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56% of Michigan teachers are thinking about leaving in five years, poll says.
Lori Higgins, Chalkbeat
Aug 25, 2026, at 6:43 pm EDT
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Most Michigan teachers feel deeply dedicated to their profession, but a quarter of them are considering leaving the profession within a year, and 56% might leave within five years.
Those are the results of a new poll released Tuesday. It was commissioned by Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative, an organization focused on addressing the state’s teacher pipeline challenges.
If the poll results bear out, they could destabilize the profession and worsen the teacher shortages that already affect many districts, particularly in hard-to-staff areas such as special education.
The results come as teachers face increasing pressure. Students are performing poorly on state and national exams as Michigan continues to slide lower in national academic rankings. Lawmakers are enacting new mandates for teacher training in methods that use the science of reading.
Respondents cited inadequate compensation, not enough training for new teachers, and barriers to classroom innovation as reasons they are considering leaving.
“If we want our state to move out of this perpetual threat of losing half of our teacher workforce over the next five years, we should listen to our teachers,” Jack Elsey, CEO and founder of the Workforce Initiative, said during a media roundtable Tuesday. “They’re telling us what they need.”
The poll was conducted from May 29 to June 30, surveyed a representative sample of 300 teachers, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.7 percentage points. It was conducted by Impact Research, with help from UpONE Insights, another polling company.
“The data confirms what we see in classrooms every day, as teachers are pouring their hearts into this work, but love for the job does not alleviate the challenging workload and financial pressures we face,” CJ Walker, a teacher at Concord Community Schools, said in a news release about the poll results. “If we want to reverse this retention crisis, we must value our teachers both via compensation and support.”
Michigan has an aging educator workforce, but teachers of all ages are considering exiting the profession, according to Brian Stryker, managing partner at Impact Research.
“That is also true of newer teachers, teachers in the middle of their career. You also see it across elementary, middle, and high school,” Stryker said.
Compensation was one of the biggest factors. The problem is more acute among newer teachers, because the longer someone has been teaching, the more fairly compensated they feel, Stryker said. Fixing it is challenging, as decisions about pay are made at the local level.
“We think the poll tells a powerful story that we have made progress over the last few years in improving the workforce’s experience, but they’re also telling us that we have a ways to go,” Elsey said.
Here are some additional findings:
46% of the teachers strongly agreed with the statement that “I frequently feel I am expected to be ‘all things to all people at all times’ in my current role.
54% strongly agreed with the statement that “my school is a great place to be a teacher.”
48% strongly agreed with the statement that “Michigan is a great place to be a teacher.”
32% strongly agreed with the statement that “I feel fairly compensated for my work as a teacher.”
39% strongly agreed with the statement that “I have access to rigorous, standards-aligned curriculum and instructional materials for the subject areas and grades I teach.”
Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
https://www.chalkbeat.org/detroit/2026/08/25/michigan-teachers-considering-leaving-the-profession-in-a-year/