Reply #84: Turnover rate = quits, layoffs, discharges, retirements & other separations.

[Hannah Bell]

Turnover rate (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)

The number of total separations during the month divided by the number of employees who worked during or received pay for the pay period that includes the 12th of the month (monthly turnover); the number of total separations for the year divided by average monthly employment for the year (annual turnover).

http://www.bls.gov/bls/glossary.htm.


Annual turnover was 41% in 2009. (Table 14)

And that's for *all* jobs, the majority of which are service jobs, i.e. restaurant, fast foods, walmart clerks, hotel housekeepers, etc -- & those jobs turnover a lot faster than "professional" jobs, mainly because they suck. In professional jobs, you don't *want* high turnover.

In educational services, turnover rate in 2009 was 27.7%, in the same tier with health care & financial services, & higher than other government jobs.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/jolts_03092010.htm


It's highly unlikely LAUSD's turnover rate = .03%.

And in fact, it's bullshit: from their own human resources dept:

Turnover for new teachers 2003-2008 = 32%
For all classroom teachers, same period = 24%.

http://www.teachinla.com/research/faq_notebook/d-1.pdf


And since that comparison & number is major bullshit, it's my belief that many of the other items in the article are bullshit too.

For example, the article implies LAUSD has no "rubber rooms". But it does: according to this 2009 article, there were 160 teachers in LA's version of the "rubber rooms" sitting it out while their "job fitness is reviewed". Which signifies that, contrary to the assertion in the article that LAUSD doesn't even *try* to get rid of teachers anymore, it was trying to get rid of 160 of them when the 2009 article was written.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/06/local/me-teachers6.