FWIW, when I was in band in middle school and high school, the students made every assistant band director their b**** within about 2 weeks. I don't remember people lasting longer than 2 years. One guy quit at the semester break, and it was his first job right out of college, so it wasn't like he had money to fall back on.
My wife is interning or something (I really need to pay more attention) at a junior high in Clear Lake. But now she is going to Columbia for their one year course in Teaching in an Urban Environment (I think). I'm really proud of her, but she better make some decent moolah cause it's going to cost close to six figures for one year.
I went the alternative certification route. I like it; the pay could be more of course (anybody who thinks otherwise or thinks teachers have it easy because of all the vacaton we get doesn't know what they're talking about...the good teachers earn every penny and sec of vacation time and then some) but it's enough to have a decent living and it provides stability which is important to me. And it helps that I teach at a good school.
