Comment by japhyr | Hacker News Reader

Comment by japhyr | Hacker News Reader

I spent many years teaching middle and high school math and science, and I really enjoyed it. I was always a hobbyist programmer, and as time went on I kept looking for ways to use the programming skills I had developed. I taught some programming classes, and it was really fun and satisfying for me and for students. But I live in a small town, and I couldn't teach CS full time because there was already a full time CS teacher who had tenure. He was "about to retire" for literally ten years.

I ended up focusing more and more of my time on programming. I eventually left the classroom because I couldn't keep teaching full time and doing the programming work on the side. One of the clear problems with CS education is that if you understand the field well enough to teach it, you can almost certainly find a more appealing employment situation somewhere else.

This. I’m far enough along in my career I’d be willing to take on teaching for even half of what I make now. I want to share what I know. I’m passionate about it.

It would literally be a 80% paycut. I can’t even begin to justify it.

I would happily teach for free if I could claim the hours I'd bill off my taxes. I could spend half my time programming and half my time teaching while making the same.

Unfortunately we're stuck in the 19th century mentality that the best workers are only worth a few times as much as the worst when today there are people worth hundreds of times more than the average.

This is why we have trouble hiring college instructors in my town. The cost is living is high and you can make 2x easy in industry. I don't see much mystery in all this.

I made the transition because I was ready for semi-retirement and got a house at a good time some years back so my mortgage is only $1200.

Not just CS, but other areas as well.

I studied English, and all my brilliant classmates never wanted to teach. They all went on to other things: law school, marketing, publishing etc.

The fact that anyone teaches amazes me. The pay is poor and challenges seem endless.

If you don't need the money and like the challenge, it's awesome.

People and administration challenges can be brutal.

My wife is a teacher, they’re dealing with a parent who has decided to accuse other teachers of sexually abusing their children. The administration is afraid to do anything.

I teach college--I honestly don't know if I could handle K12 because of the parents.

It's sorta horrifying when you hear how many parents are as immature as their kids.

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