Welcome to Leaving Teaching

Let the journey begin!

Last month, I resigned from my tenured teaching position with LAUSD.

In some ways, it wasn’t that much of a leap: I’d already been out of the classroom for two years, on an unpaid leave of absence following the birth of my second child. I’d intended to return to teaching for the 2024-2025 school year, but as I began applying to positions, I slowly began to accept the reality: I was not going to be able to reasonably balance the demands of the job with my responsibilities to my family. I quit.

While on some levels I felt like a failure and like I was letting everyone down, I knew I wasn’t alone in taking this leap. Post-pandemic, teacher turnover has reached new highs, with as many as 55% of educators considering leaving the profession. There are over a dozen Facebook groups aimed at transitioning teachers, some with memberships in the tens of thousands. The largest group has a jaw-dropping 132,000 members.

While on some levels I felt like a failure and like I was letting everyone down, I knew I wasn’t alone in taking this leap.

As I began to explore these spaces, I noticed something: almost all were attached to a product or service—a career coach, an asynchronous course, a resume boot camp, a three-step strategy to mastering your next chapter. The prices ranged from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand.

I’m not here to comment on the quality or effectiveness of these products and services. Many of them were created by former teachers, so I’m sure they’re quite good. But it felt like something was missing: the real stories of real teachers, free of advertisements or links to purchase. Because those were always the best PDs, right—the ones led by your colleagues, not the experts who’d been out of the classroom for years (I say as I’ve been out of the classroom for two years lol).

So I created this newsletter as a place to share stories, advice and wisdom from those who’ve transitioned out of the classroom. My goal isn’t to convince anyone to leave the profession. For a lot of us, the job is doing that itself. I have the utmost respect and appreciation for those who remain in the classroom and hope that one day, changes will be implemented to make this newsletter irrelevant.

Those were always the best PDs, right?—the ones led by your colleagues, not the experts who’d been out of the classroom for years.

But until then, I’ll be here. I’ll share some of my own story, but expect this to be a majority interview-driven newsletter. I’ll also be doing some deep dives into resources for transitioning teachers; due to the time involved in researching, most of those posts will be behind a paywall. And I do hope to interview some of those experts—not to promote any one product, but to share the diversity of ways people address this process, and the variety of tools and services at our disposal.

My biggest goal right now is to pay contributors. People are always expecting free labor from teachers, and seeing as though all my interviews will be with former teachers, I really don’t want to add to that. I want to compensate people fairly for their time. I also want to represent a diverse set of experiences, ages, geographic locations, races/ethnicities, abilities, life circumstances, and more. (As any good English teacher will tell you, our understanding is richer and deeper the more perspectives we hear. As any good Social Studies teacher will ask you, “Whose voice is missing here?”) In the beginning, I’ll be interviewing mostly friends, so the newsletter will be very LA-centric, but as subscriptions grow and funds accumulate, I’ll be able to expand. (Because, honestly, would you agree to take an hour to answer twelve in-depth questions a total stranger on the internet sent you, without compensation?)

My biggest goal right now is to pay contributors… I want to compensate people fairly for their time.

You can support this work by sharing it, telling folks about it (especially those, ahem, certain teachers you know) and of course, subscribing. Consider upgrading to a paid subscription, or be a rock star and join as a founding member.

I’m excited to have you here and bring you along the journey of Leaving Teaching.