If I Were A Rich Man

High school teacher Mike Truitt made a job change 18 months ago that doubled his salary and halved his workweek. He went to work for Bill Gates.

Truitt, who is 30, spent four years teaching history and English before joining Microsoft Corp., the world's leading software company, based in Redmond, Washington. In his new job, he's still a teacher of sorts, answering customers' questions about software over the telephone. But the hand-to- mouth existence he once lived is now a fading memory. Truitt and his wife have been able to buy a house—a middle-class rite of passage that he says would have been impossible on his $24,000 teaching salary. "I was looking at trying to start a family and support a family," he says. After briefly considering school administration, "it was time to cut my losses."

Unfortunately for districts trying to recruit teachers, Truitt's decision is becoming more common as educators flee to the booming high-tech industry. In some regions of the country, experienced teachers are leaving for better-paying, less stressful jobs in the private sector. In others, such as the Boston area, districts are finding they can't compete for new college graduates with backgrounds in...