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Teacher warns board that high turnover undermines reading outcomes
Summary
A district classroom teacher urged the board to invest in teacher retention, citing UAA research that links higher turnover to substantially lower reading proficiency and estimating about $20,000 to replace a teacher.
Allison Curry, a classroom teacher and University Heights resident, used the public-comment period of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District’s March 16 work session to press the board to prioritize teacher retention in the FY27 budget.
Curry said she served on a budget committee and attended a University of Alaska Anchorage presentation on teacher turnover that stayed with her. "It costs about $20,000 to replace the teacher on average," she said, and asked the board to consider replacement costs when weighing compensation and retention strategies.
Curry cited correlations from the UAA Center for Alaska Education Policy Research: the five districts with the highest teacher turnover averaged roughly 37.9% turnover and about 46% reading proficiency on the AK STAR, while the five districts with the lowest turnover averaged 8.7% turnover and roughly 85.8% proficiency. "That to me signals we want to make sure teachers stay put. We want to make sure that we invest in our people," she said.
Board members thanked Curry and asked that she share her slide deck with the board; Miss Maple asked which five districts the research referenced and Curry identified the UAA center as the source. Administration agreed to accept the slides for distribution to the board.
The comment comes as the board grapples with constrained reserves and competing demands in the FY27 planning process, and several board members referenced teacher pay and retention in subsequent budget deliberations.
