The purpose of this study is to determine what factors affect teachers to stay or leave Illinois public school districts that are classified by their state report cards as having 95% or greater low-income student enrollments. Many teachers are dropping out before getting much experience. These teachers are either going to higher socioeconomic schools or quitting the profession all together. Teachers leaving their positions is resulting in teacher shortages and it has become a crisis due to the negative effects of teacher shortage on students and the education system. Things such as low pay, weak professional development opportunities and the fact that the shortage of teachers is more acute in high-poverty schools challenge the goal of providing a sound equitable education to all children. In order to support the objectives, the following research questions help guide this study: The following three research questions will guide this study: 1. What retention factors most influence teachers to remain teaching in low-income Illinois schools? 2. What demographic characteristics most influence teachers to remain in low-income Illinois schools? 3. What strategies improve teacher retention in low-income Illinois schools? This study utilized a modified version of an existing Likert survey and a questionnaire with specific demographic questions as well as two open-ended questions (Hinkel, 2008). There were four major factor areas (administrative support, working environment, job conditions, and relationships) identified as influencing teachers' career decisions referred to as retention factors. The survey was sent to 1,417 teachers and 211 teachers completed the survey. Analysis of survey indicated that among the four job retention factors, the area most likely to influence career decisions was job conditions and administrative support. Responses from the open-ended questions revealed that the factor indicating the greatest influence for teachers to remain in low-income Illinois schools was relationships and the strategy most suggested to keep teachers in low-income schools was administrative and collegial support. Additionally, this study showed age, years of experience, salary, and level of education all had a significant influence on teachers' career decisions working in low-income Illinois schools. [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.]