About 18% of CMS open jobs were filled by experienced teachers last year, data show
About 1,300 teachers left Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools last school year. Only 17.8% of those openings were filled by experienced teachers, new state data show.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction this month released its yearly report detailing how many teachers left each district and the state at-large during the 2024-25 school year. It also details “recoupment” – the percentage of openings each district is able to fill with experienced teachers from other counties.
About 15% of CMS teachers left the district, the report found. The leading cause was on-time retirement, followed by career change. The most common reason CMS teachers cited for switching careers was “inadequate compensation,” CMS told The Charlotte Observer.
NCDPI defines a “beginning teacher” as one with 0-3 years in the profession.
Of the approximately 1,300 teachers that left CMS last year, 232 roles were filled by teachers from other NC school districts, according to NCDPI data. Other vacancies are typically filled by teachers completely new to the profession or who were not previously employed by another ”local education agency,” which is how NCDPI typically refers to NC public school districts.
That comes out to around 17.8% and is below the state average of 23.9%.
Experience matters, CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill told school board members Tuesday, because the most effective way to raise student achievement is to have a seasoned educator in the classroom. So, teacher recruitment and retention efforts are some of the district’s most important for improving student performance, Hill said.
“The more experienced the teacher is, the longer they are here, the higher impact they have on student achievement,” Hill said.
The majority of CMS teachers went to college to study for a career other than teaching, CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill told CMS board members Tuesday. However, teachers in CMS and North Carolina as a whole are required to have the appropriate teaching license from the state – or be in a residency program on their way to licensure – and a bachelor’s degree.
“So, 60% of new teachers that come to us do not have a background in education,” Hill said. “On one hand, that’s a strength because they bring different life experiences to the table, but we also know there’s a huge body of knowledge that we have to coach into (them). So, we have a lot of intentionality around how we support those teachers.”
CMS launched its Crown Academy onboarding program in summer 2024, three weeks of training geared specifically for teachers who are new to the profession and new to CMS. Programming is themed around relationship building, organization, curriculum and pedagogy.
This story was originally published March 16, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
