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“So, when significant numbers of teachers tell us they are considering leaving the profession, we ought to consider it a motivational concern.”

The premise is a crock, and is the same as the “underpaid teacher” myth - to stop any attempts to match their compensation to what they actually do/produce. They also want to divert attention from their retirement costs, which are destroying state budgets (and taxpayers in the process).

It is a part-time, practically seasonal job, and in my state of NJ they have upper middle class salaries & benefits. I know a few public school teachers, and NOT ONE OF THEM is considering leaving. While they are furious that Governor Christie is forcing them to contribute for their health benefits, they know they have a great scam going and have no value whatsoever in the private sector (outside of maybe working at daycare centers). The only teachers I see leaving the profession have reached or passed retirement age, and only when the retirement benefits would be threatened did they hang it up - otherwise they would have stayed on forever (it is a job that could be done by retirees), and racked up even more automatic raises and more lucrative retirement packages. The re-negotiation of retirement benefits seems to be the only way to force out older, more expensive, ineffective teachers; unfortunately it doesn’t address younger ineffective teachers that have tenure.