I Didn't Really Have A Choice

MEET THE TEACHERS QUTTING THEIR JOBS BECAUSE OF LOW PAY AND DWINDLING BENEFITS.

- Jennifer Calfas

FOR 12 MINUTES one night in October 2017, Mallory Heath could not speak.

The 31-year-old Arizona English teacher was suffering from migraine-induced aphasia. She couldn’t write or talk as she usually could; her words came out jumbled and nonsensical. But amid the terrifying episode, Heath chose not to go to the emergency room. She knew she couldn’t afford it.

“I realized,” Heath says, “how often do I put my health on the line because I just don’t have the funds to be able to take care of myself?”

Almost a year later, Heath has left the profession she calls her identity. She used to live and breathe teaching—spending hours outside the classroom listening to education podcasts, reading pedagogy, attending conferences, and serving on the board of the Arizona English Teachers’ Association.

But making $42,000 a year before taxes and pension contributions, she couldn’t afford basic living expenses like rent—nor could she replace her decade-old pair of glasses. With a high-deductible insurance plan, she had to choose carefully how she used her health savings account for medical expenses. Once those funds dried up, she had to pay for medical costs upfront—and having any savings, she says, has been almost out of the equation.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” Heath says of her departure. “So I’m just finalizing the choice that has been made for me.”