Thousands of public school teachers voluntarily leave their jobs each year, hurting student achievement and costing districts billions of dollars to find replacements.

Lynnette Mawhinney and Carol Rinke were once part of that churn (full disclosure: so was the author of this article). Now, with both women serving as professors at teacher prep programs, Mawhinney and Rinke have co-authored a new book that illuminates the many reasons teachers leave the profession and offers recommendations on how to stem the tide.