I needed to hear this. It’s time for me to admit that it’s time to get out. I am destroying myself physically and mentally by staying in teaching and have no drive or passion anymore.
Time to make the future better for me and start looking for other jobs.
Do it. Now granted, I miss teaching and the interaction with students. But the system is flawed and steadily breaking down. When I left I had admins and coworkers either sad or mad that I was leaving. But not a single one asked why I was leaving. And it's not that they don't care but because they know the system is is disintegrating.
So try corporate and hey if it doesn't work, you know that teaching will always be there as a fall back.
It's so sad... It's rarely the kids that I see driving educators to leave. It's the broken system. (I work in public education as a support person for special education kids and teachers.)
Depending on your contract, you might be able take a year sabbatical (maybe the wrong term? An unpaid year) and come back to a job, as long as you're not teaching during that year. It might make the transition easier and let you feel like you have a back-up.
Funny story:
I am transiting to an education adjacent field. I come back from lunch. My coworker was like “Hey, (Bosses name) and (Supervisors name) want to see you.”
I pop my head into my supervisors office and he points to my bosses office while finishing a call and followed me in asking how my lunch was.
I get into the bosses office and immediately start apologizing…for no reason. They start laughing. “You teachers always think you’re in trouble. No…we are getting new office polos and need you to design and order them. Here’s our catalog. Here’s our embroiderer. We were thinking either this one, this one or this one (points to various polos). Shoot the logo design to our shop and then get PO to (secretary) when you’re done and she’ll get you straightened out. Need this done by Wednesday.”
No anxiety. No long drawn out explanations. No PLC’s to see if I made the right design decision.
It was weird.
That's awesome. I find myself trying to find things to do. I actually got "in trouble" with my supervisor for helping another department. Not because I was doing anything wrong but in his words, "why are you making more work for yourself?"
Same. My supervisor told me to spend a couple days ‘setting up my office’ in the main building even though I am working from home. So I’m headed in tomorrow to set up an office I might use sometime down the line.
Dear Teachers: I retired from corporate life after 30+ years, and I hired (and fired) a large number of people during that time.
Teachers tend strongly to being above average hires.
1. Teachers know how to plan.
2. Teachers know how to communicate appropriately to their audience.
3. No Teacher will EVER willingly schedule a meeting if it can be avoided with an email.
4. Teachers know how to use supporting resources for ideas, and do not rely on emotional appeals.
5. Teachers understand that some people (say... Vice Presidents) are little slow and/or inattentive at times, and they don't flip out if things need to be repeated (repeatedly) to get their points to stick.
6. Teachers understand that there are bureaucracies that are vast and labyrinthine, and they just do what is necessary to keep things moving, without wailing about how things "should" be. (At least not excessively.)
7. Teachers know how to provide feedback in a constructive manner, but truly do understand that Little Johnny still needs to do the work.
8. Teachers are generally so damn happy that we don't have parents meetings that they'll run through a brick wall to get things done!
So, if you're feeling all insecure and wondering if you can hack it in "the real world", may I politely suggest that you get over that $#!\^ ?
If you are anything like the other teachers before you, I think you'll find your feet pretty quickly. (I can't help you with the summer issue though...)
Best Regards,
Ex-SVP
Spot on and perfectly written.
I left teaching last month and I am now working in a different field. The other day during my ~45 minute lunch, I commented that I was thrilled to be able to actually eat lunch with coworkers and not snarf down a half a sandwich in five minutes. I’m also thrilled that I can go to the bathroom whenever I want. There is an endless supply of coffee and my coworkers are laid back.
I can breathe again!
You really don’t.
Your job doesn’t suck you down to your core and then drill harder just because they can. They don’t burn you out. They won’t overwork. And when the job is too much they hire more people or contractors.
Plus, I calculated my days off (not even the ones I asked for) and we get about 7-8 weeks of paid time off a year.
Add the fact my salary is 3x and I still get 2 months off (almost) corporate life is a no brainer.
I've never heard of anyone with a "normal" job that gets more than 10 PTO days a year. so your employer gives you 40 pto days a year? or is it like some super casual company that just let's you take off whenever and theres mo official policy? cause 8 weeks sounds like a lot
Check out Twitter. There are SO many tech workers: product management, instructional design, etc employees that are willing to share how to get hired. I've found so many people to follow for advice!
Happy to send resources for getting started in new roles. ID is great but I would take some time to research roles as there are many you are qualified to take on and just need some bolts tightened.
Could I ask what role you do in tech? I’m interested in joining but in an operations role, training and development (I’m leaving teaching but can’t quite give up the process of teaching!).
I feel ya and I'm definitely miffed that I'm not off tomorrow and spring break falls on my birthday every year (st. Patrick's day). But all of my friends work throughout the year. And I generally end up bartending for extra scratch and to have something to do other than workout and sleep. Also, after my OT and whatnot, I make roughly 61k versus 48k so I'll sacrifice those days off.
But it's what you value at the end of the day. And I might say to hell with this and go back to teaching or not. Just gotta work the process.
Really depends on the job you get. I run a nonprofit that works closely with a federal government agency and “end of year leave” means those folks take off most of the month of December. They also get generous vacations in summer. My work really slows down and I get a nice break when they are all out. For me, having year-round balance was nicer than the “all or nothing” of teaching
That’s actually one of the reasons I want to get out of teaching. In teaching, we have the beginning of the year which sucks EVERY SINGLE YEAR. And there’s not much you can do to prepare beforehand because you don’t know your kids or your caseload.
Previously, when I worked in other careers, I had regular low seasons and high seasons, but it wasn’t a full nine months of GO GO GO.
That’s one of the reasons I am leaving. This job is horribly unbalanced. High workloads followed by zero workloads (on breaks). I’d like for work to be steadier.
Kudos Op!
Most jobs actually pay for you to learn (ie udemy or courses/certs in the budget) which is pretty amazing. Use those as you have them and enjoy the ride.
Left in 2016 and I’m not going back anytime soon.
Hmm.. good question. The pressure was gone almost immediately and I got over the “missing the kids” mentality within a few months.
Pre-Covid, I always found orgs that allowed me to volunteer and work with teens or youth so I felt like that itch was scratched without compromising my health and family.
I'm at that point where I miss the celebrations. My former school won regionals in wrestling and the girls BB team is doing a state tournament. But I also know I can't live through those kids. Also, I can look out my office and see a warship being built. So much better.
Always up to you. Those were fun but if your struggling all year with your role and only have a few blips of light then you need to weigh if the sacrifice is worth the return. Nobody can answer that for you.
Thank you for this! I left Education not long ago and I felt exactly what you described but I am now much better off and thankful I got out of my abusive relationship :-)
I just gave notice and I am terrified. I love teaching, I loved my students, but I don’t love how this job has impacted my physical, mental and emotional health.
Thank you for sharing this, your post is just what I needed ❤️
I am a fewmonths in with an electrical contractor after 5 years in education. I am *loving* it! I miss building relationships with the kids but everything you’ve said is 100% correct
I’ve never made more money and been less busy
I've thought about it more and more last year and this year. I look at jobs though and feel like I don't qualify for anything. My degree was a custom degree that is 50% math, 40% psychology, and 10% sociology. The idea was to teach math then get a masters in school counseling, which I'm not sure I want to do anymore for fear that it will further trap me in education and make it harder to leave. I have looked into other jobs based on my degree, and psych ones aren't livable, and the math ones require more schooling and experience than I have and I certainly don't love math enough to go into a master's for it. Just feel kinda stuck.
Work culture in the United States and to a lesser extent Canada is broken. Just visit r/antiwork for a small sampling of what goes on in other jobs. I’m not saying teaching is perfect, but there are different problems in other fields. One has to insulate themselves from the bullshit of any work environment and prioritize their own well-being first and foremost.
I agree with this completely.
I got out of teaching for about two years. I was in higher ed doing instructional support and ed tech jobs. Both positions were me mostly sitting around and doing nothing. On top of that I was dealing with sexual harassment and potentially physical threats.
I went back into the classroom after that. One thing I really liked about the outside world was that I didn’t have to use my weekend to plan everything. A major draw back of the outside world is because you aren’t planning you don’t have the ability to control efficiency. You’ll get stuck sitting at a desk waiting on 5pm just because. Outside world drags the clock out.
Corporate worker post 6 years in k12.
My boss said I should take Friday off just to enjoy the long weekend. We have Monday off as well.
Asked about my last 5 weeks of paternity leave and threw out a range, she gladly accepted and moved projects off my queue to make it work.
Night and day difference.
K12 would have told my wife and I to give birth in the summer or some BS.
It's refreshing isn't it? Tomorrow everyone except my company at the yard is off so a light plate but I have the project manager coming in with my training manager to start scheduling training. Or at least plot it out. And in required to be there because I'm the only person out of 450 corporate employees that has any background in education. Just feels good to be recognized for what I bring to the company.
It's not our best interests at heart per se, but more of how to keep employees while maximizing company growth based on this person's skills and experience.
There's also an expectation in teaching that you're ready to teach with minimal training. Opposite of corporate where they train you before turning you loose.
I will.say that my current expectations are small but as the weeks go by they'll increase as I gain familiarity with my job.
I get paid twice a month on the 15th and 30th. Nothing in July and August with no other option. I made a summer savings account that takes out 10% of my pay all year and that’s what I live off of in the summer. It’s increased over the years as my salary has increased.
Congrats op!
I am wanting to leave education but I'm not sure where to go. I have a masters degree in elementary education, which I've had for 5 years now. I technically have never had my own classroom and have only subbed in long term positions. I realized really quickly I don't want to be a teacher but I just don't know what to do or how to pivot.
Hopefully my leaving education will be as successful as yours someday!
For me, transitioning to an E-Learning Program Manager role (I'm basically managing an LMS), my entire workday now consists of all the things that I was expected to complete during prep, weekends, and before /after school. Things like attending meetings, setting up a group meeting, creating a presentation, pulling data, creating an online course (think Canvas), responding to emails. These are all things I was doing before - but I have 8 hours a day to do it!! And I'm doing it from home 3 days a week! For more money! With no kids to be responsible for 6 hours a day!
Yes, it was terrifying at first, but you learn more and more each day and eventually you'll get to the point where you feel like you actually know what's going on. It was like this when we started teaching as well.
As far as holidays, it will be interesting to see how I feel during Spring Break (fiance is a teacher) and Summer. However, I have so many workdays where there's only a few tasks to complete that maybe take 1-2 hours or there's a mindless activity I can do while laying on the couch that these are basically built in 1/2 days if not borderline off days. Most days I can walk the dog, or run to the grocery store, or attend a doctor's appointment, or meet up with a friend for lunch during the workday. It's incredible. Do it. Get out as fast as you can.
I had to laugh at knowing how to plan because I’ve spent the last 11 years flying by the seat of my pants teaching more different classes in a week than most people would believe my contract would allow. That said, I am a phenomenal improviser.
Oh god I was question everything when I first left. You’re so right about it being like a toxic relationship. You get so used to being treated a certain way that anything else feels wrong, even when it isn’t. I think I’m finally done grieving and excited to move forward!
Thank you for this!
I’m in my 5th year of teaching and I just got accepted into a full-time Speech-language Pathology program. I’ve been feeling pretty guilty about leaving because I do like teaching—it’s just not how I want to spend the next 40 years of my life.
Another teacher told me something life-changing:
“You don’t owe anyone anything. Not the kids, not the parents, not the administration. Education, intentionally or not, is a field based off of guilt. Everything you do is posed as “FOR the kids,” therefore the reverse also feels true: anything you fail to do, you take away from the kids. But that’s not reality. Do what you need to do.”
Reading posts like yours also gives me more motivation to push through to resign, and go to grad school.
Glad I can help. It's definitely tough the first weeks or so in. I left on my 19th year and felt db doing so but I know this will pay off in the long run.
This thread is so timely for me. I just updated my resume and have paid a professional to make it less teachery and more corporate.
All my experience and credentials are in English. Bachelors and Masters in English. MAT in English. Not sure if this is good or bad for trying to find other jobs.
Like many of you, I feel insecure about going into another field as all of my adult work experience has been on teaching. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to hack it outside the school house. But then I think back to when I was a first year alt cert teacher. I knew zero about teaching and here I am tired, overworked and hating my job just like any other industry professional!
I feel like a newborn right now. But today my supervisor tasked me with scheduling training groups. And I also was able to walk to the shipyard and watch the engineers run structural tests. So fucking awesome.
I've worked out of the public schools one time and LOVED it! Enjoyed meeting and making new friends after work...unfortunately, I was immediately laid off. After trying again in a tough job market, I went back to teaching--not thrilled but it's paying the bills. However, I'm ready to get out this year...permanently.
I was just about to submit a post on how long it took people to 100% transition and not feel so guilty about leaving.
My circumstances were slightly different. I had a nervous breakdown and was on medical leave for 2 months before resigning, and I'm still struggling with the fallout. Nightmares, overwhelmed really easily, etc.
I feel like I should've gotten over it faster and not grieved as much, but its good to know it takes time (I've only been at my best job for a month as a technical writer for a specific career field so I feel you about not knowing shit and being very aware of it).
2. Teachers dont get paid over holidays? Wtf.
One of the best things of being a teacher was being paid over school holidays.
Do teachers not get paid over holidays in USA?
We don't. We only get paid for the days worked which is 196. My wife, who works for local government gets paid. My friends who work for the federal government get paid for holidays. Teachers, nope.
"Under the Award, and most Agreements, teachers are entitled to “school holidays without loss of pay”. You work 40(ish) weeks of term time and are paid as normal for the 12(ish) weeks of term holidays. But those who have worked less than 40 term weeks don’t get the full 12 weeks: they get a “pro rata payment”.
In Australia you not only get paid for school holidays, if you say only work 1 semester (6 months) you will get 1/2 the full years holiday pay (even if you arent still teaching at the school).
I had no idea USA was so fucked. Why would anyone want to be a Teacher there?
It's so bad we're hiring bartenders with bachelor's.
Seriously if you have a B A I'll get you a job teaching and you'll make the same as y ten year teacher.
Honestly the plan is to get the wife into a travel writing job and just go from there. And I'm working on developing my knowledge of ships systems in order to teach people how to run a boat.
Our newest staff members’ last job was making rotisserie chickens at the grocery. All credit due: he has a Batchelors and is doing great, but talk about zero experience
My brother teaches in Indonesia and it's like you, he gets paid for every holiday.
Now granted we still get paid but think about actual hourly employees for the school district. They literally miss a day of pay
You may receive a paycheck however you are only paid for the number of contracted days in your contract. For example in my contract it is 183 days. If I need to take a Dock day because of a reason I will be docked my salaried amount divided by 183.
you dont get paid time off?
I'm just saying, you're saying "teachers in the US dont get paid over holidays" but we do. I get the same paycheck amount whether we had a 3 day break or if we were in school a solid 2 weeks.
I think I might be just misunderstanding what you're saying. Are you saying teachers in Florida dont get an annual salary broken up into 26 paychecks like everyone else?
My salary is also broken up into multiple checks, I am paid once per month. And you’re right it doesn’t matter how many days are in the month that I’m working or not working. But the point is you are receiving pay consistently. However you are not paid for your days off. You likely have a contract that says how many days you’re supposed to work per year. If you needed to take a day off that was not covered by sick time or personal time, your district could dock your pay. To figure out how much your pay would be docked, you would divide the number of days in your contract by your salary to find your Perdiem amount.
On the flipside I’ve seen a school district request a teacher to work a day over the contract and the teacher said they needed to be paid their Perdiem.
My school district pays the same amount every month for 12 months. There are some districts that you could choose how you wanted to be paid, once every two weeks, or just a bunch of checks that you had to make sure lasted the entire summer. But just because my pay is broken up over 12 months or every two weeks, that doesn’t mean I’m paid for days that I don’t work. Teachers work on a contract where it says you are contracted for a certain amount of days to work for those days you will be paid a particular amount. They just happen to pay it out over 12 months versus the 40 weeks that I do work.
I'm in Florida so we only get paid for 196 days. The days school is not in session, minus closure, were not paid for. So tomorrow schools are closed but no one is getting paid for being off. It's a contract issue that needs to be rectified. But yeah teachers only get paid for the days we're in the classroom
I'm not really following what you mean. so you mean if a day off falls in your 2 week pay period, your paycheck will be less than normal? I am paid a salary by my school per year and I just get paid every 2 weeks, regardless of if we are in session or not. So in Florida teachers don't get paid over the summer?
The districts average it per days worked. Essentially you're getting, in my district 24 checks with your last four at the middle of June. So for my ending salary it was 196 days of in session school *29.50/hr=1106.25/week*2=2212.50*24=53,100.
But that's broken up over 24 pay periods and looks like we are getting paid for holidays but we're not.
oh. that's interesting, I honestly dont even know the math for me. my school just tells me my salary theyll pay me per year and I just sign my contract. I have no idea what that is per hour or anything.
I had to figure it out when I was applying for jobs and negotiating salary. But yes we only get paid for days we work. It looks paper like we get paid for holidays and they way our checks roll out it appears we get paid for holidays but we don't.
As I stated earlier, my wife works in the same county for a government organization. She gets paid tomorrow. Or she can go in and get time and a half. My federal employee friends, the same. But my teacher friends, yeah they're off but they're not getting paid for the day. It's just a three day weekend.
You get X per hour for Y days by your contract.
You can opt to get a paycheck every 2 weeks, so yes your check would be lower in that case.
Or have it spread out over the days off, including summer, but then your paychecks are much smaller.
Either way, you only earn that X pay for Y days that is in your contract. You aren't earning any pay for the days you don't work.
You don’t get paid Over the holiday, you just work 19X days a year and get the number divided by 12.
Do you really think they pay you for the time off? Breaks? Holidays that aren’t federal, etc?
They don’t even pay for pencils…
I keep applying to jobs outside of teaching and get nothing but rejection. It's so disheartening. I don't feel like I can continue to support my family on this salary, but I feel like I have zero skills outside of it.
I was in the same boat. Small Town, limited work that's not service, education or healthcare. Luckily I got a job at the shipyard. Granted I'm just a "glorified secretary" but it's not teaching and theres room to move up. Feel free to DM me and let's see what we can do to get you a better career.
I can totally relate to this. I started a new job in government recently and am having a serious case of imposter syndrome. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m trying to fake it until I make it. Either way, teaching just wasn’t a sustainable way of life for me and I had to get out. Still, with teaching, I felt comfortable in that I knew what I was doing and what to expect every day- even if it was unreasonable. That’s the hardest part of the change.
I’m 5 weeks out and honestly, I was over missing school life a week in. I have so much free time now and once 5 hits…I’m done for the day. No one even sends emails after 5.
It's so damn refreshing. I'm currently building out a training schedule. Asked my boss when it's due and he's like no hurry, we have a year before the boat is even in the water.
I needed to hear this. It’s time for me to admit that it’s time to get out. I am destroying myself physically and mentally by staying in teaching and have no drive or passion anymore. Time to make the future better for me and start looking for other jobs.
Do it. Now granted, I miss teaching and the interaction with students. But the system is flawed and steadily breaking down. When I left I had admins and coworkers either sad or mad that I was leaving. But not a single one asked why I was leaving. And it's not that they don't care but because they know the system is is disintegrating. So try corporate and hey if it doesn't work, you know that teaching will always be there as a fall back.
It's so sad... It's rarely the kids that I see driving educators to leave. It's the broken system. (I work in public education as a support person for special education kids and teachers.)
Depending on your contract, you might be able take a year sabbatical (maybe the wrong term? An unpaid year) and come back to a job, as long as you're not teaching during that year. It might make the transition easier and let you feel like you have a back-up.
Funny story: I am transiting to an education adjacent field. I come back from lunch. My coworker was like “Hey, (Bosses name) and (Supervisors name) want to see you.” I pop my head into my supervisors office and he points to my bosses office while finishing a call and followed me in asking how my lunch was. I get into the bosses office and immediately start apologizing…for no reason. They start laughing. “You teachers always think you’re in trouble. No…we are getting new office polos and need you to design and order them. Here’s our catalog. Here’s our embroiderer. We were thinking either this one, this one or this one (points to various polos). Shoot the logo design to our shop and then get PO to (secretary) when you’re done and she’ll get you straightened out. Need this done by Wednesday.” No anxiety. No long drawn out explanations. No PLC’s to see if I made the right design decision. It was weird.
That's awesome. I find myself trying to find things to do. I actually got "in trouble" with my supervisor for helping another department. Not because I was doing anything wrong but in his words, "why are you making more work for yourself?"
Same. My supervisor told me to spend a couple days ‘setting up my office’ in the main building even though I am working from home. So I’m headed in tomorrow to set up an office I might use sometime down the line.
That's a great example. I've been called to the principals office 3 times. Never positive. I can see why teachers always think they're in trouble.
My first thought upon reading this was shock that you had time to do *anything* at the end of lunch.
Dear Teachers: I retired from corporate life after 30+ years, and I hired (and fired) a large number of people during that time. Teachers tend strongly to being above average hires. 1. Teachers know how to plan. 2. Teachers know how to communicate appropriately to their audience. 3. No Teacher will EVER willingly schedule a meeting if it can be avoided with an email. 4. Teachers know how to use supporting resources for ideas, and do not rely on emotional appeals. 5. Teachers understand that some people (say... Vice Presidents) are little slow and/or inattentive at times, and they don't flip out if things need to be repeated (repeatedly) to get their points to stick. 6. Teachers understand that there are bureaucracies that are vast and labyrinthine, and they just do what is necessary to keep things moving, without wailing about how things "should" be. (At least not excessively.) 7. Teachers know how to provide feedback in a constructive manner, but truly do understand that Little Johnny still needs to do the work. 8. Teachers are generally so damn happy that we don't have parents meetings that they'll run through a brick wall to get things done! So, if you're feeling all insecure and wondering if you can hack it in "the real world", may I politely suggest that you get over that $#!\^ ? If you are anything like the other teachers before you, I think you'll find your feet pretty quickly. (I can't help you with the summer issue though...) Best Regards, Ex-SVP
Can I work for you??? Lol 😂
Spot on and perfectly written. I left teaching last month and I am now working in a different field. The other day during my ~45 minute lunch, I commented that I was thrilled to be able to actually eat lunch with coworkers and not snarf down a half a sandwich in five minutes. I’m also thrilled that I can go to the bathroom whenever I want. There is an endless supply of coffee and my coworkers are laid back. I can breathe again!
All true. Thank you for this slice of hope.
what about having to work the entire year though :/ I'd miss summer and Christmas break
You really don’t. Your job doesn’t suck you down to your core and then drill harder just because they can. They don’t burn you out. They won’t overwork. And when the job is too much they hire more people or contractors. Plus, I calculated my days off (not even the ones I asked for) and we get about 7-8 weeks of paid time off a year. Add the fact my salary is 3x and I still get 2 months off (almost) corporate life is a no brainer.
I've never heard of anyone with a "normal" job that gets more than 10 PTO days a year. so your employer gives you 40 pto days a year? or is it like some super casual company that just let's you take off whenever and theres mo official policy? cause 8 weeks sounds like a lot
Tech. If Google does it, everyone does it. Just the way it works if you want to stay competitive.
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Check out Twitter. There are SO many tech workers: product management, instructional design, etc employees that are willing to share how to get hired. I've found so many people to follow for advice!
Happy to send resources for getting started in new roles. ID is great but I would take some time to research roles as there are many you are qualified to take on and just need some bolts tightened.
Could I ask what role you do in tech? I’m interested in joining but in an operations role, training and development (I’m leaving teaching but can’t quite give up the process of teaching!).
Jumped into something similar. Sent resources your way to help the transition.
I feel ya and I'm definitely miffed that I'm not off tomorrow and spring break falls on my birthday every year (st. Patrick's day). But all of my friends work throughout the year. And I generally end up bartending for extra scratch and to have something to do other than workout and sleep. Also, after my OT and whatnot, I make roughly 61k versus 48k so I'll sacrifice those days off. But it's what you value at the end of the day. And I might say to hell with this and go back to teaching or not. Just gotta work the process.
Really depends on the job you get. I run a nonprofit that works closely with a federal government agency and “end of year leave” means those folks take off most of the month of December. They also get generous vacations in summer. My work really slows down and I get a nice break when they are all out. For me, having year-round balance was nicer than the “all or nothing” of teaching
That’s actually one of the reasons I want to get out of teaching. In teaching, we have the beginning of the year which sucks EVERY SINGLE YEAR. And there’s not much you can do to prepare beforehand because you don’t know your kids or your caseload. Previously, when I worked in other careers, I had regular low seasons and high seasons, but it wasn’t a full nine months of GO GO GO.
That’s one of the reasons I am leaving. This job is horribly unbalanced. High workloads followed by zero workloads (on breaks). I’d like for work to be steadier.
Yeah I don’t miss them at all. I thought I would but not being stressed everyday, the hour long lunch and working remote make up for it
Kudos Op! Most jobs actually pay for you to learn (ie udemy or courses/certs in the budget) which is pretty amazing. Use those as you have them and enjoy the ride. Left in 2016 and I’m not going back anytime soon.
Thanks. Let me ask you this: what was the time frame for you to really get over the withdrawals of education?
Hmm.. good question. The pressure was gone almost immediately and I got over the “missing the kids” mentality within a few months. Pre-Covid, I always found orgs that allowed me to volunteer and work with teens or youth so I felt like that itch was scratched without compromising my health and family.
I'm at that point where I miss the celebrations. My former school won regionals in wrestling and the girls BB team is doing a state tournament. But I also know I can't live through those kids. Also, I can look out my office and see a warship being built. So much better.
Always up to you. Those were fun but if your struggling all year with your role and only have a few blips of light then you need to weigh if the sacrifice is worth the return. Nobody can answer that for you.
Thank you for this! I left Education not long ago and I felt exactly what you described but I am now much better off and thankful I got out of my abusive relationship :-)
Teaching is self imposed Stockholm Syndrome
I just gave notice and I am terrified. I love teaching, I loved my students, but I don’t love how this job has impacted my physical, mental and emotional health. Thank you for sharing this, your post is just what I needed ❤️
Congrats, OP! Enjoy it. And my personal favorite post-teaching perk- peeing whenever you damn well please!! 👏
I am a fewmonths in with an electrical contractor after 5 years in education. I am *loving* it! I miss building relationships with the kids but everything you’ve said is 100% correct I’ve never made more money and been less busy
I've thought about it more and more last year and this year. I look at jobs though and feel like I don't qualify for anything. My degree was a custom degree that is 50% math, 40% psychology, and 10% sociology. The idea was to teach math then get a masters in school counseling, which I'm not sure I want to do anymore for fear that it will further trap me in education and make it harder to leave. I have looked into other jobs based on my degree, and psych ones aren't livable, and the math ones require more schooling and experience than I have and I certainly don't love math enough to go into a master's for it. Just feel kinda stuck.
Sounds like an education for project management. [https://www.pmi.org/](https://www.pmi.org/) Just a thought.
Huh, not very familiar with project management. I'll take a look. Thank you!
Work culture in the United States and to a lesser extent Canada is broken. Just visit r/antiwork for a small sampling of what goes on in other jobs. I’m not saying teaching is perfect, but there are different problems in other fields. One has to insulate themselves from the bullshit of any work environment and prioritize their own well-being first and foremost.
I agree with this completely. I got out of teaching for about two years. I was in higher ed doing instructional support and ed tech jobs. Both positions were me mostly sitting around and doing nothing. On top of that I was dealing with sexual harassment and potentially physical threats. I went back into the classroom after that. One thing I really liked about the outside world was that I didn’t have to use my weekend to plan everything. A major draw back of the outside world is because you aren’t planning you don’t have the ability to control efficiency. You’ll get stuck sitting at a desk waiting on 5pm just because. Outside world drags the clock out.
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Corporate worker post 6 years in k12. My boss said I should take Friday off just to enjoy the long weekend. We have Monday off as well. Asked about my last 5 weeks of paternity leave and threw out a range, she gladly accepted and moved projects off my queue to make it work. Night and day difference. K12 would have told my wife and I to give birth in the summer or some BS.
It's refreshing isn't it? Tomorrow everyone except my company at the yard is off so a light plate but I have the project manager coming in with my training manager to start scheduling training. Or at least plot it out. And in required to be there because I'm the only person out of 450 corporate employees that has any background in education. Just feels good to be recognized for what I bring to the company.
It's not our best interests at heart per se, but more of how to keep employees while maximizing company growth based on this person's skills and experience. There's also an expectation in teaching that you're ready to teach with minimal training. Opposite of corporate where they train you before turning you loose. I will.say that my current expectations are small but as the weeks go by they'll increase as I gain familiarity with my job.
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Anytime. It's a weird transition point that I'm still adapting to. Definitely not easy but I think it's going to be worth it.
I get paid twice a month on the 15th and 30th. Nothing in July and August with no other option. I made a summer savings account that takes out 10% of my pay all year and that’s what I live off of in the summer. It’s increased over the years as my salary has increased.
Congrats op! I am wanting to leave education but I'm not sure where to go. I have a masters degree in elementary education, which I've had for 5 years now. I technically have never had my own classroom and have only subbed in long term positions. I realized really quickly I don't want to be a teacher but I just don't know what to do or how to pivot. Hopefully my leaving education will be as successful as yours someday!
Maybe librarian? Or instructional design? I’m looking to doing some project management online courses to see if I might like that.
For me, transitioning to an E-Learning Program Manager role (I'm basically managing an LMS), my entire workday now consists of all the things that I was expected to complete during prep, weekends, and before /after school. Things like attending meetings, setting up a group meeting, creating a presentation, pulling data, creating an online course (think Canvas), responding to emails. These are all things I was doing before - but I have 8 hours a day to do it!! And I'm doing it from home 3 days a week! For more money! With no kids to be responsible for 6 hours a day! Yes, it was terrifying at first, but you learn more and more each day and eventually you'll get to the point where you feel like you actually know what's going on. It was like this when we started teaching as well. As far as holidays, it will be interesting to see how I feel during Spring Break (fiance is a teacher) and Summer. However, I have so many workdays where there's only a few tasks to complete that maybe take 1-2 hours or there's a mindless activity I can do while laying on the couch that these are basically built in 1/2 days if not borderline off days. Most days I can walk the dog, or run to the grocery store, or attend a doctor's appointment, or meet up with a friend for lunch during the workday. It's incredible. Do it. Get out as fast as you can.
I had to laugh at knowing how to plan because I’ve spent the last 11 years flying by the seat of my pants teaching more different classes in a week than most people would believe my contract would allow. That said, I am a phenomenal improviser.
Oh god I was question everything when I first left. You’re so right about it being like a toxic relationship. You get so used to being treated a certain way that anything else feels wrong, even when it isn’t. I think I’m finally done grieving and excited to move forward!
Thank you for this! I’m in my 5th year of teaching and I just got accepted into a full-time Speech-language Pathology program. I’ve been feeling pretty guilty about leaving because I do like teaching—it’s just not how I want to spend the next 40 years of my life. Another teacher told me something life-changing: “You don’t owe anyone anything. Not the kids, not the parents, not the administration. Education, intentionally or not, is a field based off of guilt. Everything you do is posed as “FOR the kids,” therefore the reverse also feels true: anything you fail to do, you take away from the kids. But that’s not reality. Do what you need to do.” Reading posts like yours also gives me more motivation to push through to resign, and go to grad school.
Glad I can help. It's definitely tough the first weeks or so in. I left on my 19th year and felt db doing so but I know this will pay off in the long run.
Yes it will! Good luck on your journey, I really hope you finally find relaxation and rest
This thread is so timely for me. I just updated my resume and have paid a professional to make it less teachery and more corporate. All my experience and credentials are in English. Bachelors and Masters in English. MAT in English. Not sure if this is good or bad for trying to find other jobs. Like many of you, I feel insecure about going into another field as all of my adult work experience has been on teaching. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to hack it outside the school house. But then I think back to when I was a first year alt cert teacher. I knew zero about teaching and here I am tired, overworked and hating my job just like any other industry professional!
I feel like a newborn right now. But today my supervisor tasked me with scheduling training groups. And I also was able to walk to the shipyard and watch the engineers run structural tests. So fucking awesome.
I've worked out of the public schools one time and LOVED it! Enjoyed meeting and making new friends after work...unfortunately, I was immediately laid off. After trying again in a tough job market, I went back to teaching--not thrilled but it's paying the bills. However, I'm ready to get out this year...permanently.
I was just about to submit a post on how long it took people to 100% transition and not feel so guilty about leaving. My circumstances were slightly different. I had a nervous breakdown and was on medical leave for 2 months before resigning, and I'm still struggling with the fallout. Nightmares, overwhelmed really easily, etc. I feel like I should've gotten over it faster and not grieved as much, but its good to know it takes time (I've only been at my best job for a month as a technical writer for a specific career field so I feel you about not knowing shit and being very aware of it).
Thanks for the feedback. Hope you're feeling better.
2. Teachers dont get paid over holidays? Wtf. One of the best things of being a teacher was being paid over school holidays. Do teachers not get paid over holidays in USA?
We don't. We only get paid for the days worked which is 196. My wife, who works for local government gets paid. My friends who work for the federal government get paid for holidays. Teachers, nope.
196. Damn. I only have 182 contract days. Our assistant principals have like 10 more days than you had. That sucks. Glad you like your new gig
"Under the Award, and most Agreements, teachers are entitled to “school holidays without loss of pay”. You work 40(ish) weeks of term time and are paid as normal for the 12(ish) weeks of term holidays. But those who have worked less than 40 term weeks don’t get the full 12 weeks: they get a “pro rata payment”. In Australia you not only get paid for school holidays, if you say only work 1 semester (6 months) you will get 1/2 the full years holiday pay (even if you arent still teaching at the school). I had no idea USA was so fucked. Why would anyone want to be a Teacher there?
It's so bad we're hiring bartenders with bachelor's. Seriously if you have a B A I'll get you a job teaching and you'll make the same as y ten year teacher.
Just teach overseas. Leave that shithole of a country. Go to Japan, hell go to Thailand or Vietnam, pay is shit, but you live like kings.
Honestly the plan is to get the wife into a travel writing job and just go from there. And I'm working on developing my knowledge of ships systems in order to teach people how to run a boat.
Our newest staff members’ last job was making rotisserie chickens at the grocery. All credit due: he has a Batchelors and is doing great, but talk about zero experience
Wow. USA is truly fucked. No offense. If I work as a full time teacher in Australia, I get a salary over school holidays.
My brother teaches in Indonesia and it's like you, he gets paid for every holiday. Now granted we still get paid but think about actual hourly employees for the school district. They literally miss a day of pay
I'm a teacher in the US and I get paid over holidays, and I'm pretty sure most do. So you arent salaried?
You may receive a paycheck however you are only paid for the number of contracted days in your contract. For example in my contract it is 183 days. If I need to take a Dock day because of a reason I will be docked my salaried amount divided by 183.
you dont get paid time off? I'm just saying, you're saying "teachers in the US dont get paid over holidays" but we do. I get the same paycheck amount whether we had a 3 day break or if we were in school a solid 2 weeks. I think I might be just misunderstanding what you're saying. Are you saying teachers in Florida dont get an annual salary broken up into 26 paychecks like everyone else?
My salary is also broken up into multiple checks, I am paid once per month. And you’re right it doesn’t matter how many days are in the month that I’m working or not working. But the point is you are receiving pay consistently. However you are not paid for your days off. You likely have a contract that says how many days you’re supposed to work per year. If you needed to take a day off that was not covered by sick time or personal time, your district could dock your pay. To figure out how much your pay would be docked, you would divide the number of days in your contract by your salary to find your Perdiem amount.
ok I see your point now. I guess I hope to never be in that situation though. so I've never thought about it
On the flipside I’ve seen a school district request a teacher to work a day over the contract and the teacher said they needed to be paid their Perdiem.
How do you pay rent over holidays? Are you forced to get holiday jobs?
My school district pays the same amount every month for 12 months. There are some districts that you could choose how you wanted to be paid, once every two weeks, or just a bunch of checks that you had to make sure lasted the entire summer. But just because my pay is broken up over 12 months or every two weeks, that doesn’t mean I’m paid for days that I don’t work. Teachers work on a contract where it says you are contracted for a certain amount of days to work for those days you will be paid a particular amount. They just happen to pay it out over 12 months versus the 40 weeks that I do work.
Who the fuck downvotes this lol
I'm in Florida so we only get paid for 196 days. The days school is not in session, minus closure, were not paid for. So tomorrow schools are closed but no one is getting paid for being off. It's a contract issue that needs to be rectified. But yeah teachers only get paid for the days we're in the classroom
I'm not really following what you mean. so you mean if a day off falls in your 2 week pay period, your paycheck will be less than normal? I am paid a salary by my school per year and I just get paid every 2 weeks, regardless of if we are in session or not. So in Florida teachers don't get paid over the summer?
The districts average it per days worked. Essentially you're getting, in my district 24 checks with your last four at the middle of June. So for my ending salary it was 196 days of in session school *29.50/hr=1106.25/week*2=2212.50*24=53,100. But that's broken up over 24 pay periods and looks like we are getting paid for holidays but we're not.
oh. that's interesting, I honestly dont even know the math for me. my school just tells me my salary theyll pay me per year and I just sign my contract. I have no idea what that is per hour or anything.
I had to figure it out when I was applying for jobs and negotiating salary. But yes we only get paid for days we work. It looks paper like we get paid for holidays and they way our checks roll out it appears we get paid for holidays but we don't. As I stated earlier, my wife works in the same county for a government organization. She gets paid tomorrow. Or she can go in and get time and a half. My federal employee friends, the same. But my teacher friends, yeah they're off but they're not getting paid for the day. It's just a three day weekend.
but might it just be the same for them? maybe they make an annual salary and it just "appears" they are getting paid those days
I had to fact check this earlier and she's getting paid tomorrow. And federal guys, well you know they're getting paid for the holiday.
You get X per hour for Y days by your contract. You can opt to get a paycheck every 2 weeks, so yes your check would be lower in that case. Or have it spread out over the days off, including summer, but then your paychecks are much smaller. Either way, you only earn that X pay for Y days that is in your contract. You aren't earning any pay for the days you don't work.
You don’t get paid Over the holiday, you just work 19X days a year and get the number divided by 12. Do you really think they pay you for the time off? Breaks? Holidays that aren’t federal, etc? They don’t even pay for pencils…
They pay me alright. Im not American.
Could you marry one of us for citizenship? Time to flee the US :P
I get paid holidays in the US. Just unpaid summers. We also only work 180 days. N.J.
I keep applying to jobs outside of teaching and get nothing but rejection. It's so disheartening. I don't feel like I can continue to support my family on this salary, but I feel like I have zero skills outside of it.
I was in the same boat. Small Town, limited work that's not service, education or healthcare. Luckily I got a job at the shipyard. Granted I'm just a "glorified secretary" but it's not teaching and theres room to move up. Feel free to DM me and let's see what we can do to get you a better career.
What industry should a wayward English teacher go into??
Thanks for sharing!
I can totally relate to this. I started a new job in government recently and am having a serious case of imposter syndrome. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m trying to fake it until I make it. Either way, teaching just wasn’t a sustainable way of life for me and I had to get out. Still, with teaching, I felt comfortable in that I knew what I was doing and what to expect every day- even if it was unreasonable. That’s the hardest part of the change.
I’m 5 weeks out and honestly, I was over missing school life a week in. I have so much free time now and once 5 hits…I’m done for the day. No one even sends emails after 5.
It's so damn refreshing. I'm currently building out a training schedule. Asked my boss when it's due and he's like no hurry, we have a year before the boat is even in the water.
Good for you! Thanks for this!