Missouri’s teacher mobility is highest among its early-career teachers, especially those in their first five years of teaching in the state’s public schools. In 2023–24, more than one in five early-career teachers departed their school districts or Missouri public education altogether, modestly less than the pandemic-era high the year prior but substantially higher than long-term trends. The most recent cohorts of new, early-career teachers are leaving Missouri public schools faster than earlier cohorts, placing additional strain on the capacities of teacher preparation programs across the state to produce an increasing number of new teachers. To improve teacher turnover and address chronic teacher shortages in the subject matters and school contexts in which they occur, increased focus should be devoted to early-career teachers through new policy reforms and school labor practices.

Teacher mobility in Missouri and most states across the country reached long-term highs following the pandemic over the 2022-23 school year. Though mobility declined in 2023-24, several worrying trends have persisted across the state, including higher turnover among teachers working in urban, rural, and disproportionately low-income schools. Turnover is also disproportionately high among the state’s teachers of color, though the state has more than doubled the recruitment of new teachers of color over the past decade. As legislators and education leaders work to support Missouri’s teacher workforce, policy formation must engage with labor conditions specific to particular school and teacher characteristics to effectively improve outcomes for teachers and the students they educate.

This report details Missouri teachers’ supplemental (non-base) pay and the Career Ladder program for teachers.

This brief documents changes in Missouri public school teacher retention during the COVID-19 pandemic and examines changes in teacher retention in districts that adopt a four-day school week calendar.

This report covers the ever-changing public education system in St. Louis.