About 15% of teachers left Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools last year, state data show
A higher percentage of teachers left Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools last school year than the year prior, new state data show.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released its yearly State of the Teaching Profession and School Administrator Report Wednesday. It details N.C. attrition rates — the percentage of teachers in each district who left within a particular year. It includes teachers who left for reasons like a career change, moving to another state or retirement.
The state saw an average teacher attrition rate of 10.11% across its 115 public school districts during the 2024-25 school year, a small increase over the 9.88% it saw the previous school year. That percentage translates to 221 more teachers leaving across the state than during the 2023-24 school year.
That only accounts for the percentage of teachers who left North Carolina public schools all together. If you include teachers who left their particular school district for another one in North Carolina, the rate rises to 14.6%.
North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice “Mo” Green said the new report underscores the importance of addressing the “core issues” that lead teachers to leave NC schools.
“Our public schools cannot be best in the nation if our teachers are not adequately compensated, trained and revered,” Green said in a news release. “It will take action from the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and our schools to strengthen the education profession.”
CMS saw a 2024-25 teacher attrition rate of 11.2%, about 1.1% above the state average. If you include teachers who left CMS for another public school system in the state, the rate was 14.9% during the 2024-25 school year.
During the 2023-24 school year, the district’s overall attrition rate, including teachers who left to teach in another NC school district was 14.1%. It’s not as high as the post-pandemic surge in 2022-23, when 18.2% of teachers left the district, but still higher than the pre-pandemic rate.
The main reasons CMS teachers cite for leaving are retirement and career changes, a district spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer.
Of the teachers who cite career changes, “the main reason they report is inadequate compensation,” the district spokesperson said.
The district said it has focused on increasing retention through more support for beginning teachers, pathways that allow the most effective teachers to advance and train others and assistance with housing affordability.
Statewide, teacher attrition is highest for teachers in their first five years and those who have 30 or more years of experience in the field.
North Carolina Association of Educators President Tamika Walker Kelly placed blame for teacher attrition on the state’s General Assembly.
“While we would have preferred to see more encouraging data in this report, the findings are not surprising. Our General Assembly has failed to invest in educators in ways that retain educators or attract new ones to the profession,” Kelly said in a news release. “Instead, lawmakers have enacted policies that push educators out—keeping wages stagnant so many must work multiple jobs to support themselves and their families, while also cutting benefits and limiting classroom resources.”
North Carolina ranks 43rd in the nation for teacher pay, lagging behind neighboring states like South Carolina and Virginia, according to the National Education Association. The Education Law Center recently ranked North Carolina at the bottom nationally in state funding for schools. Teachers around the state, including in CMS, called out of work in protest Jan. 7, calling for higher state investment in public education.
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
