Teacher Drop Out Rates

Why do most teachers jump out of their careers? I have several different answers that I give in my own personal testimony. If you are a new teacher preparing to jump out of your profession, get ready. You will be asked the classic, "So why don't you teach anymore?" It sounds like a really bad pick-up line, but it's a common question. Be prepared with an answer.

Here's my list of responses:

1. I love kids, but they were starting to drive me nuts.
2. Testing. School is all about testing now. No teaching, just testing.
3. I didn't make enough to pay my bills (when in North Carolina, not Texas).
4. All I do is discipline. I don't teach, just discipline.
5. There is no discipline in schools anymore. Kids have no fear. There is no authority.
6. The stress was too much. The pace is constant, and it completely wore me out.
7. I wanted to have a life. My entire life was teaching.
8. Did I tell you about my student and his parole officer?
9. It was frustrating being expected to solve so many problems and going home realizing that not even the tip of the iceberg has been reached.
10. Have you ever had a 20 minute lunch in which you had to walk a line of 30 fidgety, whining ten year olds down a hallway and a stairwell; use the restroom; make copies for your afternoon lesson; warm up your Lean Cuisine; call a parent at work to inform her that her son was using Crayola markers in an obscene fashion; eat the half-frozen dinner; and then pick up the line of children so you could read Harry Potter aloud for 20 minutes? Did I mention that this lunch scenario repeats in a similar fashion for 184 more days?