Has School District Reorganization In Illinois Solved The Problem Of Teacher Turnover?

Charters, Jr., W. W.

The article discusses the role of school district reorganization in solving the problem of teacher turnover in Illinois. Excessively high rates of teacher turnover must certainly hinder the development of effective educational programs in U.S. schools. Administrators are forced to turn their attention away from creative concerns simply to maintain the staff of the institution. The new teachers are obliged to invest a relatively large share of their time in becoming oriented to the school and the community, and pupils lose the sense of continuity in their school life as old teachers leave and new teachers arrive. These are only a few of the problems created by high rates of teacher turnover. Within recent years, Illinois has moved to reorganize the small, overlapping school districts into larger, coherent structures--the community unit district. Proponents of district reorganization view this movement as a step towards the solution of a number of educational problems--towards effecting economies in the costs of school operation, towards increasing efficiencies in administration, and towards providing better educational services for the youth of the community.

ILLINOIS; SCHOOL districts; TEACHER turnover; EDUCATIONAL programs; SCHOOL administrators; SCHOOL administration

Journal of Teacher Education, 1955, Vol 6, Issue 1, p14

0022-4871

Academic Journal

10.1177/002248715500600105