[moeris]

> the next institution looking to hire someone is going to ask about why that person left their last job

Indeed, schools aren't as isolated as businesses are, either. If you go rogue and make a huge stink at one school, you can bet no nearby district will hire you. On the other hand, if you play ball and do a decent job, other districts will look out for you when an opening happens. It happened to me, right before I left teaching.

Another thing to consider is that outside of large cities, you're geographically constrained. If you own a house and mess things up with your school, you're looking at having to add 30+ minutes to your commute to get to the next school. (Who will probably have heard of your escapades.)

Seniority is another factor to consider. It's very difficult for teachers in their first five years to get a job. (On average, it takes five years for teachers to become proficient in classroom management, so schools tend to prefer more experienced teachers). Anyway, that means there's a huge block of teachers who will have a difficult time despite shortages. Like in tech, it's primarily a shortage of qualified teachers. At least, when I was teaching ~5 years ago.

[irrational]

My local school district is so desperate they are letting anyone substitute teach (they used to require a masters degree before you could be a substitute!) and have some substitutes basically teaching full time. I’m pretty sure they would be delighted to have an actually qualified teacher, no matter what problems they had before.