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[changinggears]

I chime with those who suggest that, ultimately, the choice is yours and no amount of advice can help you make the right decision.  What I can offer is my experience.  After several different careers post-English BA, including working in a library (my favorite), I decided that my calling in life was teaching English.  So, I enrolled in a 5th Year Alternative Masters program for 7-12 ELA.  I also managed to get a job teaching 8th (LOVED it) and 12th (HATED it) grade English.  The short version of my story is that, as much as I loved teaching my 8th graders, the stress, politics, and high expectations wore me out within a semester.  And, because I refused to pass a bunch of 12th graders who had failed my class, I was pink-slipped after my first year.  The emotional devastation consumed me all summer.  Then, I got over it and decided to go on with my life.  Luckily, I had taken one of my grad. English professor's advice and taken one extra grad. English course than required, giving me 18 grad. hours, enough to qualify to teach as an adjunct.  I promptly applied to the SLAC where I acquired my Masters and was hired on the spot (my past teaching experience at the 7-12 level plus recs from my profs had a lot to do with this).  I absolutely LOVE teaching at the college level.  However, it doesn't put food on the table, so I went back and begged for my old library job back and do that full-time.  When a full-time instructor position comes along, I will apply but I will not die if I do not get it.  I am hoping for the best and expecting the worst.
The sum of all of this is: going for the Ed. degree is a good option, but be prepared because all of the horror stories you've heard are more true than you can image, but it is a rewarding job.  And, take at least 18 hours of grad. level English classes so you have the option of adjuncting if you can't take it anymore and bail, or if you want to do it on the side to get your foot in the door at a nice SLAC.   

[mended_drum]

The sum of all of this is: going for the Ed. degree is a good option, but be prepared because all of the horror stories you've heard are more true than you can image, but it is a rewarding job.  And, take at least 18 hours of grad. level English classes so you have the option of adjuncting if you can't take it anymore and bail, or if you want to do it on the side to get your foot in the door at a nice SLAC.   

I would like to note that I work at a "nice SLAC" and there is absolutely no way we would hire someone to adjunct whose only teaching experience was eighth and twelfth grade, especially with the enormous pool of unemployed Ph.D.s out there. 

And even if we did hire such a person as an emergency hire, he or she would never get a full time position without a doctorate. 

[alleyoxenfree]

Have you considered an ESL degree?  Maine may be different, but teaching ESL seems like a growth field in much of the country, akin to adult ed.  And there may be ESL degrees you could do online.

Ditto the MLS for library science.  There are very reputable programs that are wholly or mostly online.

[changinggears]

The sum of all of this is: going for the Ed. degree is a good option, but be prepared because all of the horror stories you've heard are more true than you can image, but it is a rewarding job.  And, take at least 18 hours of grad. level English classes so you have the option of adjuncting if you can't take it anymore and bail, or if you want to do it on the side to get your foot in the door at a nice SLAC.   

I would like to note that I work at a "nice SLAC" and there is absolutely no way we would hire someone to adjunct whose only teaching experience was eighth and twelfth grade, especially with the enormous pool of unemployed Ph.D.s out there. 

And even if we did hire such a person as an emergency hire, he or she would never get a full time position without a doctorate. 

I think that it all depends on where you are located.  If there are few or no doctorate granting unis within one hundred miles, then the potential exists to get a toe in, prove yourself, and, if and when a full-time composition position comes open, get hired.  The thing is to prove yourself, both as a graduate student (which probably had a major influence on my getting hired) and as a teacher.  My principal scored my professional evaluations very high and I'm sure the dept. chair called her for a rec. in addition to talking with my profs.  As in real estate, the important thing is location, location, location.  I happen to teach at a uni that does not abuse/misuse their adjuncts (and actually views them as a valuable resource) and is known for hiring internally (from within their grads and their adjuncts).    
The major point of my comment was that teaching at the 7-12 level is a good option if he/she is passionate about teaching English. It is a good way to gain some experience and could function as a stepping-stone to a part-time adjuncting position that may offer more personal satisfaction (if public ed. doesn't do the trick).  I was simply using my personal experience to illustrate that you can achieve a happy medium, even if you're not fulfilling your life's calling full-time.  

[jacaranda_]

Just dropping in to point out that the OP is long gone from this thread, which was posted 8 months ago.  I doubt she's still following the conversation (but if she is, I imagine we'll hear from her now!).

[changinggears]

The sum of all of this is: going for the Ed. degree is a good option, but be prepared because all of the horror stories you've heard are more true than you can image, but it is a rewarding job.  And, take at least 18 hours of grad. level English classes so you have the option of adjuncting if you can't take it anymore and bail, or if you want to do it on the side to get your foot in the door at a nice SLAC.   

I would like to note that I work at a "nice SLAC" and there is absolutely no way we would hire someone to adjunct whose only teaching experience was eighth and twelfth grade, especially with the enormous pool of unemployed Ph.D.s out there. 

And even if we did hire such a person as an emergency hire, he or she would never get a full time position without a doctorate. 

It's probably a good thing that she is no longer following the conversation. Perhaps my advice to look at considering becoming an adjunct was bad advice, since "such a person" is looked down upon by so many higher-ups.

[jacaranda_]

The sum of all of this is: going for the Ed. degree is a good option, but be prepared because all of the horror stories you've heard are more true than you can image, but it is a rewarding job.  And, take at least 18 hours of grad. level English classes so you have the option of adjuncting if you can't take it anymore and bail, or if you want to do it on the side to get your foot in the door at a nice SLAC.   

I would like to note that I work at a "nice SLAC" and there is absolutely no way we would hire someone to adjunct whose only teaching experience was eighth and twelfth grade, especially with the enormous pool of unemployed Ph.D.s out there. 

And even if we did hire such a person as an emergency hire, he or she would never get a full time position without a doctorate. 

It's probably a good thing that she is no longer following the conversation. Perhaps my advice to look at considering becoming an adjunct was bad advice, since "such a person" is looked down upon by so many higher-ups.

Sorry, but mended drum was not being a snob -- just delivering some useful and very basic facts about how hiring works at a SLAC.