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Former Teachers Share The Reasons They Gave Up Teaching For Something Else, It Shows Why The Teacher Shortage Makes Sense
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Former Teachers Share The Reasons They Gave Up Teaching For Something Else, It Shows Why The Teacher Shortage Makes Sense

Former Teacher Explains Why She Left Her Job To Become A Bartender, Others Share Similar StoriesFormer Teacher Explains How She Now Earns Way More By Bartending, Inspires Others To Share Similar StoriesFormer Teacher Shares How Happy She Is For Finally Quitting Her Teaching Job, Inspires Others To Share Their Own StoriesFormer Teachers Share How They Earn More Doing Less Stressful Work In This Viral Twitter ThreadPeople Are Questioning The Way Society Treats Teachers In A Viral Twitter ThreadTeachers Are Sharing How They Had To Quit Their Jobs And Get Into A Different Field Just To Have A Livable WageEx-Teachers Are Sharing How They Quit Their Jobs Because Of The Laughable PayEx-Teachers Are Sharing What They Now Do For A Living After Quitting Their Teaching Jobs Because Of Low Pay And MistreatmentFormer Teacher Shares How She Quit Her Teaching Job For Bartending With Less Work And More Pay, Other Teachers Share Their StoriesFormer Teacher Shares How Her New Bartending Job Is Less Work And Stress And More Pay, Sparks A Discussion About The Difficulties Of Being A Teacher
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We can’t imagine the world without teachers. Yet sometimes we treat them as dispensable robots.

Abby Norman from Atlanta, Georgia, was one of them. She spent nine years in the classroom, but after “loving the students and the learning and despising the testing and the paper-pushing of the classroom,” she gave it up, went to the Seminary, and while seeking ordination within the Methodist tradition, also became a bartender.

Over the weekend, Abby made a tweet to explain the reasons behind her career change, and it immediately went viral.

Image credits: Unsplash (not the actual photo)

RELATED:

    This former teacher shared how happy she is after quitting her job and becoming a bartender

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    Across the US, the average public school teacher salary for the 2019-2020 school year was $63,645, according to data from the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

    On paper, it looks like a teacher’s salary has increased over the last couple of decades but when you adjust the numbers for inflation, the average salary is just about 0.2% higher than in the 1999-2000 school year.

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    The Pew Research defines middle-income Americans as those whose annual household income is two-thirds to double the national median (adjusted for local cost of living and household size). So in 2018, for a family of three, that ranges from $40,100 to $120,400.

    This puts teachers in the middle-class, however, the job comes with a unique set of challenges. Plus, it’s common for teachers across the country to spend a not insignificant amount of their take-home pay on school supplies for their students and classrooms.

    Inspired by her tweet, others also talked about exchanging teaching for enjoyable, less stressful careers that also pay more

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    The thread also has teachers sharing how they realized they were severely underpaid

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    People also spoke about why it’s getting harder and harder not to quit teaching and why so many already did

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    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

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    Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

    Mindaugas Balčiauskas

    Mindaugas Balčiauskas

    Author, BoredPanda staff

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    I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

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    Mindaugas Balčiauskas

    Mindaugas Balčiauskas

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

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    Giovanna
    Community Member
    3 years ago

    This comment has been deleted.

    Vivian Ashe
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ironically, the jobs these teachers took instead aren't known for particularly high pay or great work environment either. The fact they think it's still better than teaching is really depressing.

    Larisa Migachyov
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My mother went from teaching to private tutoring. Easily tripled her income.

    Raven DeathShade
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm thinking that instead of becoming a kindergarten teacher, I should just do nannying.

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    Giovanna
    Community Member
    3 years ago

    This comment has been deleted.

    Vivian Ashe
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ironically, the jobs these teachers took instead aren't known for particularly high pay or great work environment either. The fact they think it's still better than teaching is really depressing.

    Larisa Migachyov
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My mother went from teaching to private tutoring. Easily tripled her income.

    Raven DeathShade
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm thinking that instead of becoming a kindergarten teacher, I should just do nannying.

    Load More Replies...
    Load More Comments
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