The challenges of maintaining highly qualified special education teachers are evident in public schools across the nation. Replacing educators who leave the field is a time consuming and expensive endeavor that impacts the achievement and progress of children with disabilities. This study is focused on explaining length of tenure in the profession and in a specific district. One hundred and seventy five currently employed special education teachers in northwestern Pennsylvania were surveyed in an effort to link their perceptions of specific aspects of their jobs with how long they remain in the profession and in their current positions. Number of years as a teacher, years in current position, and social well-being were the dependent variables for the investigation. Gender, relationships with coworkers, how they felt about the work they do, financial compensation, opportunities for promotion, overall job satisfaction and amount of support perceived from supervisors were used to estimate social well-being. Estimates for years as a teacher and years in current position included the same independent variables and social well-being. Results of this study suggest that teachers who choose this particular sector of the educational continuum may tend to be individuals who value having pathways for professional advancement and feelings of connectedness with coworkers. Having high degrees of supervision and amount of compensation were reported to be of less importance. Overall social well-being had no apparent relationship to longevity. [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://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]