. These are bright, passionate people answering a call. But we’re handing them a system held together by urgency, not sustainability. We’re asking them to be the solution to a pipeline we haven’t truly invested in.
And yet what gives me hope is what’s always given me hope: the educators who still show up. Who continue to love, teach, lead, and create something beautiful for their students, even when the system makes it harder than it should be.
That hope? It’s still worth building around.
– Dayson Pasión
Founder & Principal Consultant, RootED Consultancy
Digging Deeper: The State of the Teaching Profession in North Carolina
Each spring, North Carolina’s State Board of Education reviews the State of the Teaching Profession report, a statutorily required snapshot of who is entering and leaving the classroom, what pathways they’re using to get there, and how districts are filling vacancies. This year’s report covers data from March 2023 to March 2024, offering both challenges and signs of hope.
Key Findings: Teachers
Teacher attrition is down, but still high.
The statewide attrition rate dropped to 9.88%, down from 11.5% the year before. That’s nearly 9,000 teachers who left North Carolina classrooms in just one year.
Hiring outpaced attrition, but not without trade-offs.
Districts hired over 11,500 teachers, resulting in a 130% replenishment rate. But only 10.5% of new hires held a Continuing Professional License.
Most new educators came in on emergency, residency, or permit-to-teach licenses, each carrying high attrition risks and preparation concerns.
Experience matters.
Teachers in their early (0–5 years) and late (28+ years) careers remain the most likely to leave. First-year teachers had an attrition rate as high as 17.5%, while those nearing retirement topped 26%.
Vacancy Trends
Vacancy rates hit 7.6%, the highest under the current definition.
On the 40th day of school, thousands of classrooms were still without a certified, permanent teacher.
Most “vacant” classrooms aren’t empty, they’re filled by provisionally licensed educators.
Under state statute, a position filled by someone on an emergency or permit license still counts as a vacancy.
58% of reported vacancies fall in this category.
When counting only unfilled or long-term subbed roles, the true vacancy rate is closer to 1.9%.
What About School Leaders?
Principal attrition held steady at 7.45%.
Most departures were due to retirement, not resignation. Nearly 92% of principals remained in their role from one year to the next.
Mobility matters.
Around 12% of principals changed schools, but most stayed within their district — suggesting district-driven reassignments, not mass exits.
Leaders in low-performing schools show stability.
Of 607 principals in low-performing schools, over 70% remained in place. Encouragingly, three-quarters of new leaders entering these schools came from non-low-performing ones — a potential indicator of strategic placement.
What Board Members Said
During the report’s presentation, State Board of Education members offered reflections and raised critical concerns:
Context matters for principal mobility.
Board members emphasized that internal district reassignment, not principal dissatisfaction, often drives school changes. However, they acknowledged the climate shift that occurs anytime leadership turns over.
The principal’s impact is undeniable.
One member pointed out that “it’s the principal that keeps the teachers there”, citing existing research that links strong school leadership to improved retention and student outcomes.
Equity gaps remain underexplored.
Members expressed concern that the report excludes charter schools, which educate roughly 10% of NC’s students. They also called for disaggregated data by race and effectiveness, noting that current metrics don’t allow stakeholders to see who is leaving or why.
Support systems are not equitably distributed.
One board advisor reflected on their statewide visits: “It’s not just a gap in funding — it’s a gap in opportunities,” especially for leaders and educators in Tier 1 and rural communities.
Takeaways for Advocates and Leaders
We’re rebuilding the profession, but with fragile bricks.
Hiring is strong, but the overreliance on temporary licenses means many new teachers aren’t staying. Of those who entered with emergency or permit-to-teach licenses, 38–45% leave within a year.New teachers still need more support.
Early-career educators remain the most vulnerable to burnout and attrition. Mentorship, manageable workloads, and culturally responsive induction programs are essential.Principal stability is key to teacher retention.
Research is clear: when principals stay, teachers stay. The data shows school leaders are sticking around, but mobility within districts still affects school culture and morale.We must keep our eyes on equity.
The report does not disaggregate attrition, mobility, or vacancy data by race, geography, or school demographics. Without this lens, it’s harder to identify and close the gaps most affecting marginalized communities.
🔗 Want to explore more?
Check out DPI’s interactive dashboard or download the full report here.
RootED Resource of the Week
BEST NC’s 2025 Facts & Figures: Your Go-To Data Tool for NC Education
Every conversation about education in North Carolina is stronger when it's grounded in facts—and this year’s edition of BEST NC’s Facts & Figures delivers exactly that. Now in its 10th year, this annual resource compiles the most current, comprehensive data on K-12 education in our state in an accessible, visual format.
Whether you’re an educator, policymaker, advocate, or parent, this resource helps answer big questions like:
How much do we spend per student, and how does that compare nationally?
What’s the current status of the educator pipeline?
Where are we seeing gaps in outcomes, opportunity, and investment?
Explore the full PDF
Dive into the interactive dashboards
In the News: Are Uncertified Teachers Still the Answer?
As school districts across the country continue grappling with teacher shortages, many are turning to uncertified educators to fill classrooms. According to recent analyses, between 2021 and 2024, nearly 365,000 uncertified teachers were hired across 49 states and Washington, D.C., with over 49,000 teaching positions still vacant this year.
The article explores what this trend means for student learning. Early research shows mixed results: some emergency-licensed teachers perform comparably to certified peers, while other studies, like one from Texas, found students lost three to four months of instruction in math and reading when taught by uncertified, inexperienced teachers.
Education experts and researchers warn that this fast-track fix may cost more in the long run, increasing teacher attrition and student learning gaps. Instead, they advocate for innovative staffing models, strong mentorship, and residency programs that support aspiring educators without compromising quality.
Read the full article on K-12 Dive
This national trend hits close to home. Here in North Carolina, we’re seeing the same increase in teachers entering the classroom through emergency and permit-to-teach licenses. This year’s State of the Teaching Profession report revealed that over 40% of new hires are entering through alternative pathways, with alarmingly high attrition rates.
And now, several bills in the North Carolina General Assembly propose giving districts even more flexibility to hire uncertified teachers, with fewer safeguards in place. Let’s be clear: flexibility without preparation is not innovation. It’s a gamble with our students’ futures.
We should be building pipelines that respect the profession, prepare new educators, and prioritize student learning, not patching over shortages with policies that erode standards. Our communities deserve educators who are supported, mentored, and ready to thrive. not just survive.
Equity Spotlight: Profound Ladies
Reclaiming Joy. Elevating Leadership. Centering Women of Color.
This week’s spotlight shines on Profound Ladies, a North Carolina-based nonprofit that is reimagining what it means to lead, teach, and thrive—especially for Black and Brown women in education.
Founded on the belief that liberated women of color transform schools and communities, Profound Ladies creates spaces where educators are not just retained, but restored. Through mentorship, wellness coaching, and leadership development, they’re building a new kind of pipeline—one grounded in joy, purpose, and belonging.
What Makes Their Work Powerful:
Healing-Centered Support: Addressing burnout, isolation, and racial battle fatigue head-on.
Leadership Pipelines: Empowering women of color to lead authentically and sustainably.
Community-First Approach: Amplifying the brilliance already rooted in our classrooms and communities.
In a state where educator diversity remains deeply uneven, Profound Ladies isn’t waiting for permission to lead change—they’re doing it, one empowered educator at a time.
Learn more or support their work: profoundladies.org
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