I was a physics teacher immediately after undergrad. I think I was a good teacher,as my students seemed to enjoy class, and excelled in physics later, in college.<p>When I left after year 3 I was making $42k a year. While that is a good salary, I didn&#x27;t see myself able to support a family on that salary. So I left, went to grad school, and now work in industry.<p>It may sound vain or materialistic, but had I made $80k, I likely never would have left teaching. I really enjoyed being in the classroom.<p>In order to get great teachers, you don&#x27;t necessarily need to make teaching lucrative, but you do need to be able to provide a salary that enables the teacher to support a family.