California’s teacher workforce is finally showing signs of recovery. After a two-year slide, followed by renewed investment, the number of new teaching credentials issued in the state has increased. It’s welcome news after years of struggle to fill classrooms. But while we add teachers on one end, too many are still leaving on the other. This turnaround in recruitment and healthy pipelines will fall short if we don’t address how we build responsive, modern support for new teachers. So many leave within just a few years, and two-thirds of teachers who leave do so in large part due to dissatisfaction, often because they work within systems that don’t support them as well as they could. That’s why, in Riverside Unified School District (RUSD), we constantly ask, “What do teachers need?” Our willingness to adapt has been central to our success in retaining talent. It’s a district’s responsibility to address what we know to be true: Nearly half of all teachers who leave the profession do so within their first five years. The reasons are rarely about ability or intent. They’re often about isolation, burnout, poor working conditions and lack of structured support. This isn’t inevitable. Research confirms that teachers who receive strong, structured mentoring and induction are far more likely to stay in the profession. A recent Walton Family Foundation and Gallup report confirms this: 80% of teachers who rate their opportunities for professional growth positively are satisfied with their jobs. But having support in name only or using approaches that…
