Is It Worth Being a Teacher? (Dave Reid)
Dave Reid is a high school mathematics teacher in his third year of teaching. He received his MA in Education and credential in secondary mathematics and physics from Stanford University in 2011. Dave spent a quarter of a century in high-tech primarily in the wireless and Global Positioning System (GPS) industries. He earned a BS degree in electrical engineering from George Mason University, and an MBA in finance and marketing from Santa Clara University. He also attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He blogs as Mr. Math Teacher and tweets as @mathequality.
Five years ago, I decided not to continue with my career in high-tech. After twenty-five years rising, and falling, and rising again, through the ranks in my field, I decided to follow a growing calling to teach.
Little did I realize, or appreciate in others, that teaching entails great sacrifice. This from a man whose wife started teaching nearly a decade before him.
While the sacrifices I detail below are true, and challenging, I still feel that the call to teach outweighs their weight. The true test will be do I feel the same next week, month, or year, as this job is the most demanding I have ever held, even though I have worked for some demanding high-tech companies, such as Motorola and Qualcomm, and a start-up where I slept on my office floor many nights and weekends.
A Sacrifice in Income
As the following graphic illustrates, my compensation dropped precipitously when I elected to follow my calling to teach, and remains much lower than I Is It Worth Being a Teacher? (Dave Reid) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: