500+ teachers left Philly district schools last year

Driving the news: Teachers and staff return to classrooms this week ahead of the first day of school next Monday, following a year in which 506 full-time teachers resigned or retired, per district data.

• That's up 5.4% compared with the previous year and marks the first increase in departures in years.

By the numbers: The rise was driven by resignations.

• ⬆️ 316 teachers resigned last school year, up from 285 during the year before.
• ⬇️ 190 retired, down 2.5%.

Context: The district employs roughly 9,000 full-time teachers.

• But the district has had a severe teacher shortage for years.

Zoom in: The schools with some of the highest turnover rates included:

• George Washington High School: 15 teachers left last school year
• Northeast High School: 8
• Roberto Clemente Middle School: 8
• Thomas Edison High School: 8
• Olney High School: 7

Zoom out: Pennsylvania is seeing a decline in teacher attrition at public schools (at least through last year), which had risen sharply during the pandemic.

• The teacher attrition rate was 6.2% from the 2024-25 school year to 2025-26, which has been sliding from 7.7% in 2022-23, per a forthcoming analysis shared with Axios from Penn State University education expert Ed Fuller.

Between the lines: The district is entering a new school year after a tumultuous summer for hiring, when a budget gap threatened to eliminate hundreds of school-based jobs, including teachers.

• The city ultimately came to the rescue in June, boosting funding by $48 million to stave off around 340 cuts.
• But the money arrived after the district began planning cuts, leading to a chaotic attempt to restore the positions.

🔮 What they're saying: Fuller expects teacher attrition to remain elevated in Philadelphia and nationally, driven in part by forces beyond local districts' control.

• The main reasons: Stagnant pay amid high inflation, increasingly difficult working conditions and a decline in the profession's prestige post-pandemic, Fuller says.

• "Teachers are being asked to do more with less and expectations increase every year," he says.

Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, says that the number of educators leaving the city's public schools has been unacceptable for some time.

• District officials, she tells Axios, "simply must do a better job of recruiting and retaining teachers and supporting them through the first make-or-break years of their careers."

The other side: District spokesperson Monique Braxton tells Axios the school officials have worked to hire and maintain teachers through partnerships, mentorships and an advertising campaign.

• She declined to reveal how many teachers the district has hired this summer and the number of open teacher posts heading into next week.

What to watch: Fuller says poor facility conditions have long been a main driver for teacher resignations in Philly, which education leaders are now trying to address.

• District officials are moving forward with a $3 billion blueprint to modernize some buildings while closing others.
• Yes, but: Funding for the plan is TBD, even as officials say they'll begin implementing it next year.