20 Years In – Why I Quit Teaching and What’s Next

What makes a teacher with 20+ years of experience walk away from the classroom? Hint: It's not the students. Let's talk about the reasons why I (and so many other teachers) have decided it's time to go.
Connect with me!
• Comment on the video.
• Like the video and subscribe to my channel. Tedious, I know, but this really does help other folks find me and gives me a little jolt of happiness.
• On Instagram: @randazzo_laura
• On Facebook: @randazzled

[cccccc]

Dr. Julia Hare’s words ring true:
“The teachers are afraid of the principals; the principals are afraid of the Superintendents; the Superintendents are afraid of the school board, the school boards are afraid of the parents; the parents are afraid of the kids and the kids aren’t afraid of anyone!”

[thomgrlisdebra]

A friend of mine left the classroom recently because she said her reward for hard work was MORE hard work!! Profound statement!!!

[captainbeastazoid]

I've been a teacher for 12 years. I think a major part of the problem is just student behavior, honestly. And that ofcourse relates to how they're raised. But there's a major problem with discipline in our society.

[OurFantasyLife]

I'm an English teacher in Japan, and how teachers are treated in America is just mystifying. Teachers here in Japan are respected, almost revered by both society at large and their students. Which, in turn, makes you want to be the best possible teacher you can be, because you know all eyes are on you and you're *actually* having an effect on society. Seeing how teachers in Japan and Singapore are treated made me literally ashamed to even talk about teachers in the US.

[kellimarsicek]

I am 46. I started teaching in 1999. I am ready to be done. An administrator and a few parents gave me the worst year of my life. I left my school of 20 years. I hate standardized teaching. I hate how entitled people have become.

[dodieodie]

My greatest disappointment with teaching was that the students didn't come first. I found myself constantly at odds with the curriculum because it was inappropriate for the performance level of the kids. I had to wonder how so many children reached the 10th grade without having basic reading skills. It was a heartbreaking mystery to me.

[wyldewillow]

What bothers me Soo much is that the people making the rules and regulations about schools are not educators. They think the numbers are all that matter.

[sabishiihito]

One big issue is parents. They don't seem to realize (or want to accept) that their children's education is primarily *their* responsibility.

[claudettemcallister]

I retired from teaching one year ago. I have lost weight, sleep better, eat better, my overall health has improved significantly, I don't spend money on things I don't need to, I am free to go to the bathroom whenever I want (need to), I have restored my family relationships, my car is in better health too. Basically teaching was draining my life of "life"...sucking the air out of my proverbial tires!!!! Retiring literally saved my life! I loved my 30 years of teaching and adored my kids, but, it was killing me.

[marlatnicholls]

"I don't care about grades... I care about learning, I care about connection and passion.. and yet, I have to 'demonstrate learning goals' and 'be data driven'... I just wanna teach. I just wanna take a kid from here, to here, have them not love writing, and then actually be proud of a piece of writing that they created. Like, I just want it to be organic like that..." This is me.

[kittykatFL]

Hi! I’m 10 years into my career as an elementary teacher and I just got my Real Estate license and I’m not going back. I just can’t be a martyr for education any more. I will miss the kids, but my time is done and I’m moving on while I can. Don’t fall for the lie that just because you’re a teacher you can’t do anything else friends. If you work half as hard as you do as a teacher, you will be successful in any venture 💜

[benjaminhernandez]

I resigned in January of this year. I'm now supporting students as a tutor, and I love the flexibility of being able to help them without being micromanaged or controlled.

[ceciliaremeta]

“If you are good at your job you get taken advantage on..” so true - a real situation for many of us

[stellamartin]

I resigned this past October after 23 years, needed 2 more years to retire, I knew I wouldn’t make it out alive, the stress is surreal... I love my life now...the Lord told me to leave and I did...in Jesus name...Amen...

[MaxItUpwithMarta]

Reading the comments makes me want to cry, so many teachers are suffering so much.

[AisforAlibi]

I told my niece to stay out of teaching but did she listen to me? Noooo. About two months in to teaching kindergarten her first year, she was fired due to lack of control of her classroom or something like that. Apparently she couldn't get her students to stand in a straight line at lunchtime. Three weeks later, the school called her and asked her to come back because they couldn't find any other teacher to hire. She went back and finished out the school year and wasn't offered a new contract for the following year. Five days into the next school year, there they were, wanting her to come back "until Christmas" when the hoped to have another teacher ready to come on board. Thankfully she declined and has moved on to a new career.

[ayanahastings-beckford]

Girl! You are preaching nothing but FACTS!! I left after 11 years (9 years ago) for Corporate America. I was Teacher of the Year twice. I rather deal with the known B.S. in Corporate America for a fatter paycheck, than the undercover B.S in the public school system while struggling financially.

[lindacallahan]

I am 67. Left years ago. Society changed. Teachers no longer are appreciated. It used to be about the kids learning. Now it's about politics and making sure we are not sued. I know so many good teachers that left hating their career. Good teachers get other jobs so that what are left are teachers that are over worked, and tired. They come for a check and wait until they can retire.

[aaronbuchanan]

Great post!

I left teaching about two years ago. I was a math teacher. Short list of reasons:
1. "Teacher" was a misnomer. I was a glorified babysitter.
2. Headache-inducing conceptual mismatch between grades and standards.
3. 90% of time spent on the kids least interested in learning.
4. The weekly “parents and their fragile, helpless, innocent children vs. me, the mean teacher.”
5. Grade inflation (thank God for the SAT). See #9 below.
6. Ridiculous, time consuming, and embarrassing accommodations for 504 and IEP kids.
7. Excessive number of PDs and staff meetings.
8. Laughable salary.
9. Culture of dishonesty and secrecy.
10. Effectively no discipline system.
11. Tyranny of email.
12. Realness of school shootings, meretriciousness of policy.

Now I'm a full time STEM tutor. It’s a few orders of magnitude better. Highly recommend to current teachers ;)

Cheers

[kathykujawa]

as a former college professor who never wants to teach again i hear you. and feel you. students changed drastically in their attitudes towards teachers as well as learning and actual work. everything was only about emotions and feelings. so work never got done. enough with the excuses. and the parents calling for a good grade without projects-- yes- it keeps going on even when the students are 20+ years old. hope things get GREAT for you. lots of ways to teach and nurture.