“You are the first English teacher our class has had in high school who has not left us in the middle of the year. Freshman year, we had three English teachers before the year was over. Sophomore year, we had two. I am so grateful to be in your class because I actually feel like I am learning. You are not going to leave, too, are you?” Olivia cried. Other students chimed in. “Yeah, Mrs. Scoles. We haven’t learned anything because everyone always leaves!” I assured Olivia that I was staying and my whole class signed in relief.
When we lose teachers, we are losing years of established relational trust. As a former new teacher mentor with more than ten years of experience, I have seen this cycle firsthand. I witnessed the disruption that constant turnover created in students’ routines and academic progress. At the same time, I also saw the pressures that pushed teachers toward the exit, many of them financial. The data bears this out. Although Michigan has made efforts to recruit more teachers, the state continues to lose them faster than they can be replaced. This leaves districts trapped in a costly cycle of hiring and rehiring. The situation is so dire that there is an increasing number of non-certified teachers filling the vacancies left by certified teachers.
Teacher turnover is nothing new. Early in my career at a downriver charter school, I watched teachers come and go year after year. I saw the disappointment on students’ faces when a teacher left midyear. Over time, that disappointment often turned into apathy: if their teachers didn’t stay, why should they invest in their own education? If we want students to care about learning and become lifelong learners, they need teachers who are lifelong educators with whom they can build the stable relationships that meaningful learning requires. This means that in addition to recruitment, we must prioritize retaining teachers in Michigan’s classrooms.
This month my colleagues and I in the Teach Plus Michigan Policy Fellowship met with lawmakers to discuss teacher retention. Here are some of the ideas we shared with them in Lansing:
Implement $2,500 refundable Teacher Retention Tax Credit for full-time Michigan educators. This credit would function much like a teacher retention bonus. If I owed zero taxes, I would get a check for $2500.00. If I owed $500.00 in taxes, I would get a refund check of $2000.00. For teachers raising families or managing rising living costs, this kind of financial support could make a meaningful difference.
Waive testing and certification fees for educators, as outlined in House Bill 4150, which has passed the Michigan state House, and is awaiting consideration by the Michigan state Senate Education Committee. When I graduated from college, with thousands of dollars in debt, I still had to pay to take three different certification tests plus pay for my teaching certificate. Some of my college classmates had to take the test two and three times because they did not score high enough to pass. Waving such fees would go a long way towards encouraging teachers to remain in the field.
Expand the testing pathways for additional endorsements so experienced teachers can add subject areas by passing state-approved exams without completing additional coursework. For example, I am certified to teach English and political science. If I wanted to teach economics, I should be able to demonstrate my content knowledge through testing rather than returning to college for additional classes. When teachers already possess the knowledge and experience, the state should make it easier, not harder, for them to serve students where they are needed. This is precisely what Michigan House Bill 4151, which is also awaiting consideration by the state Senate Education Committee, proposes to do.
If Michigan embraces meaningful retention policies, the Olivias of tomorrow will walk into their classrooms knowing that the same teacher is there year-around. Our kids deserve more than a revolving door of educators — they deserve the lifelong teachers who entered this profession and are here to stay.
Marcia Scoles is a grades 10-12 English teacher in Michigan and 2025-2026 Teach Plus Michigan Policy Fellow.