When teachers quit for other jobs, how is life outside of the classroom?
Published in Slideshow World
Reports of teachers leaving their jobs in search of more stability and higher pay are not uncommon, but is the grass greener on the other side?
HeyTutor analyzed data from the National Center for Education Statistics, published in December 2023, to show how teachers feel about leaving careers in education. Data includes results from the NCES' 2021-22 Teacher Follow-up Survey to the National Teacher and Principal Survey.
According to statistics from the NCES, 8% of public school teachers and 12% of private school teachers left the teaching profession after the 2020-21 school year. Although retirement was the biggest reason teachers left the classroom (16% of leavers), other main factors for leavers were personal life reasons like health or family care, wanting to pursue another career, salary issues, and general job dissatisfaction.
Burnout is a contributing factor. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, more than 4 in 10 (44%) teachers reported feeling significant levels of burnout, more than in any other profession. Teacher burnout levels were also consistently higher than in other jobs throughout the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other leavers could no longer manage life on a teacher's salary. In 2021, teachers earned just 76.5 cents on the dollar compared to other college graduates, a record gap, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank.
Those who have left the classroom have had mixed success with their next job. The American Prospect reports that some teachers have managed to find jobs that pay much more than their teaching job and allow them to continue making a difference in people's lives. Other former teachers have a hard time getting prospective employers to understand the value of their classroom experience.
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