“I feel like a dog who was rescued from the shelter.”
Former Southwest Florida educator · nearly 10 years in public education · shared with permission, July 2026
I left education in 2019. When I was interviewing, I was asked: “After nearly 10 years in public service, why do you want to leave now?” My response was, “I want my growth to be based on my ability to get the job done. I don’t want to be told what I can and can’t do by the state, I don’t want my pay to be determined by the state. I want my pay and growth to be based on me and my work.” I got the job. I’ve gotten four promotions since.
When I get asked what it was like coming to corporate from public service, I say: “I feel like a dog who was rescued from the shelter.” And it’s so sad but so true. I poured my heart into my job. I worked 65-hour weeks and I LOVED what I did, but there was no opportunity to grow. I was maxed out, and it was a rat race waiting for someone to die or retire to move up.
We were losing funding based on performance metrics. Students weren’t getting the buildings they needed, and we couldn’t offer the course loads to truly keep students on track for graduation. Turnover in advising and counseling was horrible, because pay was mid-$30s to low-$40s, with a master’s degree required. Most of those roles were filled by people supplementing their income by teaching as many extra classes as possible at night. I made double that money in college, waiting tables. Meanwhile, new executives were brought in making $400k plus massive bonuses. The worker bees on the ground getting a 1% raise once every 4–6 years is maddening.
My husband is a similar story. He has a master’s in clinical health studies. He helped start a school for autism, worked with private clients and the juvenile detention center. When he asked for a starting pay of $24,000, he was told he was “entitled.” Let that sink in: $24k was “entitled” for a master’s-level clinician working with autistic students, and he was intentionally lowballing himself, because he cared about the school and the students. He left for the private sector too. He’s had nine years of tremendous growth since.
It’s no secret that private employers here have recruited MANY local educators. They love educators, because we’re versatile, we adapt, we listen to understand, not to respond, and we think critically. Most of the cohort I started with in 2019 are still with the company and have grown into new roles.
Some days I feel like a traitor for having left. But eventually you have to think of your mental health in addition to your financial wellbeing. Our district will continue to lose great educators because it continues to put people in decision-making positions who do not care about the success of the students or the employees.
This is a personal account. The views are the storyteller’s own.