Nearly half of California teachers plan to quit or retire within 10 years

Nearly half of California’s teachers plan to retire or quit within the next 10 years, according to a new survey.

The percentage of teachers in California who say they plan to retire within the next 10 years is between 40 percent and 49 percent, with a 45 percent estimate, Holly Kurtz said. Education Week Research Centerhe told Fox News Digital. Kurtz added that the state’s teachers are older, on average, than teachers in most other states, according to the most recent federal data available. The average age of a teacher in California is 45.5, while the average age of a teacher in the United States is 42.9.

“This means that age is more likely to be a significant reason why CA teachers are more likely than teachers in other states to say they plan to retire within the next decade,” Kurtz told Fox News Digital.

Nationwide, 36% of teachers say they plan to retire within the next decade. “There is ample evidence to suggest that teacher morale is falling across the country and, by some measures, is at its lowest point in recent memory,” Kurtz said. EdSource.

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The report also found that nearly half of teachers in the U.S. say they expect to work in a field other than education at some point. A total of 5,802 public school teachers working in K-12 education responded to the survey three years later for the 2026 installment of EdWeek’s State of Teaching Report.

The California Department of Education did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Teacher morale in California is slightly better on average than their peers in other states, EdSource reports, but more are planning to leave the profession in the next decade, according to Education Week’s annual State of Teaching report.

Fox News Digital has previously reported that school districts are grappling with teacher shortages, detailing that teacher retention and recruitment is a nationwide problem. The country’s largest teachers union National Education Association“The educator shortage crisis is real,” he said on his website, providing information about the challenges the education sector faces in retaining and recruiting teachers.

The California Teachers Association released a report in January that found that although the majority of teachers were satisfied with their jobs, 40% were considering leaving education and 45% cited financial considerations when deciding what to do.

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Holly Kurtz, director of the EdWeek Research Center, told EdSource that an estimated 35% of teachers nationwide plan to leave the profession within the next decade.

The union’s survey added that 54 percent of educators “know co-workers who have left an education career due to financial hardship.”

“Educators across the state are actively organizing to increase and advocate for school funding, ensuring school districts prioritize spending for student learning conditions, and working to permanently extend Proposition 55 and the up to $15 billion it generates annually for our schools,” the CTA said in the report. he said.

San Francisco teachers went on strike in February to demand higher wages; This was the first strike by San Francisco educators since 1979.

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United Educators of San Francisco announced a tentative agreement with the city’s school district, ending a four-day strike. (Photo: Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle, via Getty Images)

The United Educators of San Francisco eventually reached a tentative agreement with the city’s school district, ending the four-day strike.

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