Jessica Jentis fit the profile of a typical American teacher: She was white, held a masters degree and quit two and a half years after starting her career.

According to a new study from teachers' union the National Education Association, half of new US teachers are likely to quit within the first five years because of poor working conditions and low salaries.

Jentis, now a stay-at-home mother of three, says that she couldn't make enough money teaching in Manhattan to pay for her student loans and that dealing with school bureaucracy was too difficult.

"The kids were wonderful to be with, but the stress of everything that went with it and the low pay did not make it hard to leave," she said. "It's sad because you see a lot of the teachers that are young and gung-ho are ready to leave."

The proportion of new teachers leaving has hovered around 50 per cent for decades, said Barry Farber, a professor of education and psychology at Columbia University.

The study, which the association released ahead of its annual salute to teachers on Tuesday, also found today's average teacher is a married, 43-year-old white woman who is religious.

Teachers are more educated than ever before, with the proportion of those holding Masters degrees increasing to 50 per cent from 23 per cent since the early 1960s.

Only 6 per cent of teachers are African-American and 5 per cent are Hispanic, Asian or come from other ethnic groups. Men represent barely a quarter of teachers, which the association says is the lowest level in four decades.

"We must face the fact that although our current teachers are the most educated and most experienced ever, there are still too many teachers leaving the profession too early, not enough people becoming teachers and not enough diversity in the profession," said NEA President Reg Weaver in a statement.

Thanks to the high dropout rate of younger teachers, there will be plenty of job openings for teachers over the next 10 years, statistics show.

Source: China Daily