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Is This the Way You Spell 'Success'? 70% Teacher Turnover at High School (Free Article)

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Charter schools have Teacher turnover rates that are nearly three times as high as city public schools—but Success Academy High School for Liberal Arts, the first high school in Eva Moskowitz’s sprawling charter network, raised eyebrows when it admitted that 70 percent of its staff would not be returning for the upcoming school year.

25 Quit, 9 Fired

Of the 67 Teachers and other staff members employed at the high school, just 20 remained. Though 13 were still working at other Success charters, 25 quit and nine were fired.

The charter network sent a letter to concerned parents. “I know it can be hard on students when a favorite Teacher leaves, but our number one priority is providing our scholars with the same high-quality education that we’ve given them since elementary school,” Ms. Moskowitz wrote.

The letter explained that some Teachers were sent to other schools because of curriculum changes, but not all of them accepted the offer to switch.

“When you’re doing that kind of massive redesign, I don’t think it’s surprising,” Ms. Moskowitz told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s regretful and it makes it really hard on kids and families and on ourselves.”

The network has filled almost all of the vacant spots with new staff who have “excellent qualifications,” according to the letter.

Success Academy has the highest turnover rate among charters in the city, at 42 percent, according to the state Department of Education. The turnover rate at charter schools across the city was 39 percent, compared to 14 percent at public schools. Though studies have shown that Math and English scores were lower in schools with high rates of Teacher turnover, the charter network outperforms city public schools on state exams. 

Some Driven Out 

One of the Teachers who left, Natasha Venner, said some staff members were upset that smart students were held back midway through the most-recent school year, as well as about the treatment of staff. “What really makes me sad is the number of first-year Teachers who quit and decided never to teach again,” she told The Wall Street Journal.

Another Teacher who left called the school a “test-prep factory.”

The High School received some criticism when it graduated its first class of just 16 students, out of 73 who attended the network’s first class back in 2006. Ms. Moskowitz is seeking to expand the charter network, which has 47 schools and 16,000 students across the city, and has frequently slammed Mayor de Blasio and the DOE for not granting it space for new locations.


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