RALEIGH -- School leaders announced Thursday that nearly 7% of teachers in the Wake County Public School System resigned their positions since July, 2013, the start of the school year. Dr. Michael Maher, Asst. Dean for Professional Education at NC State, says not only are teachers leaving the profession, but fewer students are entering university's to study teaching.

Maher said, "The UNC system as a whole, our 17 campuses, we're the top producers of teachers in the state of North Carolina. We prepare nearly half of all new teachers in the state. We are seeing declines across the entire set of campuses."

Maher says the pipeline is drying up, and that will ultimately impact student achievement.