Professional occupations take time and dedication. Careers are chosen, but some are callings. Teaching requires a calling to survive the many levels of expectations and rigor needed to reach the youth of today. Education is a constant juggling act of professional responsibility and personal balance. The lines of professional and personal lives often cross when teaching school age children. This study seeks to explore the decision to leave the teaching profession by middle to late career public school teachers. The perceptions are sought to inform administrative responses on policies or work environments that lead to attrition from the workforce in the public-school setting. In addition to salary, another factor affecting teacher retention is working conditions. A view of working conditions as a contributing factor to attrition is grounded in organizational theory that suggests that teachers leave not because of their characteristics or their students' characteristics, but because of school-level factors (Geiger & Pivovarova 2018). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]