Teacher attrition is an educational and economic concern. School administrators are the leaders of their school community. Administrator leadership behavior can influence teacher's career decisions. The problem was that public schools in Illinois have low teacher retention. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the relationship between school administrator leadership behavior and public-school teacher retention in Illinois. Leadership behaviors and public schoolteacher retention are explored through the research questions. Low pay, school climate, lack of respect, and job stress may influence teacher retention. The theoretical framework guiding this study was transformational and servant leadership theories. Transformational leaders can inspire professional growth and creativity through their leadership behaviors. Servant leaders can also have a strong influence on teacher retention. A basic qualitative methodology and design was used to collect data for this study. Fifteen public school teachers in Illinois were asked to reflect on the leadership behaviors of their school administrators. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. Braun and Clarke's (2013) six-step reflective thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Through this analysis process, it was revealed that school administrator leadership behaviors do impact teachers' decisions to stay or resign. [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.]