Teacher Of 10 Years Shares The 5 Reasons He's Leaving The Job, And None Are About Pay
tiero | Getty Images | Canva Pro A teacher with more than 10 years of experience is sharing the five reasons he's quitting, and, in a sign of the times, not one of them is about low pay. The fact is, teachers have been leaving the profession for years, and the problems go much deeper than being undervalued, although that's also an issue.
Teacher pay has been a hot-button issue for decades, but in recent years, it seems other problems are eclipsing it, even in these difficult economic times. And judging from the response to his story, he is only one of thousands of teachers feeling exactly the same way.
In an online post, this teacher explained that he's lucky enough to work in a relatively affluent district in Illinois, so he gets "paid pretty well." But even with the financial monkey off his back and a tolerable boss, the other details of the job have made it untenable.
And given how frequently teachers cite the exact same issues, it's a bracing picture of just how deep a crisis American education is in these days. "I gave it a good try [for] 10+ years," he wrote. But "I'm out" for these five reasons.
A teacher with more than 10 years of experience shared the five reasons he's quitting:
1. Student apathy
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Echoing scores of other teachers, this one just can't take any more of the resistance he receives from his students in response to even the most basic tasks. This isn't exactly surprising: In a 2024 survey, 72% of teachers reported similar issues.
"I can create the most engaging lesson plan, but it just feels like a significant portion of the students just do not care, no matter what I do," he wrote. "Sometimes I would literally create lesson plans around student interests, and they would still complain."
2. 'Teaching turned me into a teacher I don’t like'
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Given the issues with his students, "I learned how to crack the whip," the teacher wrote, implementing policies like "assigned seating, blocking all non-educational websites, constant hall conferences, calls home, etc." And while he said it worked well, it took a huge toll. "It’s exhausting being the 'bad guy' all of the time," he wrote.
To hear him tell it, having to constantly force his students to listen, let alone learn, sucked the energy out of the job. "[I] don’t relish in controlling others," he wrote, "and this teacher is just not who I am at my core."
3. Administrative procedures are out of step with reality
"It’s just laugh-out-loud funny to hear about the new 'pedagogical approaches'" from his district's administration, none of which align with what actual teachers say is needed. "The powers that be will propose virtually anything but accountability and discipline, which we teachers know work," he wrote.
This, too, is a problem commonly cited by teachers, and it applies to parents, too, many of whom teachers say will do absolutely anything, so blame is shifted away from their children's discipline or work ethic issues
4. The constant oscillation between boredom and stress
The teacher called this the "Groundhog Day" scenario of teaching, a "strange mishmash of boredom and extreme stress" that repeats itself again and again. The aforementioned issues with students made the classroom time feel dull and monotonous, while the constant disciplinary and administrative frustrations created a constant flow of stress.
"I think a lot of teachers are chronically stuck in fight or flight, and teaching can be incredibly isolating," he wrote. Data shows he's right. A 2025 University of Missouri study found 78% of teachers have seriously considered quitting in the past five years.
5. It's emotionally draining
This is certainly suggested by the other four reasons, but the teacher put a finer point on it: As an empathetic person, "you slowly start to absorb all of the issues and heartbreaks of your students," he wrote. "I used to be able to handle the emotional load by basically sleeping after work, but now I have small children so it’s untenable, as I need to be present."
What's even more striking about this story is that this guy sounds like a truly great teacher, precisely the kind that schools need to retain. Instead, he's leaving to become an aircraft mechanic, where, after two years of development, "I’ll make more than I did teaching." And in perhaps the most revealing part of his story, he said he feels "excited" about the future for the first time in a decade.
"People think of teaching, and think it’s a cakewalk because we have 3 months off," he wrote. The reality, however, is that "we are basically on the front lines of all societal dysfunction for 200 days a year." Who among us wouldn't bail in that situation?
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
