During the early years of the Great Recession, after 14 years in medicine, I hung up my stethoscope and began training to become a teacher. It was a dismal time for public education in North Carolina. Deep funding cuts resulted in increased class sizes, decreased support services, and stagnant wages. Now, a decade later, our economy has recovered, but our education spending has not. In my state, as in many others, morale is low. Highly qualified teachers are leaving our public schools, and the field struggles to attract new talent. What drives people away, my colleagues explain, are chronic deficits of pay and respect.