American Teachers in Red States Are Walking Away for Good

When Rosalyn Sandri returned to teach English at her high school alma mater, she never imagined it would end in a forced resignation. Only three years after stepping into her Texas classroom, she walked out of it for the last time. She’d never see her students again.

“They didn’t even let me say goodbye,” she said.

The week before her dismissal had been unremarkable—long days spent grading essays and assigning homework. In September 2024, Sandri, 33, had started publicly transitioning as a transgender woman, something she said her fellow teachers and students welcomed kindly. She shared her journey on TikTok, including one video documenting the euphoria of being called “ma’am” for the first time.

But while her vlog resonated with trans students, it also attracted the attention of Libs of TikTok, a far-right and anti-LGBT social media account known for spreading transphobic hate. It pinned the video to its profile, asking, “Would you feel comfortable with this person teaching your kid?” Over five million people viewed the video, and the waves of hate rolled in immediately. Some commenters joked about putting a bullet in her head. Her state representative called for her termination.

“I do not want anybody in a classroom in a position of authority teaching children that boys can be girls and girls can become boys,” Representative Brian Harrison said at the time.

South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace piled on, “Why is it allowed to be around children?”

Soon afterward, Sandri was handed resignation papers. Her career was over. Her crime? Being herself at the wrong time, in the wrong place, under the wrong administration.

Now, she finds herself somewhere she never anticipated: joining a growing wave of educators who are either quitting the profession altogether or leaving the states they once called home behind.

“I am broke,” she said. “I don’t have the money to just pick up and move again, so I’m applying for relocation assistance. I’m looking at things like Canada’s visa program for teachers.”

“If that doesn’t work out and I stay here, my teaching career is over,” she added. “I’m going to try to find something else to do and transfer out of teaching. And that breaks my heart, because teaching is all I wanted to do since I was five. But now there’s a mark on my teaching certificate that says I’ve been investigated for misconduct. So nobody’s going to hire me here.”