Teacher attrition poses a problem to music education, with 11% to 27% of music educators planning to leave the teaching profession annually (Hancock, 2008; Killian & Baker, 2006). This author notes, few studies have been conducted to ascertain why music educators make the decision to remain in the teaching field. Members of the Texas Music Administrators Conference, including the fine arts directors of most of the school districts in Texas, were sent an e-mail in 2010 asking that they distribute the request to complete a survey to their music teachers. Using a Likert scale, ranging from 1 (low) to 5 (high), respondents were asked to rank items in each of the following categories: Factors Impacting Decision to Persist as a Music Educator; Respondents' Self-Evaluation of Teaching Skills; and Respondents' Self-Evaluation of Character Traits. The results of the survey reported among other statistics that one of the overarching self-reported attributes of the respondents was their child-centered approach to education. The predominant factors impacting their decision to persist as a music educator were all focused on students: making a difference in students' lives; being able to inspire children; and seeing students accomplish musical goals. [Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Texas Music Educators Association, (San Antonio, TX, Feb 2011.]