Punching the Shark: Why Teacher Retention Beats Recruitment Every Time

  The Ruckus Report Quick take: Most districts are dumping water into leaky buckets while wondering why they can't fill them. Nate Eklund shows us why we've been solving the wrong problem — and how "punching the shark" creates the workplace conditions that make educators want to stay. Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker Nate Eklund is the founder and CEO of Vital Network, a national organization focused on improving educator retention and well-being through workplace improvements. A former classroom teacher and author of How Was Your Day at School? Improving Dialogue about Teacher Job Satisfaction, Nate brings deep experience and research-backed insight to the conversation on creating sustainable, joyful workplaces for educators everywhere. Breaking Down the Old Rules 🔨 In this episode, Nate Eklund challenges traditional education paradigms: Key Insight #1: We Don't Have a Recruitment Problem — We Have a Retention Problem What's broken: Districts frantically recruiting new teachers while ignoring why good ones leave The shift: Focus on the "leaky bucket" — in Minnesota, there are more licensed teachers NOT teaching than teaching (enough to fill the Vikings stadium) Impact: When you fix workplace conditions instead of just hiring more people, you solve the math problem at its source Key Insight #2: Burnout Isn't a Personal Failing — It's Environmental What's broken: Treating burnout as individual weakness ("eat more kale, get more sleep") The shift: Recognize burnout as systemic depletion that no amount of self-care can overcome — you can't "kale your way out of your fifth reading curriculum in two years" Impact: Leaders stop blaming teachers and start designing better workplace conditions that prevent burnout Key Insight #3: There Are Two Versions of Every Educator What's broken: Accepting that some educators are just "difficult" or "burned out" The shift: Understanding that everyone has a "fired up" version and a "deflated" version — external factors determine which one shows up Impact: Instead of writing people off, leaders create conditions where the best version of every educator can thrive Quotable Ruckus "You can dump a lot of water into it and invest a lot of energy getting the water into the bucket, but if the bucket's leaking, you've got a fundamental math problem." – Nate Eklund Your Do School Different Challenge Ready to implement these ideas? Start here: Tomorrow: Ask yourself: "What external factors are keeping my best educators from showing up as their best selves?" This Month: Survey your staff about workplace conditions — not just morale, but actual day-to-day systems and decision-making processes This Semester: Implement one "Punch the Shark" moment — tackle an uncomfortable workplace issue head-on with your team Connect & Continue 🎯 Get the full episode transcript:here 🔗 Follow Nate Eklund: Twitter 🔗 Vital Network: www.vitalnetwork.com 🔗 Follow Vital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/vitalnetwork 💪 Join the Ruckus Maker Movement: https://ruckusmakers.club/join Do you Subscribe to the Ruckus Maker Newsletter? Do School Different 3x a Week. Join for FREE here:here Today's RUCKUScast in Partnership with: IXL Meet your students where they are and take them where they need to go. Join over 1 million teachers who trust IXL to drive data-informed excellence in their classrooms. 🔍 Learn more:here Expressability Your inbox isn't a task manager. Your mind isn't for storing mundane processes. It's time to break free. With Expressability, Ruckus Makers can prioritize student success by offloading time-sucking tasks. 🔍 Learn more:here ODP Business Solutions Stop letting compliance kill innovation. Some leaders are transforming their campuses with flexible solutions that actually work for modern learning environments. 🔍 Learn more:here Twelve Practices LLC © 2025 | If Education Ain't a Bit Disruptive, Then What Are Your Students Learning?