Let's revisit the main epiphanies of the author of the article on a website where I buy thesis:

1. A teacher couldn't get a "much higher paying job outside teaching" like most teachers think. She would need to take a $10K/yr pay cut to leave teaching.

2. The author clearly doesn't know how to evaluate equivalent pay. While she claims it would merely be a $10K/yr cut, she doesn't count the additional workload. The author likely worked 200 days/year as a teacher but would see a 17% increase to 235 days/year as a programmer. Maybe she needs some additional math courses too.

3. The author further didn't understand how much was being contributed to her pension each year as a teacher. Once she reached her 29th year (probably about early 50's), she could retire and live comfortably. Let me repeat that. She could retire as a teacher in her early 50's, an age when most private sector workers still have 10-15 years of additional work before retiring.

This teacher needed a basic financial literacy class to understand her pay as a teacher. She took outside courses but to this day doesn't seem to understand the reduced workload and full compensation that teachers receive. Maybe more should stop the whining and research how much they are actually paid.