Freedom, funds, faith. These are some reasons why educators leave public education in North Carolina to teach at independent schools, despite less-than-ideal benefits in private education and growing opposition to the state’s prioritization of private school vouchers.

Public school teacher attrition has been a point of focus for education advocates as retention rates have fluctuated in recent years. How much of that is due to educators who decide to seek out private school opportunities?

The State Board of Education tracks reasons for teacher attrition in its yearly report on the state of teaching. While its data on teachers who leave public school to teach in an NC private/non-public school has been collected sporadically, the most recently available numbers indicate an upwards trend.

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