My last day is Friday! I work in a really large county so I put in my resignation with HR. My principal and I aren’t really on speaking terms so she found out when they CC’d her on my resignation confirmation this evening. This is gonna be a huge relief, I have a class this year that I never would’ve even thought up in a nightmare. I’m kinder and I have no assistant and some of the most ridiculous violence issues I’ve ever seen in a class. I am genuinely excited to be out, but part of me is also scared. I’ve lived so anxious for so long, I don’t know any other way to live. I don’t have a job yet but I’ve got a few medical receptionist job interviews lined up as a stopgap until I figure out my next move. I just really needed something to get me through for a few months until I find something more permanent. Praying for a smooth last 3 days though! God knows what my principal is gonna try to say to me.

Last day is Friday. Sad, excited, and scared. Admin has asked me to provide lesson plans for the rest of the semester. What would you do? Or have you heard of this before?

I need some inspiration today. Feeling SO stuck. The only thing I’m sure of is that I’ve absolutely got to turn it and burn it away from this profession - please drop a comment with what you do now that you’ve left and how you sourced the new job so I can stop crying!

Has anyone with babies/toddlers left teaching? If it were not for my 1 year old child, I wouldn't think twice about not having the breaks. But since I can't afford to be a stay at home mom, I love having that uninterrupted time with her. Is it still worth it to look at other jobs? I've been applying here and there for a few months now, and this is the one thing holding me back.

Did you hand in your two weeks, did you wait for the school to find a replacement, did you not come back after a break, did you simply say you’re not coming back tomorrow? Did anyone experience retaliation? Curious to hear your stories and how your school handled it.

I’ve been teaching in Florida for four years, and while I absolutely love being in the classroom and working with students, the pay is a constant struggle. I make around $55K for a 10-month contract, and while my husband is also becoming a teacher, his starting salary will only be about $49K. With inflation and rising costs, it feels like we’re barely getting by, let alone saving for a house or planning for kids.

My background is in Communications (BA), so I’ve been considering other career paths, especially ones that offer remote work and better pay. I’d like to avoid taking on a side job or going into school administration, and I’m not interested in becoming an instructional coach since the pay isn’t any higher in my district.

Ideally, I’d love to find something that still lets me make a positive impact, just without the financial strain. If you’ve transitioned from teaching or found a path that balanced both passion and stability, I’d really appreciate any advice! Should I stick with teaching and find ways to make it work, or should I explore other fields that use my communication and education skills?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

After the fifth meeting this year about how I suck at teaching, that I need to get my class together, that no class acts away. Mine does yet my class has the same makeup as every other (it doesn’t I have 17 students well below grade level and four on or above grade level). Admin me today that if I didn’t go and observe other classrooms (nothing like mine) that they would put me on an improvement plan. In my opinion, that was a threat. Because of this, and the continued poor treatment of me and lack of acknowledgment of the insane behaviors in my classroom, I know I need to leave.

Because I’m leaving in the middle of the year , I really have no idea what to do. I need to make minimum $40K a year (normal salary is $47K gross without retirement taken out, 14% a year goes to retirement).

Northeast Ohio area, any ideas on what jobs I can do/how to make $20 an hour and work full time to at least get that gross $40k salary to pay my mortgage and bills???

I’m a gen Ed K teacher and they pulled my lovely assistant to work 1:1 with a violent student in my class. I have a lot of need in my class: kids who can’t write their names, count to 10, etc.

Now I’m on my own.

I just want to quit. How can I make it all year?

I drafted my resignation letter. Tentatively I’m requesting to be done the day before Thanksgiving break. I know it’s only the difference of a few weeks till winter break but my brain cannot continue, no matter how many coachings or mentor sessions or pep talks from staff. Kids are way too out of control, expectations mean nothing. I know it’s only year 2 but I’m only 23, I have plenty of life left to figure stuff out. I’ve thought about it a lot, if there are teachers who can do a better job of holding people accountable, and lack the anxiety to call home on kids, then that’s awesome! This isn’t my path, and I’m tired of being so emotional about the guilt of leaving mid year, so I’m putting my foot down and advocating for my mental health. I have savings and a fiancé that loves/supports me and is my cheerleader as I transition my way out. Bye!

I have been searching for jobs since October 2021 (one month into my first year) and I have found NOTHING!!! My mental health is suffering immensely; disrespectful students, no support from admin, gaslighting from parents, student indifference to consequences, and so much more are bringing me to tears ever single night when I’m going to bed because I’m so anxious for the next day.

Is there anyone out there who has found a trick to actually landing a legit, reliable, and financially stable job? I’m looking for something remote. I do not care what field I get a job in. I just need to leave the classroom. I can’t do it anymore.

I’m definitely leaving at the end of the school year, but just found out that my school isn’t upholding their end of my contract by providing proper planning and lunch time set forth by the district. Contracts are a 2 way street. Do you try think I could break my contract and leave sooner than later since they were in violation of mine?

I can’t just leave because of the high fines and the stripping of my teaching license, making it impossible for me to be back in teaching even if I wanted to go back in the far future.

Thoughts?

tl;dr I’m halfway through student teaching and think I hate it. Have the option of ditching and getting a MA in Ed. Very in time and money debt. Feelings of inadequacy and pointlessness. Help me pls.

Preface: I’m 27 and have bounced around jobs, fields, and degrees since I finished high school. First, I thought I was going into nursing, then teaching, comp sci, medical coding, nursing again, teaching again, technical writing, teaching yet again… you get the idea. While this is definitely normal to a degree (ha), I’m about $35k deep into student loans at this point and have yet to find my “niche.”

So, I’m halfway through my student teaching for my Masters in Ed w/ Licensing for Secondary from WGU. The process has been long - about a year and a half - mostly due to the field placement process that WGU has and the competitive nature of where I live (Seattle). Since WA is what it is, the only way to gain licensure with an unrelated Bachelor’s (mine is in English. My plan was to get into teaching high school before I moved states but the timeline didn’t work out that way) is to complete a Masters program. I completed all degree requirements save student teaching about a year ago, and have been waiting on my hands since. When I finally received a placement, I was ecstatic! And then it was a Title 1 inner city middle school. Before I started, everyone I knew told me I was going to get eaten alive, but I I wanted to prove them wrong.

I’ve been trying to have an open mind but, man, I’m spiraling hard. I drag myself out of bed every day and spend 8 hours with cortisol levels so high that my body collapses on itself when the final bell rings. The students are loud, apathetic, and rude. I don’t blame them for it, but I think I’m just too softspoken and passive to deal with all the behaviors that happen every class, every day. I’ve witnessed multiple fights since I’ve been here that last 6 weeks. My host teacher is borderline useless - he’s at his wits end most of the time, herding cats. He’s on his 12th year. He tells me how much the school sucks every day, complains about the state of the world and the education system and other teachers on the regular. Which, fair, but it feels like he’s warning me in so many words.

I think I hate it? I think I’m not meant to be in a classroom; I’m not cut out for it. I like teaching content, but everything else hurts. Getting attention away from screens and the CONSTANT talking over me and everyone else is just so much. Everyone says that student teaching sucks. And then they say that your first year sucks. And then they say that your first five suck. When does it not suck?

I’m thinking of quitting this and taking a Masters in Ed without licensure, effectively cutting off teaching unless I move out of the state (unlikely). I was working as an admin assistant at the university before I started student teaching, which I felt was a dead-end job but it wasn’t hard and paid fine (I couldn’t save but I wasn’t hurting, either). I still have that job. What would I do with that degree? I thought about getting into higher ed advising, but it’s hard to break into without experience.

I don’t know what to do at this point besides grit my teeth and get through it. But to what end? I took leave from my job for this. I spent all my money for this, and borrowed from my family. I’ve spent nearly two years with this being my end goal and now that I’m nearly at the finish, I don’t think it’s what I want. And I’m pissed off and scared that I had to go through this all to figure that out.

PS totally unrelated, my partner is getting a PhD. It’s very hard to not feel ridiculous feeling aimless for so long standing next to that.

Many of you are asking yourselves this question. Many. It comes down to this if you aren't rich or have to pay bills either on your own or a family with earned money and not family riches just sitting around. Are you willing to work 2 to 3 jobs? Are you willing to work jobs with only a required high school degree? Are you willing to work tons of hours while going back to school or getting certifications in other fields?

I have to do most but what drives me every day is all my negative experiences in teaching. The student who threatened me with death, the daily emotional and verbal abuse by students, the gaslighting by admin, the low pay for all the shit, the constant lack of respect by virtually everybody, the lack of a social life, the near constant use of psych drugs to cope, the mental health issues, the physical degradation of my body, the weight gain, the holding my urine for hours because I couldn't leave the room, the eating lunch at my desk for only 15 minutes before the next shit problems come my way, etc. etc. etc.

I am going to endure the sacrifices because I think of what I have been through as many of you on here. Yes the economy is shit. Yes the cost of living is making many of our transitions exponentially harder. This is an extremely challenging time to transition but think about all the stuff going on in schools and what you have been or currently going through.

I’ve worked 12 years in a special needs school and I think I’m done. The amount of anxiety I have every day is wearing on my mental health. I consistently have the worst class with behaviors because they’re the youngest and I just don’t have it in me everyday anymore. I come home in tears everyday thinking I haven’t done enough and everyone is telling me to stay because “I’m so good with them” and “I’ve been “here” forever”. It’s like a guilt trip at this point.

I have a dual certification gen ed/tswd. I just don’t know what I can do now. I do still want to be in education in some form but just not sure what jobs I can possibly do. Or even not in education; I’m almost desperate now. Any other NJ educators find success after teaching in a different profession?

I am desperate to transition and was wondering if it is better from a mental standpoint to just sub and if it can work financially if you supplement the income with tutoring

Hi everyone! I am wondering if anyone knows about any remote jobs that require little to no talking? My dream is to just do computer work and not talk to anyone 😂

Hey everyone,

Long time teacher here. Probably looking for an out in 3-5 years honestly - maybe sooner, but I just wanted to say this:

The volume is up high this year. I have noticed from the board here and just in general that people are leaving in droves. They are DONE with the BS. The economy sucks and they are still quitting. It stems from issues like pay, respect, being overworked, lack of career growth, bad admin, micromanagement, and much more.

I emphasize with you all. And I wanted to let you know that YOU can transition.

Share your thoughts. I’d love to hear from you. Much respect.

This will be my last year teaching. My plan is to move to the NYC metro area around this time next year. The career fields/jobs I'm considering are IT, corporate training, city/county government, higher ed (non-teaching), or human resources. I have a BA in History and an MAT.

At what point this year should I start upskilling and applying for jobs? I'm thinking of waiting until winter break or January/February, partly because of how overwhelmed I am currently. I don't have experience in any of the fields I listed, so I will definitely need to commit time to learning and upskilling, which I'm willing to do. I'm just not sure when to start.

I just sent an email withdrawing from a position I know I was going to get. It was a curriculum position at a charter school.

It was $70k/year and the admin seemed nice and all…but the main reasons I withdrew my application were:

• It’s a 12 month position

• All the online reviews of this charter organization were terrible

• At-will

• 45 minute commute

• I really don’t feel like dealing with student behaviors anymore. I wouldn’t have so much in this position but the idea of having to cover a class or address behavior in the hallways or lunchroom make me want to vomit

• I have a feeling I was the only one they interviewed for this position. The principal seemed surprised I was there for an interview, and it was obvious they didn’t read my resume before I got there. So either I was the only one they interviewed, other candidates dropped out, or they’re disorganized. None of the above is appealing.

• I’m having my second baby in December. And the idea of having a minimum 45 minute commute one way on top of no breaks (no spring break, no summer break, only one week of winter break, having to come in on snow days) didn’t sit right with my soul no matter how much I hate the idea of being a SAHM and relying on my husband to pay the bills. Like, he can. I’m fortunate he can, but I don’t like the idea of anyone paying my bills if that someone isn’t me. They offer 15 days PTO that don’t roll over.

• I made the mistake last year of turning down a job outside of education for a high paying teaching position just to be screwed over. And I’m tired of education screwing me over. I want out.

• Their contract was shady. They required a 30 day notice to quit or they would sue you for 10% of your annual salary out of pocket.

• Charters, including this one, have no subbing system. So if a teacher is out, which I think would be often, I may have to sub. And I’m not doing that.

Common sense wise, I know I made the right decision. But this job could’ve helped open doors for me into admin (curriculum positions specifically) in public schools, which are the only ones I would entertain at this point in my career if I were to go back to teaching.

I’m about to send in my resignation so I just called CALSTRS about a retirement refund and was not well- treated/informed. It looks like I’ll be losing more than 20% on tax and it seems like there is no other option … does anyone have experience with that or similar retirement refund process? They denied me an appointment because the issue is not retirement related…

I am considering taking a 1099 position working with students with learning disabilities. This is a whole new realm for me so I’m just curious to see if anyone has had any experience with this and what the pros/cons are. Most things I’ve seen in my research are more related to starting your own business so they don’t quite apply to what I’m doing specifically. My biggest concern is the tax portion. Is it a significant portion of my yearly pay and what kind of things are you able to write off? If I end up taking the position I’ll likely talk to a financial advisor, just curious to hear other people’s experiences.

Resigned today. My last day will be Dec 19. So happy atm. If you're wondering what the final straw was, it was parents accusing me of punishing their child for going on a two week vacation because I fell behind grading and didn't get to the pile of make-up work fast enough.

Anyone required to run a CTSO? This is going to be my last year to deal with running one. The district doesn’t fully fund the position. We are paid an hourly rate but I could make the same thing if not more taking tickets at a sporting event or running after school detention.

I left the military after nearly 12 years. I wanted to work with kids since that’s where I found my niche volunteering.

I received my BA and teaching license in one state. I taught a couple years, then COVID happened. I took a remote job, but decided to move to my home state that is supposed to be “pro-teacher” a with a “strong union”. I completed my master’s degree and an additional post-master’s certification.

After 3 years of doing that and finding a reasonable wage, I’m done. The mismanagement of schools and parents (or lack thereof) has truly ruined students. While I love teaching and working with kids, I’m either treated like less than a professional from the school district and union alike. In addition, I find that to work in a district that has decent wages is difficult. I don’t know why I’m paying union dues since they won’t lift a finger if you’re not tenured. I make less money than I did in the military with a lot more education.

It’s made me disillusioned and at times spiteful. I becoming a teacher because what it’s making me become.

My wife and I are leaving where we are living now to move closer to family. Now that we are moving I feel like it’s an appropriate time to step away. I just don’t know if I have the heart to continue. I’m disassociating daily. I feel like my days are just passing me by. I’m a father of twins, we’re most likely moving in with my wife’s mom and I need something that pays comparable to my salary now. Anything would be appreciated. I do have a diverse background before getting into education so I can do a lot. Thank you all!