New teacher attrition is a serious problem, with some studies estimating that 50 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first few years. This high attrition rate means that many schools have large number of inexperienced teachers and that districts must spend scarce funds for recruitment and replacement costs. Springfield Public Schools in Missouri, the author notes, had a serious teacher attrition problem: 70 percent of new teachers who started teaching there had left by the end of their third year. The district responded by developing a new teacher induction program (STEP UP) that involves at least two years of individual coaching for each new teacher, plus special training in classroom management and cooperative learning strategies. This new program has greatly improved new teacher retention (only 26 percent of new teachers leave the district by the end of their third year) and saves the district $929,905 a year.