Can we please normalize teachers ending their careers before age 60?

My district is one of the few (no matter what the union reps say) that actually pays us well. I started teaching in 2002, so I have a decent TRS retirement. 25 years, at 50, and I will have enough saved to not be forced into some low-brained Amazon or Walmart job just to make ends meet. I am fully intending to retire at 50, and I am not alone. We have a district FB page (I know, I know, but it is helpful for district news and info), and every now and then someone will post that they are leaving the profession. Always to gasps of shock. The most recent one was a male teacher who had been there for 14 years. He is 38. He has already been accepted to an RN program. I am not sure if he is going in an APRN track, but that is irrelevant, IMO. He gets the fuck out of a profession that WE ALL KNOW will be privatized the moment we all retire. <br><br>I have noticed on this chamber that for the most part, we all get it. That no matter how much you love teaching, it doesn't matter. We are not valued, we are targets. We are getting blamed for things we cannot control, and are generally defamed. No one cares. People in general hate teachers, and want us to suffer for the perceived wrongs of the profession.<br><br>Admittedly, I am not the teacher I once was. My last principal had a huge problem with me giving kids extensions to complete work. I was ordered to stop. I need to make sure every kid finishes all the work in the allotted time. I couldn't get out from under that until he left. I did not start giving extensions again, I didn't want to deal with the next admin, but I used to give ANY kid an extension, no questions asked. Just complete it, and turn it in to me. I told you that to tell you this: Today was the day I realized I am fucked. I was doing a quick group-by-group check in with my geometry kids on our current PBL. We are three weeks into it, and of course, some kids are moving faster than others. I more or less called them stupid, and told them that they were being lazy. <br><br>I am done.