The impact of schools and students not meeting academic achievement standards affects the community and the nation's future workforce. This paper examines many of the factors influencing achievement with special attention given to the facts of teacher turnover in the schools. Teacher turnover and the sad state of the academic achievement of students is a twofold priority that has to be addressed in the public schools setting. Both issues are important. There is a large amount of empirical literature investigating teachers leaving the schools and students lack of academic success. It appears to be predominantly evident in large urban school districts. Here we build upon this literature by suggesting that teacher turnover profoundly affects the acquisition of knowledge of students. This research study was designed to collect data in the areas of teacher turnover, student academic achievement, and the status of the schools Adequate Yearly Progress in an urban Georgia school district. Population sampling for this study was based on teachers and students in 42 schools for the years 2002 and 2007. Data from the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) scores in reading and mathematics measured the academic achievement of students. Teacher turnover was measured by the number of teachers that were in the schools in the beginning of the school year and the number of teachers that left at the end of the school year. The schools AYP was measured by the number of schools that made AYP and the number that did not make AYP. The statistical analysis supports the proposal that schools with higher teacher turnover rates showed significantly lower student passing rates for CRCT mathematics in both 2002 and 2007. There was not a significant variability in the students CRCT reading passing rates pertaining to teacher turnover. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]