Whether you are private or public sector the world of work and generating income is changing. People with a bit of imagination who are not overly, to the point of paralysed, risk averse and already have a few strings to their bow and quite enjoy adding more are more likely to thrive imo and achieve some kind of work life balance. The idea that you have to switch from one secure fully covering everything you need financially, progression wise, pension etc to another the same is just not true and not the point.
Say I take this 10k less job and do it in such a way that I am definitely, deliberately adding to my cv by working in a different environment and style of education provision and very deliberately styling my successes and projects and the relationships I build and references I want to take forward for a year and use it as a stepping stone into the next thing I want to do having built up the contacts and evidence I need to help that transition. Does earning 10k less for one year really matter? If it really really did then with a low stress job there'd be ways I could try and also make that 10k gross (ie. factor in tax, factor in associated expenses ((eg. too many takeaways because too stressed to cook, expensive flights because has to be in school holiday etc)) and factor in reductions you could make in spending habits etc to close that gap a bit) and still be less stressed and exhausted than I was.
I think realising how many strings you have to your bow and how you could develop them is vital - for some it may mean wanting to branch out into something totally different to teaching and remember we could be talking about art teachers, computer science specialists, people with maths degrees, graphic designers etc etc if you're thinking about secondary just as a few examples of the skills people have alongside their teaching that could be used outside of school. You really think it's going to be incredibly hard for someone with a Maths degree to match 30-35k within a year or two?
For others it could mean rethinking how they want to use their teaching experience and skills - privately running their own classes or tutoring or filling a hole in the market opened by covid or underfunding in schools OR it could be wanting to switch to FE in a different kind of role or to HE or teacher training. Whatever the ultimate goal it may require 2 or 3 stepping stones to get there but so what? You have to compare to the reality of how you are feeling, what life is like, what you are having to do for that monthly income etc not just a number that has to be instantly matched.
I can see how this might be more challenging or scary for teachers who have always taught and been ground down to not see their skills and how to capitalise on and sell those outside of a traditional school system but that's a psychological barrier and doesn't have to be a real one. Someone who has been an English teacher for 20 years and an exam marker and even a supervisor of exam markers has a lot of fucking skill that is totally taken for granted in their school but allows them to command ridiculously high hourly rates for tutoring and can still be earning a 'secure' income from their work with exam boards and without the stress of full time teaching may be able to expand on that and take on more or be offered further opportunities with that exam board.
It's not an employment world where you have to be a teacher or a doctor or a lawyer or a fireman or a ..... and they all get a uniform and job for life and the only other option is to switch to another.
The thing is hopefully we don't want all these teachers to leave! All this people who yes, in my opinion, with a bit of recovery time and a lot of confidence and reprogramming, could be at least as successful in terms of finances outside of the school system would be good to KEEP in schools. But not out of fear that they will never survive in the mythical 'real world' or Private Sector but because we make their jobs bearable and humane enough that they stay and do what they chose to do which is use their skills and personality and personal values to help young people.
Is it so much to ask for basic tolerable working conditions and enough funding in our schools that they're not wanting to leave in droves?
Anything other than that central issue is a distraction really and I apologise for running off with that distraction but I do think it's important to recognise that yes teachers are skilled and yes they do have other options and no it's not ok to make out that this is all they're good for and therefore they should accept whatever shit sandwich they're given and say thank you sir and doff their cap.