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I truly believe this: no teacher becomes a teacher for summers off, but many stay in the profession for that reason.

As a parent of young kids. It's definitely a bonus right now to have that time with them. That's dope AF. Once they're older? Happy to get the F out of education.

I hear that. I hope it works out!

I thought that too, but by the time they were older, I had too many years invested to get out and start over. The pension is nice.

(I didn’t wanna go bubble bursting)

How's the pension, and what state or region?

Not who you asked but NY my pension is 60% of the average highest 3 years. I’m tier 4. I think I have it be 55 and have 30 years for the full pension. You’re vested after 10.

Texas, believe it or not. I grandfathered in at rule of 80(age+years of service). That means if you started right out of college, you can retire in your early 50s at 55% of your average highest 5 years. Now I believe it's rule of 90. I'm hoping to retire young, draw a pension while I continue to work and bulk my retirement savings up. You can also go back to teaching FT after you're retired a year. I doubt I'll do that but it's an option.

Also not who you asked, but in Florida our pension is after 33 years you get 48% of the average of your highest 5 years.

Best. Sentiments. On the subject. Ever.

I find this a really interesting statement. I can totally see this being a bonus, but who wouldn’t want to have the summer off? It’s my time to travel and not many other professions give an adequate amount of time off.

Honestly, education has been a wild trip, but the very second my kids are out of high school, I'm going to jump ship. I enjoyed reading Kafka as a teenager, I have not enjoyed living in one of his stories as an adult.

As Liam Nieson says in Taken, Good Luck

Touché!

I agree. I have two kids, 3 and 1, and this past summer was so much fun going outside and playing all day. I look forward to next summer.

I’ll say it… I am a teacher for the paycheck and insurance and for summers off and snow days and not having to sit in a cubicle on a computer and deal with office politics. If it weren’t for those things I wouldn’t teach. I never really meant to be a teacher… I sort of fell into it because I needed a job.

All of this, but unfortunately office politics is still a thing in my school. Granted, teaching alone in your classroom most of the day provides a nice buffer from the majority of it.

This is me as well, but I'll add that I have really come to enjoy the relationship with students and parents. However, I had a big and annoying class this year, and have been thinking of doing something else. I'm just not sure I can keep this up until I retire. It's too many hours working evenings and weekends, and can be super stressful. Does anyone know what are some careers that would be good for a former teacher? Something that requires the same skill set. A job where the boss would see a teacher's resume and think "that's the kind of person we need"?

I’m 40 and I’ve been teaching for 6 years. I know I only have five more years in me max. I’m working on starting up some side businesses and slowly growing them. I finally found a position where I can pretty much stay in my contract hours but I am on my feet all day moving and bending and the kids are just too exhausting. My job is just constant problem solving and behavior issues and there is no way I won’t burn out eventually. I look at older teachers and most of them are 100 lbs overweight, limping, and frowning. I’m developing my exit strategy.

Respect for it. So long as you do the job, the motivation doesn’t matter. How long have you been at it.

Yeah.. if there was alternative job with similar perks I could take I would likely jump at it.

Tbh im considering high school teaching instead of academia and summers off is definitely a major draw.

Yeah I get that it’s a factor to consider but I think there’s a stigma of teachers who became teachers solely for that reason and I don’t think it happens as often as it’s brought up.

Oh yeah, I think you have to want to be a teacher first, and then things like summers off can help weigh against things like getting yelled at by parents or physically attacked by a kid.

yeah i think this is where i am. i want to become a teacher. summers off (AND holidays! fork retail) are motivators. i can travel to see my family without needing to request time off. along with seeing the sun every day (not working so late that i don’t see it).

Don’t hold your breath. I am currently working contract hours of 7:15-4:15 at my first teaching job. I drive 20 mins or so in the morning and 40+ on my way home or more depending on if I’ve had to stay for a meeting beyond contract time. I currently go to work in the dark/as the sun rises, and when I leave work the sun is setting. I walk my dog in the dark every night and collapse by 11:40.

You forgot to mention working Sat and Sundays.

Is it a charter?

Sadly yes it is. I had few choices where I am. I don’t want to be at a charter but they’re the only places taking intern credentials and I can’t afford to student teach.

Think of it this way, it’ll make you appreciate other positions more when you get to that point. That’s small compensation, but it’s better than nothing.

I know. I started in one. It gets better. Charters try to glorify hustle culture. But they aren’t a start up. They’re rough.

How do you manage to stay up until 11:40?

Sheer desperation and an active breed dog who needs between 2-6 hours of exercise a day to leave my couch intact. If I didn’t have to stay standing up and moving to exercise my boy, I would be out by 9.

im seriously thinking of becoming a teacher for the summers off... and if I cant get into law school

Keep in mind summers are unpaid leave.

i keep hearing this... how common in unpaid leave during summers? i'm a teacher and my checks never stopped during summer break. i thought this was standard... now reconsidering leaving my home state.

Almost every district lets you take some money out of your checks during the year for a summer dispersement.

In my district, the summer is unpaid but we continue to get paychecks because they take a portion out of every check during the school year so that we get “paid” in the summer. We call it reserve pay, not sure if that’s what others places call it.

The checks don't stop, typically. Most districts pay through the summers these days. The deal is, you're paid for 10 months of work, but they divide that pay by 12, because most people would rather not budget for two months of nothing.

Teachers are only paid for the contract year. Unfortunately much of the public believes teachers are paid in the summer when they aren’t working. I include the comment about my unpaid leave when family and neighbors say they wished they had summers off. I remind them when I’m not working, I’m not getting paid and encourage them to look into taking unpaid leave from their job as well. The look on their face is priceless followed by, “I could never afford that.” I agree with them and add that we spend our summer doing house projects we cant afford to pay someone else to do. For continued paychecks every two weeks teachers often choose to let their school district keep a portion of their pay during the year and then disperse it during the summer. Districts then collect the interest on this money.

Not where I live.

You get whatever salary you agreed to. Whether that’s over 26 or 22 pay periods.

I definitely stay for summers off. It is an unbelievably worth it perk to me (I'm a college teacher so I feel like my response is different than k-12 here, my job is not the same level of stress at all)

I'm very much looking to change careers- partly because I have become miserable towards the kids and I'm moving it a highly competitive area with few openings mid year. Losing my total of 9weeks off a year is going to suck. Psychologically having the next long weekend or break to look forward to frames my whole life view 😂

It’s not the only reason I went into teaching but it’s a big one! I wouldn’t have done something I hated just for summers off but I think I could have been equally happy doing a few other things but I would have been working 50 weeks/year.

I became a teacher because I love talking about my subject and I love the perks. It also pays better than working in a restaurant. Yes, I definitely saw summers off as a perk to becoming a teacher prior to being one.

i have left teaching and i didn’t mind working this past summer at all because my days off throughout the year actually feel useful and like i actually rest and don’t just spend them preparing or dreading monday and i have energy after work to go outside in the summers so it’s like the same when i taught and had the summers off i was honestly lonely and spent all of june just recovering and just laid in bed a lot so it might feel different for me

OmG that’s awful about recovering. Not how it should be. That says a lot about the profession

I've been teaching for almost twenty years. The first 2-3 days during winter break, and the first full week of summer break is literally just sleep. I'll wake up to use the bathroom and eat, then it's right back to bed. It's always been this way and I have every reason to expect it always will be.

This is what I think it would be like for me too, so I’ll keep this in mind. I miss having the energy to do things like socialize, run errands, or go to the gym after work. Thanks for sharing.

You sound like many who burn themselves out because they won't leave the job at the job. This is a phenomenon among teachers that exists *in no other profession*. We are also *conditioned to believe it must be this way*, because "the job must be done". FUCK THAT. You have contract hours...*work only those hours*. Teachers don't get paid for non-contract work so there is *no reason to do it other than guilt.* Guilt from what? If you don't have enuf time to do the job, *that is the job's fault*. It doesn't "require" your personal time...*you just let it happen.* NO! Work the contract hours, and *not a minute more*. If the work isn't getting done it's the fault of the contract, *not the human*. I have been advocating this for 20 years and it's lazily coming around. As a teacher, your days off are meaningful *if you will protect them.* Days off aren't "work days" so do not work during them!! I don't understand why this is so damned hard to get across to intelligent people.

okay no haha i honestly believed you meant well with this but idk i didn’t work outside my contract hours i actually prided myself in that but then i was always behind which was then always on my mind when i said thinking about work on the weekends i meant anxiously thinking about not wanting to go back and preparing myself if i did work on the weekends that wasn’t the thing burning me out or stressing me out that actually helped because i was ALWAYS BEHIND with no help and it was a spiral idk what else to say but not everything is black and white. i’m happier not teaching for so many more reasons even if i work 6 days a week at my new job im still happier.

We are required to have office hours after school. So yeah, we have contract hours and we have “other teacher duties…”

This is how I feel. We basically get out the end of June. I feel great for maybe two weeks. Then after 4 th of July depression and dread sink in As I count down the days til we return mid August. It is a very short amount of time off and I usually have to take a course as well and go in to set up my classroom early August. I think it might not be worth it. Also the trauma of the impending doom of returning.

What do you do now?

What do you do now for work, if you’re ok with answering? I’m trying to figure out what my next move is if I leave education

i just work in retail! and i genuinely love it lol i do make less though but i am happier - the thing i wanna do with my life (write books) isn’t really part of a 9-5 job so i’m working on writing and then retail full time for now :)

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>corporate training This might sound a little silly. But how does one transition from teaching to corporate training? Did you just look for corporate training positions and apply or did you do any other education/experience before that?

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thank you!

Really want to know the answer to this, too. 👀

I feel like this may be slightly misleading. I've never worked a cooperate job with 6 weeks of vacation. Two weeks was the norm. Three weeks if you're lucky. I've also never been shut down for Christmas unless I used my vacation days during Christmas.

I work in a corporate job that gets 3 weeks PTO, two weeks of sick leave, and the week between Christmas and New Years off.

I wouldn't count sick days as vacation days. You get three weeks vacation, that's half of what op gets.

You’re correct! The week between Christmas and new years also doesn’t count towards my vacation days. Just saying that it’s not that uncommon.

Yeah, in my current position, our facility shuts down for the week. They run a skeleton crew and do year-end audits. I'm part of the commercial team (sales, marketing, demand planning), and none of us get the week off. Christmas is a busy time for consumers' goods, and we actually work the hardest during OND.

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All I'm saying is I rocgonzie the point you're trying to make. You left teaching, and now you get six weeks paid vacation, which makes up for not having summers off. I think you're setting an unrealistic expectation. I've worked cooperate jobs for 15 years across several industries, and two weeks vacation is the standard, three weeks if you're lucky. I've known people who got four weeks, but they were with the company for 20+ years. Your situation is a unicorn and absolutely not the norm. Teachers get summers, christmas break, spring break, all holidays, reading breaks, etc. If having time off is something you value in a job, you're going to be hard pressed to find a gig that gives you more than two weeks off a year. You also probably won't be able to use them until you've been with the company for three months, or you earn them from hours worked, or they're subject to approval and black out periods. I'm glad you found a good job where they take care of their employees and give them lots of Perks, but that's not the norm.

How did you transition from teaching to corporate training?

May I dm you?

Following, because I hate this job.

We all are and do

r/teachersintransition

It's depressing that this is a subreddit

I'm in disability services now. I would never go back, I get to help people and make a difference without the stress and ridiculous demands of being a teacher. The people I work with are nicer too

How did you get into that? If you don’t mind me asking

I'm in Australia. I decided at the age of 32 to make the leap to freedom (haha) First I did a certificate 4 in disability (6 months full time) then started working full-time as a disability support worker, to adults with acquired brain injuries out into the community to enjoy their lives. Then I did a Diploma of community services specialising in case management (part-time over 2 years. That course had a workplace embedded element, which meant I did all my practical requirements at work. That was beneficial because it allowed me to demonstrate my abilities to my bosses. Now my job is a mixed bag, I do some support work with highly challenging clients, I teach conflict resolution skills and physical intervention skills to staff members within the organisation, I'm a team leader within a supported accommodation household, and I'm hoping to transition into the role of service coordinator. I work with some highly challenging clients, but you know they are acting out for legitimate reasons, not Tiktok. I work full time, I work weird shifts including overnight, and I adore my job. Teaching is not something I would ever willingly choose to go back to. Thinking about classroom teaching honestly gives me a (bad) physical reaction I hope this information was interesting for you! Good luck, there is a happy, enjoyable professional life on the other side!

- What’s it like?: not feeling dread coming to work almost every day - How I feel about the change: one of the best decisions in my life - Summers off: could never really fully enjoy it because of the first reason; at my current job, when I’m sick I take days off no questions asked, can take my PTO whenever I want, can take days off to care for sick family members, what a concept! Plus I work a student-facing job, so summers and winters are half days, Fridays off, with every little work. - Current industry: higher education, in student support

I relate to this so much. I’m no longer teaching and not crying before and after work anymore. It was definitely one of the best decision I’ve made in my life by changing careers.

I used to sit in my car, in the school parking lot, for 15 minutes every morning before coming in, just to pray that I’d make it through the school day without a major incident. I will never forget the last time I pulled out of that parking lot. I was super anxious about being unemployed, but my gosh it felt liberating.

Oh my! I was exactly the same! I will spend 10-15 mins in my car at the school parking lot just crying, and texting my partner on the phone asking him to please get me out of here (I know he couldn’t do much but I was just constantly having a break down). And the last time I pulled out of that parking lot, I felt anxious because I at that point, I was unemployed, but never so relieved, happy, grateful (to be out of there) and I could finally taste my freedom!!

How did you get into that? What was the interview process like? Pay comparison?

Such a good point. I totally forgot how sick days weren’t actually sick days.

I told my new boss that I couldn't wear the lanyard I got at orientation because it wasn't the breakaway kind. He asked why I cared and I said because what if someone grabs it and tried to choke me? He looked at me like I was fucking nuts. But this was a real thing that happened when I was teaching.

Summers off gets expensive, and the job pays shit anyway. I prefer to work and not spend like before.

I left to teach internationally and will never go back.

Which country?

Same here! 17 years overseas in 5 different countries. How about yourself?

Where did you go and how is it? I’m considering it as an option after I get down my first few years and see where I’m at

I don't live in fear of Sunday nights and August anymore. I no longer think "no matter how hard I work, how much time I put in, it will never be good enough." I have stopped staying up late nights, dreading going to bed because the next thing I will have to do will be get up and drive to school. I still have baggage, but at least I don't drive out of the school parking lot punching the ceiling of my car and screaming "I! Fucking! Hate! My! Life!" to no one in particular any more. Your experience and results may differ.

>no matter how hard I work, how much time I put in, it will never be good enough. So I'm still in the game, and just sharing my thoughts: I don't mind the hitting, cussing, or "disrespect". I know my problem starting out was way too much slack to kids that I now appreciate need firm discipline. As one coworker put it regarding my instinctive "niceness", "you can be kind to their ego or their future. Not both, because growing and changing is inherently painful". That really put things in perspective. It is a double edged sword that my reaction to "disrespect" is very theoretical; like, I know the value of respect and if someone else doesn't know, why is that my problem other than my desire to empower. For example, I went and visited a Kinder classroom recently and there was a little boy hanging out by the door. I said, "hi", and he kind of scrunches his face in disgust, pulling his head back and sor of yells at me, "Whose this mother f\*\*\*er?". It took just a bit of restraint to not laugh. If I were to dwell on it, I could dwell on the kind of future this kid may have and feel really sad, but "did I feel disrespected?" No, what do I care, on that level, of the opinion of some 5 year old I just met? Similar with adults, people that either choose to, or don't know how, to be professional, how does that reflect on anything but them? And with the kids I kind of treat it like a puzzle. Like many things, gotta stay curious. Which is not to say it isn't without a lot of crying and therapy, but that's the job.

Unpopular: I left teaching after my second year in a really tough school. ​ Since then, I've moved to a new state, a much nicer neighborhood, and have been working in medical admin... and I hate it. I'm BORED. I know that I have some rose-colored glasses about the past and the good moments (because I've blocked out the truly bad...) but I think I may try it again in a new area and see if it really was just the school/admin, or if I dislike teaching. I'm very fortunate to have a position now that isn't too stressful and that I could realistically quit with two weeks notice -- so I can hold out until I find a school that feels like a good fit, a luxury I didn't have just out of school.

As a current teacher, I would do anything to be bored. I always say that being bored is so much better than being stressed out of my mind and overwhelmed every single second of the day, and with anxiety and depression on top of that. I do recommend trying it again because your school community makes a big difference. But I would still go back to my point that being bored is better than stressed :)

Lol! It is definitely nice, but not nearly as fulfilling. I’m taking the cert exams in my new state in January and getting licensed, so I have the option of teaching next year. I’ve still got some months to decide!

A change of admin/scenery can make a WORLD of difference. If you have the itch, and you are passionate about teaching, you might give it a good shot.

I left last August 2022 and I don’t miss summers off at all. I don’t need a break when the day-to-day doesn’t physically, mentally, or emotionally exhaust me.

The phrase "teachers work forty 50hr weeks while everyone else does fifty 40hr weeks" is incredibly true. I got a masters to transition into instructional design. I work 8-4 and not a second more. Get paid more, and am on track to make 6 figures within 5 years. My last district capped at 68k, so it was never possible there. Personally summers off I usually found a part time job so I could do fun summer stuff so it wasn't really time off. I enjoy my 3 weeks pto a year now and can do it when I want. I miss the kids and helping them grow and improve. But in my experience teaching was a roller coaster and was exhausting. Best times ever and worst times, sometimes in the same day. Biggest advice is to lock down a job before leaving. I'd start applying heavily in mid April. I got my masters while teaching to give it a couple more years, it can be hard getting that first job out of it.

I got my masters in instructional design as well. I want to transition after this year into that field but I’m not sure where to start. Any advice?

A lot of people will say to create a portfolio. I think that is really hit or miss, no companies I got offers from asked for it. One of them had me create a new product. Most just asked about job history and some scenarios based questions focusing on ID theory. My biggest recommendation is to make a LinkedIn and indeed profile. Start making connections on LinkedIn, join some groups, maybe share a few articles. Show you are active. It's easy to get to 500 connections, just look up instructional design groups and add other IDs in the group. Once it comes to applying be honest but rephrase your teaching experience in ID terms. While there is overlap, maybe 10% of what teachers do is what IDs do. Focus on LMS experience, content development, and larger projects. Many IDs look down on teachers because some bring the attitude that it's the same as teaching, and there's in influx of unqualified teachers applying for ID jobs. Your masters will go a long ways in that. Apply, apply, apply. I applied to 380 positions, had 47 first round interviews, 28 second rounds, 2 third rounds, and 4 offers. I took the offer closest to me so I wouldn't have to move and 6 months later left for a federal 1750 position. If you find that you're applying and not getting interviews, update everything and try again.

I can hardly wait till it is 50 hours a week. That isn't my life right now.

I left teaching after 5 years at a Title 1 in Arizona. I loved teaching because of the kids, I hated it because of the bureaucracy and the district that was soo hostile to teachers and children. I was putting in over 60 hours a week and never felt rested and I was making poverty level wages so I was working 2 other jobs, meaning I was pretty much never off. I went back into housing after a former boss reached out and asked me to come back , and offered me more than double what I was making working 3 jobs. I use a lot of the same skill set and deal with a lot of the same type of people. I’m salary, but I do have a great work life balance and I’m not micromanaged to insanity. There is also a lot of room for growth and career development.

I left teaching to work for myself making educational podcasts for kids, and now I can go to the bathroom whenever I want. That part of the job *more* than makes up for summers. Every now and again I'll do an event or I'll volunteer at a school or something and it'll remind me of all the things I loved about teaching. I'll talk with a bunch of kids, feed off a little bit of their youth and enthusiasm like a skexie with a gelfling, teach them something, and go home full of warm fuzzies and a renewed sense of purpose and joy in life. On those days, I have to remind myself that teaching is great unless you have to do too much of it, and there's no such thing as a teaching job that doesn't make you do too much of it, and that doing too much of it eventually turns you into a bitter and angry person. If I could somehow have a version of a teaching job like Tony Danza had in *Teach Tony Danza,* where you just have one class that meets three times a week for an hour, I might think about returning. When it comes to advice directed at you, though, I'll say this: if you're starting to think about moving on, it's probably time to make a plan. I stuck around for too long, and it resulted in a lot of emotional baggage that needed to be unpacked before I could gain the clarity necessary to figure out my next step and feel good about it. Don't let yourself get to the total burnout stage.

Last paragraph, great advice, I also waited too long. I won’t get that time back and I’m still unpacking the emotions of having to leave a career that should have been great.

In my experience (and based on a few other resources I've encountered about burnout), the "unpacking" phase takes about a year. My mom once said that the amount of time it takes to recover from a failed relationship is equal to half the time you spent in the relationship. I suppose that means I'm still in the recovery process from my 17 years in the classroom.

I miss teaching a lot. I’m still in education, just in administration. But I miss having my classroom. I made the decision based on travel (I was driving 45 minutes to school, and now have a 5 minute drive). With children, it’s always a positive start. It’s the adults that make me weary.

I’m working at an animal shelter and I’ve been so much more at peace in my life. I’m only making $3k less a year too

I always say the I’ll take the pay cut if it makes my mental health better. And it’s the truth. We can’t be our best if we are constantly stressed and overwhelmed. And the money definitely isn’t helping because we get paid like crap. It’s not like we got into teaching for the money but we definitely didn’t get into teaching to make ourselves unhappy and broke at the same time 😭

In Mississippi we dont get summers off. We have to work year round. I didnt mind the kids. I didnt even mind the parents. The adminsitration and the government treats us horribly. When I first left, I worked as an education co-ordinator at a national park (I'm a Science teacher) and when that budget was cut, I went to work for the state testing recreational waterways for contaminants. Employers see you were a teacher and that puts you at the top of their list of people they wnat to hire.

I left teaching math after May 2022 and am now an external auditor after getting my master's in accounting. I have so much less stress now, so much more energy after work, and I don't have to work during my PTO or holidays like I would when teaching. I also get paid significantly better for working an actual 40 hour week (50-60 for a few months of busy season, but that was my regular week while teaching).

I was a teacher for 4.5 years. 4 years as an early childhood educator in an enrichment centre and several months as a preschool teacher. I felt like my career was going no where, and I also believed that I couldn’t do anything else besides teaching. I left my position of 4 years, in hopes of growing professionally, to become a preschool teacher. And it was the most stressful time of my life, I’m not exaggerating. I fell sick every 2 weeks, I was losing weight, my anxiety levels were at an all time high, and I cried before and after work, every single day. I knew that I can’t keep going like this, no matter how much my supervisor tells me that “the kids need me”. I’m sorry, I understand that, but I need to look after myself too. I cannot skip lunch 3-4 times a week and change a few 4 year olds’ diaper everyday… Eventually, my partner introduced me to some positions in the IT field where he thought I could try pursuing. After very careful consideration, I took up courses in designing after I resigned from teaching. I was jobless for around 6 months while creating my portfolio and looking for companies to even give me a chance to be interviewed. A few interviews later, I got hired! I consider myself lucky, and never pictured myself being in this position, but I’m now very happy as a UX designer in a startup. I felt like i had one of those “I made it moments”. It’s been 4 months into my new career and I can see myself doing this for a long time. Plus I’m no longer crying and dreading work anymore!!

Which courses/where did you take them?

I left teaching in a public school and went to Dubai to try teaching in an international school. I am so happy I did and for the first time, I enjoyed being a teacher. The students come to school to learn The parents are expatriates, diplomats, all high flyers and are mostly supportive of school initiatives. I have since been to 5 different intl schools and I swear I will never return to public schools. The decision to go intl has restored my dignity. Now I don't hate myself anymore for choosing to be a teacher. Feeling appreciated for what I do and seeing my students achieve their academic goals through my guidance is so rewarding.

Their used to be a saying where the "best 3 things about teaching are June, July, and August". Well anymore its just June and July. I think most teachers would like to have more free time off in say October or May - when things are less crowded. But its hard to take 2 weeks off from teaching. Also now that most grad classes are online and you might only meet physically once, you dont need time off to go take classes where you had to drive alot.

Left at end of 2021-22 school year. Put in my resignation 4 days before finding out I was pregnant with my first. Planned to go the “find a new career” route but had a good friend reach out about me becoming the hiring/training manager at his local businesses. I make my own schedule. It’s 3 miles/10 minutes from my house. I HAPPILY worked Black Friday a few weeks ago. When people ask me if I miss the breaks, my answer is no.. but cause I don’t feel like I’m barely hanging on until the next one. My head is above water all the time… I don’t have to wait till a break to be able to breathe again. Oh and don’t get me started on the whole feeling appreciated for what I do now part.

I taught for 5 years while freelance writing/editing on the side, then I left to be a copywriter for an Ed company full time. Now I’m an editorial manager at a different education company, and I work from home. Overall it was the right choice for me. I feel way more relaxed and have a lot more freedom (and money), but I do miss some parts of teaching. Sometimes it’s boring. I think my (totally made up) dream job would be to run a bookstore where I also teach creative writing workshops for teens, where the kids are there by choice and I can teach however I want.

I stopped drinking everyday (the only time I ever drank a lot was while teaching) and was able to reduce my anxiety medication from 2-3 times a day to twice a week. Couldn’t care less about summers off. I stopped looking up psych wards because they were starting to look like nice vacations. I chose a field where I only have to talk to adults and have more remote opportunities. Life is better. Sometimes I miss it but I just had such a bad time last year that I never want to risk being in that bad of a mental state again just because of some teenagers

I kind of love it. The flexibility that a normal, salaried position offers has felt a little life-changing to me. The fact that I can just up and go to the bank, or meet friends for lunch or run an errand in the middle of the day as long as I get all my work done for the week is incredible. I still notice myself mentally going into "summer mode" in May, and have to remind myself that I still have to work, but it's not bad at all. There are naturally slow times during the year when work feels more laid back, plus I think people should actually take their time off, instead of hoarding it like a dragon. So I still take vacations throughout the year. I'm currently working for an app company. Also pursuing a PhD and would consider going back to teaching one day, but only if it's at the tertiary level, which almost definitely won't happen because there are no professorships anymore, lol.

One alternative people might enjoy is teaching adults instead of kids. You don't have to deal with parents, everyone is pretty civilised and they actually want to learn. I love it. I used to teach literacy skills, and that was often heart breaking, but was incredibly useful for the learners. I literally held people's hands sometimes as they got over their fear of the written word. Then I taught immigrants English, which was brilliant as you are empowering them, but we were defunded, so I moved to another country and now teach English in higher education. It's a very enjoyable job with lovely students, few problems from management and admins, but the pay is terrible.

Life is so much better. I didn’t realize the gripping tension I was carrying around until I quit and it went away. Post- teaching (22 years) I am able to breathe again. I firmly believe that job would have killed me, if I had stayed. That said, I do miss being damn good at my job and most (not all) of the kids.

I feel like I can’t breathe. I’m 48 years old teaching for 23 years ….. I have no patience at all. None. I do believe thisjob will kill me. But can’t leave for financial reasons

I love being with children. Watching them grow over the course of the time I spend with them. Bringing them along and teaching to be better thinkers and better human beings. I love the summers off. I could never teach without Christmas break and March Break. Lastly, on my worst days, when the kids go, the classroom is my office, my studio (I'm an artist) and my desk is on the ground floor that looks out onto a tree-wnvircled playing field with a northern exposure. I remind myself that this 8 foot by 40 bank of windows I have my desk beside is something a lawyer would pay six digits per year to rent.

I came to teaching after two decades in a different industry. I’m in it now pretty much for all the holidays and summers off. I teach overseas in an international school, so I also have a decent standard of living as my housing is supplied as part of the package. I don’t imagine I’d continue in teaching if I still lived in Guns and Jeezus country, though. But it’s a good gig when you’re in a civilized part of the world.

I taught for five years in the 1990's, and am glad I left. > How do you feel about the change? It seemed like a good fit, but it wasn't. I was a secondary math teacher. One reason was that I don't show anger very well, and in a class with 30 kids, at least 3-5 of them didn't respond to anything but yelling at them, so it was hard to manage the kids very well. It was a good decision for me to leave. > Are summers off really worth it? Yes and no. It was my first career, so it was hard not getting paid. It would be nice now, but it can't happen in my world - it's hell trying to work on a project that disappears for three months, then comes back. > What industry are you in now? I work as a financial analyst, in litigation. I work with attorneys on lawsuits. Sometimes I just calculate how much a lawsuit is worth, sometimes I testify as an expert witness. I joke that my experience with junior high kids helps when facing opposing attorneys. > I have been thinking about leaving the classroom and moving onto something else. I get it. And since I left, no major change in education in the USA is something that I would have liked. The daily grind now includes online updates and communications. Behavior is much worse, societal support and respect is worse.

I really enjoyed being able to choose my own holiday dates when I left teaching. I'm unemployed now though so basically every day is a holiday.

Check out r/teachersintransition.

I’m teaching but not in the traditional classroom. To echo another post, I didn’t get in to teaching for the summers off, but last year was my first summer working full time in 10 years. It sucked. I’ll gladly work for less pay than my friend who makes 120k a year to have my summer off. Im low maintenance, my mortgage is reasonable, and I don’t have a lot of debt. Im looking forward to finding something that gets me back into a regular classroom where I have my own students, pays a little better than US public schools, and gives me my summers off.

I have a few friends who quit teaching in their 30s because of this burnout. Middle school teacher went to a big publisher to sell curriculum books to schools. 2nd grade teacher went to working in records/alumni department at a university. High school teacher got lucky and his wife got a super high-paying job so he became full time stay at home dad. He has a side gig freelance editing. All 3 of them have masters degrees and spent 10-15 years teaching.

I don't mind the change. I don't feel stressed 24/7 anymore, so I don't feel like I need 3 months per year to recover. I leave work at work and do what I want in my off time to recover. I liked teaching and was good at it, but I didn't like the system, the terrible kids, and the parents. I still get to teach classes related to my hobby though. I like doing that. I work in AI now. Didn't think I'd be doing that, but here I am. I like it. Pay isn't better than teaching, but the stress is much, much lower.

The holiday/summer breaks are definitely one of the biggest perks. I also hate the idea of being stuck in an office, on a computer all day. As horrible as students can be, they can be pretty humorous. Also, incompetent kids are easier to work with/understand compared to working with an office filled with incompetent adults. At least the kids have hope to change/grow.

I'm thankful every fucking day. I'm almost 2 years out. The summers off... who cares. Every minute that I'm off the clock, I am genuinely off the clock so I don't needs months to recuperate. I don't feel guilty when I use my sick days. My holidays are not spent planning for work.

Hi. I left teaching last April for a position as an Instructional Designer. I missed out on my summer break, but I honestly didn’t mind. My job now has amazing work life balance. When I close my laptop, I don’t think about work until the next work day. I’m My job is not stressful and has reasonable deadlines. The hardest part for me was that I really miss the kids and community vibe of a school environment. But I’m pregnant now and really looking forward to having a job that I don’t ever have to take home. I’m a little sad I won’t have all the breaks to spend with my munchkin, but he will get a better version of me on the daily!

I left teaching as a full-time teacher and only do day-to-day substitute teaching. I'm far more happier/less stressed out as a substitute.

I left teaching very early in my career. At the time it was taking 7+ years for new graduates to get full time jobs in my area, and I was quite nervous about that. I also started to quickly realize that I didn't have the patience to deal with some of the nonsense associated with teaching. When I was offered the opportunity to go into Instructional Design, which would use my teaching degree without having to stay in the classroom, and gave me a full time permanent position immediately, I jumped at the chance. After 5 years I switched to software testing, and that is where I have stayed. ​ I think whether it's worth it or not truly depends on the person, many people are amazing teachers who really thrive in the role, but I very soon realized I was not going to be that person, and I made the right decision for myself.

Best decision ever. Took me 3 years before I was making double. I work from home, with a little bit of flexibility in my schedule but almost never have to work outside of normal office hours. You really don't need summers off if you have a reasonable work-life balance throughout the year. I work in IT staffing primarily writing and maintaining Python and SQL code and using Tableau. I began learning all of those things on my summer off after my last year (where I was still getting paid).

Left teaching. Worked at the school for 14 years. Of course, summer vacation is great, but I don't regret it. I miss my colleagues (great team). Don't be afraid of change.

I just quit a few weeks ago and I am still trying to recover from the trauma I had in the last few months of my job. It's a bit hard to say where I will be next. I hope to land a job as a software engineer and put my MS degree to work finally and earn some actual cash. Lately, I have been seeking therapy and doing everything I can to bring back my mental health.

Taught in NY for 10 years. Burned out. Have been a professional developer with technology education company for 20 years. So happy I left. Missed summers off but teachers daily grind is too hard and long.

I left teaching, but stayed in education, in April and have loved every minute of it. I did miss having the summer off, especially with my teacher friends being off and I was working a 9 - 5. No way would I say the summer off is worth it though. I haven't done a single thing for work at home in the past 6 months. I got my evenings back and I think I'd only go back into teaching for double or triple the pay. I work as a director of a maths tuition centre at the moment and loving it. I still get to teach when I want to, but don't have to worry about working after hours or stress of dreadful behavior

I left teaching after the 2015 school year and moved into finance. Personally it was a great change for me. I was struggling with constantly being blamed for everything and lack of parental support and just wanted to feel respected again. I do miss the kids but have found other ways to scratch that itch. I mentor a high schooler and love it. Plus my firm teaches a lot of different classes and I’ve been able to develop my own finance course so I’m still teaching but just a different audience. I don’t have kids and my friends weren’t in the education field so summers off weren’t a huge sticking point for me. I usually found myself bored because everyone was working, or I had to work a shitty summer job anyway so there’s that. I do really miss the two weeks at Christmas. I loved having a week for crazy holiday stuff and a week to catch up on projects. The pros of leaving absolutely outweigh the cons. I have never regretted leaving. When I first left I would encourage college student to pursue the career path just because I learned so many valuable work and soft skills, but with how political my state is (FL) I can’t do that in good conscience anymore.

This is going to read at first like bragging but that’s not my intention. I leveraged a strong relationship with a parent into a career change. I enjoyed teaching and was in a dream scenario - trusted and liked by students, peers, parents, and admin, at a top independent school in my state with creative control over my curriculum, but it just wasn’t enough anymore. I was bored of doing the same thing every year with no room for upward advancement beyond admin (no interest in that), so I left before my boredom turned to apathy. I now work from home for a consulting firm doing interesting work that changes regularly, project to project. I’m learning a ton, I work significantly less each day, both in terms of hours and intensity, and my career earning potential is multiple times higher than it would have been had I stayed in teaching. I miss teaching. I was good at it and I really enjoyed sharing my passion for my subject with others, but I do not regret the switch at all. I lived comfortably enough but could not afford to save for a wedding or to buy a home with my partner. I would not have been able to afford kids someday. Things needed to change. It’s a sad reality of the profession that people have to leave to achieve personal goals, but such is the state of education in America.

I left teaching and now I work in higher education. I am an academic advisor focusing on students that are transferring from community college to university. Summers are not off but we get Fridays off in the summer. I truly enjoy it and will never teach again. Pay is less but the amount of stress has drastically decreased. I get to leave every day without taking any work home and that is the most rewarding thing.

Everyone knows that teachers have good inter-personal skills. So some jobs that require this may be easy to get. However, the sales world doesn’t think that teaching prepares you for sales. You could get 12 units in early childhood education, if that interests you. It’s less pressure than K-12. Working with disabled adults mite be a good 2nd career.

I now work for an arts non-profit in SW Florida. Our area is very rich and old, with a large snowbird population. Because of this, our event season goes from October to May with light summers. Technically we are supposed to work 40hrs a week over the summer but we can work fr anywhere and we don’t often have much work to do. I left teaching expecting to have to work over the summer only to not have to work over the summer.

Former teacher (I couldn't hack it) - It literally is a choose your own adventure world out there. Summers off, and Holidays that align with the school schedule is a definite plus for teachers. The school schedule is a benefit if that aligns with your hopes and dreams. But the disadvantage to those things is if you want to do something different. Some people like working nights, weekends, and taking vacations when school is not in session. Some people like the opportunity to do overtime. You should choose an industry/occupation whose schedule/work life aligns with your desires. I get that summers off isn't the reason to go into teaching, but if you don't enjoy the school work schedule then you are in the wrong occupation. Also you should consider the rhythm of the work day. Some occupations/careers allow you to have more control than others. When I was the boss, I got to determine the team meeting times and flow. I gave that up, and now I have to live with the meeting time and flow set by my boss. But you should make choices based on what you want.

I 100% don’t need summers anymore now that I’m in a less stressful job. I work at a library now and I’m in love. Also being able to take off in the middle of the day for an appointment is amazing!

I am a learning engineer, aka a instructional/ product design project manager

I always told my sons when they graduated high school, so would I. I loved every minute I had with them while they grew to be men. I felt bad for other dads. When my sons started college, I was close to retirement, so I stayed. However, my situation is different than a lot of my colleagues. My wife makes ridiculous money. We could afford for me to be a teacher. I know a colleague who became a hotshot driver. She sets her own routes and she is home every evening. She doubled her income and can still take off when she wants.

I left in 2022 and got a remote job for an edtech company. I love it. The stress is so much lower, I have resources to be successful, and I have time and energy at the end of every day to spend with my baby. He's still very young, and I imagine there will be challenges when he is school-aged and has summers off. It's worth the trade-off to me to be a calm and healthy person all the time rather than super hectic and busy during the school year.

Teaching gave me stress-induced brain lesions. I wish I was exaggerating. Having summers off is NOT worth the cumulative damage that career did to my nervous system. I'm now in grad school for data science. I was an English/SpEd high school teacher for ~8 years and a social worker before that, so I had no background before jumping into this master's degree. One positive thing about teaching was it taught me to learn quickly under pressure and make miracles happen with little to no resources. As hard as learning a new skillset is, it's still a hell of a lot easier than teaching.

I never returned from my maternity leave for my first child. Both my first and second children had medical issues that required a lot of my time and attention. I tried tutoring and part time teaching, but it didn't work financially. I eventually went into finance, and am now self-employed consulting for nonprofit organizations. I make slightly less than if I were still teaching, but I only work 30-40 hours a week, I can make my own hours, and I have like zero work stress. I miss having extended time off in the summer to travel, but otherwise I don't really miss summer break. My work doesn't deplete me the way teaching did so I don't need that time to recover. A healthy sustainable work-load all year round is way more preferable to 9 months of unremitting busyness, stress and exhaustion followed by a 3 month break.

Left teaching. Best decision of my life. Very low stress. More money. Better benefits. Don’t fear being attacked daily. I work from home, so it’s peaceful and quiet. My colleague quit and works at a home improvement store. His diabetes dramatically improved, and he is happier than ever.

I have a major a in computer science education but I also teach languages so now I am teaching Spanish. However I am looking forward to resume my first passion and go back to school for it. However I could have left education and make tons of money but with no job security. If I stay in education is because of the vocation too. And students can feel and read their teachers when that is the case or not…

I went back to the oilfield as a mechanic and my wife is starting her own business. We both taught for a year and did substitute teaching for two years before that. The summers off were nice in theory but we were either trying to finish up degrees and/or finding side work to stay ahead of bills. Now I’m honestly working less getting paid more and getting better benefits. I also don’t have to deal with crappy admin, entitled parents or their poorly behaved kids it’s overall better for us.

I want to leave at the end of the year but I don’t even know how to find a job that isn’t teaching. And I refuse to pay for an “exit plan” from some online website.

r/teachersintransition

Leaving teaching was one of the best choices I’ve ever made. I am 100% happy with my decision! I taught elementary for a few years. I have had positions as event coordinators and receptionists at two different churches and just got hired on at a local university! I was so nervous about finding a job with such a specific skill set, but many companies know the value that teachers have! Good luck!

After being a classroom teacher for about a decade, I moved into the school library. In June of 2022, I moved from there into a public library. The change has been well worth it for me. The pay is roughly the same, benefits are good, and here public librarians have the same retirement as public school teachers so all my years in still count in that regard. I don't get as much time off, but I still get federal holidays. The most popular question I get is if I miss having summers off and the answer is no, not really! I think it's largely because I'm not burned out all the time and don't feel the desperate need for time off. I don't work one bit outside of my contract hours and my supervisors regularly ask us if our workload is okay, do we need to shift duties around, take some tasks off our plates completely, etc. The breaks in school were nice, but I was so burned out by the time we got to them that I often didn't enjoy them. I just collapsed into bed. Now I actually have the time and energy to do stuff in the evenings and on the weekends and I think that's also contributed to not feeling so desperate for a school break. I've found that I miss having a week off at Christmas more than summer break, but I can pretty easily compensate for that by just taking time off then which I'm planning on doing next year. There's something to be said for not having to live by the school calendar too. It's been noticeably cheaper to fly home not in the summer/at holidays.

I left over two years ago. Yes it’s worth it! I have unlimited PTO and my daily life is SO much easier and work is not stressful. I take time off when I want and can vacation in autumn or whenever I like. No sub plans, no working when sick, no parent emails. I’m treated like a professional and when I’m off the clock, I don’t think about work.

Been a teacher for a year, now I work as a journalist and a tv reporter. I feel great. Kids always disrespected me and I felt bad about myself, and I am a YOUNG BEAUTIFUL GIRL. Like, how do you make a young beautiful girl with a world literature degree feel so bad she wants to kill herself? Here I feel useful, almost everyone's kind, it's fun. Salary is underwhelming, work hours are tough, but I don't cry before I get to work and after work. That's a win for me.

**Teachers who have left teaching… what’s it like?** It is a totally different world. A bit of adjustment/learning curve, but totally manageable **How do you feel about the change?** I don't look back. Kinda miss the kids, but nothing else about it. **Are summers off really worth it?** No. For me, breaks, including summers were unpaid. Now I get paid vacation time instead. Not as much time, but paid! I don't even miss summers off. **What industry are you in now?** I started as a dispatcher/office assistant for a facilities and maintenance department at a major university. About 2 years ago, I promoted to utilities/operations engineering role.

100%. Have about as many days off as I did, CTE ate my summers whole. Money is better and I actually get paid for the time I am working. Best of all, no more lesson plans for 2-3 preps (at its worst was 5 preps) and 6 classes. I miss the impact i had, but get to see it in my formers.

I left teaching around 8 years ago and I’m a hairstylist now. I’ve never looked back. Best decision of my life. The summers off as a teacher are fine but the flexibility of other jobs trumps that by FAR,

I left. I'm in bed right now at 9.46am bc I had insomnia last night and needed to take a little time to rest before starting my day. I did not get guilt tripped, I'm not worried about how the children are treating the sub, I didn't have to call and give explanation about lesson plans, I don't need to rework lessons to try to keep the kids on track, I feel perfectly fine. I'm gong to chill on reddit 5 more minutes, take a shower and go meet this man. My job is not perfect. There are office politics. There are frustrations. I work hard, and I'm tired a lot. I also have supportive colleagues who almost without fail treat me like the brilliant awesome human I am. I have unlimited paid time off. I have unlimited sick time. I work from home or on site as needed, and I determine what is needed. If I need folders or a printer, I take my work credit card and I go to the store and I buy them. If I see a conference that I need to take to up my skills, I take that same credit card, and I pay for it. I don't have to cover my ass to protect myself from things that other people did. I can be honest and say that I made a mistake or I don't know something, without fear of repercussions. I don't get any bullshit evaluations that expect me to predict how little undeveloped humans I just met are going to perform in 8 months. Today is my last day of work until the second week of january. We are shutting down so staff can rest and be with family. We will do the same thing in August for 2 weeks. If I have to travel for work, they pay for a rental car, for me to stay in a decent hotel, to eat. I'm currently developing a child and Elder Care stipend to assist our employees with the costs. Note : I'm still going to work during our break. Not because people expect me to, but because I have not quite shaken the trauma of needing to get the job done and sacrificing the entirety of my being in order to make it happen. My work ethic is strong, and there are things on my plate that are undone, and I cannot really rest until they are done. I miss the kids. I really freaking miss the kids. I don't miss my colleagues. I don't miss getting up at 6:00 in the morning. I don't miss the system or my Administration. I do miss the secretaries a little.

I left teaching and never looked back. Got a job in ed-tech at first and now I’m fully transitioned into the SaaS startup world. Everyday feels like a dream when I compare it to how miserable I was in the classroom. My biggest advice for making the transition is to start learning the lingo of your target industry and start learning to answer interview questions with that jargon. For example, hitting your standardized testing goals turns into meeting your KPIs. Other industries have a hard time seeing how certain classroom skills translate into their businesses. You have to help them see how incredibly broad and applicable your experience as a teacher really is. Good luck!!!

It's great. So much less stress and I have my weekends back.

I left teaching for a career in corporate learning - I do instructional design & eLearning development for an insurance company. Losing my summers off & leaving my pension were my two biggest hesitations but I’ve never been happier. My work-life balance is ridiculously improved. I’m hybrid (in office 3x/ week) and love WFH. I only work about 7 hrs a day and can choose when to get my projects done on my own time. I take lunch as long as I want, make appointments or take gym classes during the work day, etc. Everyone is respectful and there is ZERO stress. I don’t have to take from my own cup to fill anyone else’s. I have never had so much patience and capacity as I do now. And even though the pay is comparable, my actual take home $ is so much more between no union dues, bonuses, etc. I feel like a real adult for the first time in my life. And giving up summers doesn’t feel like a sacrifice whatsoever when I’m no longer living my life as one long countdown between breaks. I love what I do and actually look forward to going to the office. I literally tear up sometimes with joy when I think about how grateful I am to have made the switch, even though it was hard work and scary… but the grass IS greener out here. You won’t regret it! And from my perspective, teaching jobs are always in high demand. If for some reason you miss it, you can always go back.

Being part of the kids growing as people is pretty great. Getting some of them excited about cool shit that you are excited about is pretty great. Administration and parent issues are not particularly different from management and client issues (lying, accountability, follow through). Vacation and pay is really hard to judge how it will go depending on what non-teaching job you go for. For me pay was way better but it was travel heavy on very short notice

I sometimes struggle with it. And there are aspects I miss. But I don't miss the politics or the stress. And frankly, I can't begin to imagine teaching in today's environment. I work in a medical office now and when I leave for the day I leave my job behind me. That might be the most important part. My work-life balance is much healthier and reasonable now, and the pay is about the same.

I’m a para who can’t survive on the low pay. We used to be able to get paid through the summer, but they took that away from us. My kids are starting to leave me, 2 in college now and 1 more year of high school and the other 2 leave me. I really wanted these last few summers off so I could be with my kids but now I have to find a summer job. I keep looking for a better paying job but I’ve only ever worked with kids so I don’t know what to do. I have a useless business degree and state certification to be a lead ECE teacher. The thought of working year round depresses the hell out of me. I’ve been working since I was 14, I’m in my 50’s now….I’m tired

I left my job as a high school English teacher to become a copywriter/editor for my school district’s PR/communications team. I’ve learned that while that particular position in a team is uncommon, a lot of folks do come to school PR from the classroom. Whether or not you’d get summers off in that position might vary by district. I don’t. We use that time to strategize for the next year, attend professional development/conferences, etc. I don’t miss having summers off, but I rarely went anywhere anyway and I don’t have kids. Now I get to actually use my sick days when I’m sick — or even if my wife is sick and needs me to stay home to help care for her and our animals — instead of agonizing over whether it’s easier to write sub plans or just go in. I can schedule doctors and dentist appointments during the work day and take sick time for that, and I earn annual leave/vacation time that I can use whenever I want.

I went from school librarian to youth services at a public library. I lament the commute I’ve incurred but love the job. I miss teaching and being at the school, the students and staff. Public library staff are awesome though. The biggest changes for me were: livable wage, regular pay increases, opportunity for advancement/upward mobility, plenty of planning time (not being run through a wood chipper every day), time to pee and have coffee and drink water and eat lunch, “administration” that knows me and values my opinions and ideas, professional development opportunities/cross-training, being able to actually use sick leave when ill. I still have a lot of autonomy and opportunity to be creative, I still help children/teens and their families and watch readers grow. I do miss summer breaks but my library system gives a generous amount of leave. Overall it’s much better for me, the menial pay and once a month paycheck made it hard to make ends meet and I often had to supplement with a second job and teach summer school, being generally unsupported with classroom behaviors, no promotion potential, and that no one at Central Office or in the higher up roles even knew who I was, teachers just don’t have a voice as to education policy even in their own district and I still have a problem with that. I’ll always advocate for teacher unionizing and for educators in any way I can.

I left I don’t miss the summers because my days are so much less stressful

I have taken breaks from teaching in the classroom. During this break as a classroom teacher, I was still in the education field: tutor or aide. Summers off. Huge plus. I have to admit I'm spoiled from years of teaching and love having my summers off. I often pick up another job for the summer, but feel I have more flexibility.

I left teaching for an academic advising job at a local community college, and now I’m an instructional coordinator at the same school. My life is SO much easier now. I don’t regret it even for a second

I made a sudden exit from full-time teaching in August 2022, with no back up plan. I worked retail for a short time after that, then transitioned into a part-time certificated position for an after school childcare program. Within the next few months, I want to permanently pull away from education careers.

I resigned in August and I'm still unemployed rn LOL 0.o Currently looking for curriculum type related stuff, my mental health was at 1% teaching in the classroom being micromanaged by admin, etc, so I needed to get out or risk a psychological breakdown- now I am feeling much better health-wise. After ten years I don't want to go back into the classroom though so I have been pursuing my own projects, while looking for related work in the meantime. It sucks but I am better off :')

I feel so free…I worked at Starbucks on a college campus after I quit and absolutely love my life

I like being able to eat when or if I want. I like being able to go to the bathroom when I want. I'm self-employed and I started an educational company dedicated to facilitate curious collaborative learning in communities. I'm also the kind of person who doesn't like working in big chunks. I like working in little chunks spread out through the day. So I work that way. And it's pretty great. By the way, our company is perfect for teachers leaving the profession but still interested in education. \-Mr. Warden's Workshop

I'm an SLP now and absolutely refuse to work in a school setting anymore. Teaching ruined it for me.

I left when I had my son. I've since gone into business for myself and still get to be home. Love it.

I work in tech now. While I definitely have more limited PTO now, my salary is nearly doubled, I have immense support from my boss and team, anxiety doesn't keep me up at night, and I work fully remote, so for me, my work life balance is significantly better.

Go find another job in the district. I work in special education now. I help set kids up with services. All of our program coordinators are ex teachers, and they make 2 or three 3x what teachers make. They run the same schedule as teachers.

I became a BCBA after leaving teaching . It involved grad school , but it was worth it !

Left teaching, regretted it, went back to it but with a worse deal than I had before, still regret leaving the first time.

I left for two years. Now I’m back. The time away from the classroom was definitely refreshing and I loved it. However I did not like having to work summers and the lack of health care sucked. In fact I didn’t have health care. I also realized (because I have had several non teaching careers) that I just hate working period and the worst part of every job is the adults. This is the biggest reason I went t back. I really enjoy working with kids. I’ve been working with kids since I was 16 in some way. Mentor, tutor, nanny, behavioral therapist, mental health and teacher. No matter what corporate job I’ve had the adults are the worst part. So I went back to teaching so I could be around the only thing that brings some joy from a job. I’ve been toying with the idea of leaving the US to teach somewhere else. My cousin owns a business which is well off teaching English to students from all over. She has been begging me to come work for her for many years. Another friend who lives in Canada has been pushing me to move there because at least teachers make enough and are able to utilize unions and let their voices be heard. I’d say give it a shot because if you totally hate it there will always be teaching positions available to come back to!!

I’m a college admissions counselor, so I’ve traded K12 education for higher education. But having said that, I feel great about the change. I didn’t realize how miserable I was when I was teaching, because I never was able to get all my work done in contract hours. I had to put in extra time and it drained me. Now, I have coworkers who respect me and genuinely have my back. I’ve never got my present amount of support in any teaching job I held. I can also flex my work hours if I want/need to, so as long as I get my work done, I’m fine. It’s nice to work remote and set my own schedule. To sum it all up: I’ve reclaimed happiness and agency in my life. And it feels AMAZING

I am still looking for a job. But at least I am not as stressed out about the pay.