Why One Ambitious Young Woman Quit Teaching
Sarah Fine, a Washington, DC, public school teacher talks about why she decided to quit teaching. One reason, not surprisingly, was burnout - long hours, low salaries, micromanagement - but the other was the lack of respect she got from her peers for being a teacher:
Do my lawyer and consultant friends find themselves having to explain why they chose their professions? I doubt it. Everyone seems to know why they do what they do. When people ask me about teaching, however, what they really seem to mean is that it’s unfathomable that anyone with real talent would want to stay in the classroom for long. Teaching is an admirable and, well, necessary profession, they say, but it’s not for the ambitious. “It’s just so nice,” was the most recent version I heard, from a businesswoman sitting next to me on a plane.
The future of our country depends on the kids that are sitting in today’s classrooms. It’s amazing to me that we still haven’t done the math on the importance of valuing those that are educating them.
