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Nearly half of California teachers plan to retire or quit in the next 10 years, according to a new study.
In California, the share of teachers who say they plan to retire in the next 10 years is between 40% and 49% with an average of 45%, Holly Kurtz, director of the Education Week Research Center, told Fox News Digital. Kurtz added that the state’s teachers are older on average than teachers in many 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 US is 42.9.
“This means that age is a bigger reason why CA teachers are more likely to say they plan to retire in the next decade than teachers in other states,” Kurtz told Fox News Digital.
Nationwide, 36% of teachers say they plan to retire in the next ten years. “There is overwhelming evidence that teacher morale is declining across the country and, by some measures, is at its lowest level in recent memory,” Kurtz explained to EdSource.
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About half of California teachers surveyed plan to quit or quit in the next 10 years. (Getty Images)
The report also found that nearly half of all US teachers say they expect to sometimes work in fields outside of education. A total of 5,802 public school teachers working in K-12 education responded to EdWeek’s 2026 survey for its State of Teaching report, a total of 9,892 teachers after three years.
The California Department of Education did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
“California teachers have better morale on average than their peers in other states, but more are planning to leave the profession in the next decade, according to Education Week’s annual The State of Teaching report,” reports EdSource.
Fox News Digital has previously reported on school districts facing teacher shortages, explaining that retaining and recruiting teachers is a national problem. The nation’s largest teacher union, the National Education Association, said “the teacher shortage is real” on its website providing information on the challenges the education industry faces in retaining and recruiting teachers.
The California Teachers Association released a report in January finding that while most teachers are satisfied with their jobs, 40% are considering leaving education and 45% cite financial issues in deciding what to do.
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Nationwide, an estimated 35% of teachers plan to leave the profession in the next decade, Holly Kurtz, director of the EdWeek Research Center, told EdSource.
The union’s survey added that 54 percent of teachers “don’t know any co-workers who have left their careers in education because of financial problems.”
“Active educators are planning to increase and protect school funding across the state, ensure that school districts prioritize spending on student learning, and work to permanently extend Prop. 55 and the $15 billion it provides to our schools annually,” the CTA said in the report.
San Francisco teachers went on strike for higher pay in February—the first strike by San Francisco teachers since 1979.
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The United Educators of San Francisco announced a tentative agreement with the city’s school district, ending a four-day strike. (Photo by Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
The United Educators of San Francisco finally reached a partial settlement with the city’s school district, ending a four-day strike.
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