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Meet 3 teachers who had enough and switched careers, including a woman who won ‘Teacher of the Year’ twice
They’re making more money now, as teachers are dramatically underpaid. Even with districts offering signing bonuses, teachers just want more respect.
By Madison Hoff
Former teacher Carrie Presley won “Teacher of the Year” two of the four years she worked for school districts in Oklahoma and Texas.
As an accountant-turned-math teacher, she told Insider she believed she finally found her calling, but during the pandemic she made a difficult decision: She quit teaching two weeks into the school year after learning she would be required to teach over 30 students in person. Presley was worried about how they were going to be able to follow CDC guidelines while crammed in a classroom.
“I was really kind of stuck between the health guidelines and the environment I was in, and with high-risk family members, I had to choose between my health and teaching,” Presley said.
Teachers like Presley have been quitting en masse for years, citing stress as the main reason, according to a survey by Rand Corporation. Low pay is also an incentive, since teachers make around 20% less than others with college degrees, per reporting from CNBC. And most recently, even more teachers quit…
