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[allhailthefsm]

After several years in my PhD program, I've decided to leave in favor of pursuing teacher certification instead.  I feel very confident in my decision--though I love my topic, the research has been agonizing and the atmosphere of the department (though I'm sure they are generally well-intentioned) lacks a sense of camaraderie and encouragement which has only solidified my desire to move on.  What I have loved most is my time teaching as a graduate student--so, despite the rocky road surely ahead, I'm confident that leaving is ultimately the right choice. 

Unfortunately circumstances are such that I need to time the notification of my leaving with some finesse.  I don't have any way of supporting myself next semester without being able to teach for my department.  I happen to know they don't have another grad qualified to teach the course I'm assigned, so I'm sure the department head won't, if for nothing other than its own budgetary interest, find fault in my nominally remaining for next semester.  But I of course won't be using my funding for next year, and would really like the department to know early enough in the semester to be able to use the newly-freed funds for another (new) student.  I also need to tell them early enough that I can request recommendations for my new program, the application for which is due in early February.  Can I wait until just after the semester starts to notify them?  A few weeks/month in?  Is there some reason I should wait until after the drop-course deadline?  The department certainly isn't vindictive (it has been very helpful and sympathetic to the few students who have left our PhD in the recent past), and as I said seems to "need" me to teach this semester, but I suppose I'm nervous about what the department's administrative obligations are to the university regarding the timing of this kind of withdrawl. 

Surely I'm making this more complicated than it really is...Right? 

[systeme_d_]

There's no shame in leaving.  And it is kind of you to think of the logistics, since as you know, the department will have to reconfigure funding.

It would be very kind to your DGS if you would let her/him know when you return next semester.  You needn't wait a few weeks.

Good luck as you embark on your new career trajectory.

[ewiger_student]

Out of curiosity, what subject area(s) are you looking to teach in the public schools? As I'm sure you know by now, not all content fields have jobs falling off the vines. In other words, how safe(ish) is your landing pad?

[msparticularity]

I have a couple of additional thoughts I want to add to the mix. First, I agree with Systeme_d_ that it's just fine for you to let your department know of your intentions just after the spring semester begins. This will address their need to plan for next year, and I, too, am impressed that you are conscious of planning around it.

My own background sounds a bit like yours. I began my graduate career in history, and, like you, discovered a love of pedagogy along the way. I left my program with an MA instead of continuing to the doctorate, and shifted over into education. However, I also had licensure in another field that was in greater demand at the time (English), and the market back then was far, far better generally. As the previous poster has pointed out, the hiring situation is pretty dire in a lot of content areas these days. I am in a College of Ed that has a really good and well-thought-of MAT program now, and we are beginning to have serious difficulties placing our new graduates.

Also, do you have any background at all in P-12 teaching--any coursework and/or experiences in public school? I ask about this because, in the wake of NCLB, there are some truly horrendous changes taking place in our public schools. Beyond that, the kinds of issues that come up in a very diverse public school classroom are quite different from those encountered at the college level. It didn't bother me because I didn't expect all of my students to be interested, focused, or prepared, but it drove many of my colleagues crazy. I am seeing a fairly large number of people coming through now who simply expect they will be able to find employment in a private school where they won't have to deal with those issues and can simply teach "superior" students. They don't seem aware that the competition for positions in private schools is often just as massive as for postsecondary positions, and the preference is often to hire people with PhDs.

In other words, I wish you much luck, but I'm also a little concerned about how much you know about the situation you are getting into!