I hope they find better jobs

or keep one in the classroom.

There is no way anyone could convince me to stick around with the guns. Additionally the salaries, benefits and conditions are no longer worth it.

If they are forced into some sort of firearm situation we will have 0 teachers in our family.

Sometimes I wonder if RWers see this situation as. way to bust teachers and their unions and privatize schools.

I feel so sorry for the children of this country. Trump and republicans before him have really screwed our youth

but it appears to have stopped with us - the nieces, nephews, and grands have no desire to be part of the family tradition. I can't blame them.

The destruction of public education has been part of the Republican plan for decades.

I was scared for years just to walk into my classroom or draw up lesson plans, given the good little "Christian" (bullshit) children in the high school.

I, too, got out.

Higher Education is not what it once was either, between the lack of raises, increased class size, trouble getting federal grants that get you tenure or promotion. I wish my husband had chosen industry, he is to old to go that route now but I don't blame younger faculty for looking. Not to mention the students and their parents are harder to deal with than ever.

The line that resonated with me is "Teacher pay across the country, adjusted for inflation, is now 5 percent lower than it was in 2009 ...".

I taught a teacher ed class at a nearby university (in NC) and it was all pretty normal 2011-2013, but 2014-2015 I started hearing things like "I'll finish the degree, but I don't want to teach." and "I still want to teach, but not in North Carolina."

The article did not include a deep dive into the numbers, but I am curious if "quitting teaching" includes retiring from the profession. Baby Boomers retiring could skew the stats if that is the case.

A couple of years ago I heard that NC universities train about 2000 teachers a year but that something like 8000 new teachers are needed every year.

Some crazy % of new teachers quit after 2 years and perhaps a third don't make it to 5 years ... for the reasons mentioned in the article.

Thank you for the OP. K & R.

...is also a factor.

Get into a teaching job with the expectation that some of the debt may be forgiven...then find out how difficult the paper work is and bam! You get told the district you work in doesn't qualify and is considered "adequate".

If you are a young teacher in your 20s or 30s, find a way to get out!