How to Make a Career Change from Teaching to Speech Pathology

Why Would Teachers Switch to a Speech Therapy Career?

Teachers decide to switch from teaching to speech pathology for many reasons. Some, like Kristin Immicke, still enjoy working with students but want a different role after experiencing burnout in the classroom. Additionally, some SLPs provide services remotely through telepractice, which ASHA describes as a service delivery model that can be used on its own or in combination with in-person services.

Kristin Immicke thought she’d teach forever. But after her first five years in the classroom, she began rethinking her career choice. It wasn’t the actual teaching of lessons or the students that led to her desire for change. Those were aspects of teaching she enjoyed. The lack of time to get everything done in the classroom and the constant emphasis on test performance caused burnout. Teaching to the test is not what she envisioned.

Because of her passion for helping students, Kristin knew she wanted to stay in the school setting. She started researching other options. This led her to investigate speech therapy. The more she learned about speech pathology, the more she felt like it was what she wanted to do. After doing more research, she began pursuing a career in speech therapy, a decision she believes was rewarding.

The Role of Speech Language Pathologists in Schools

School-based speech language pathologists like Immicke focus on speech and language disorders in children. In general, school-based SLPs assess students to identify communication disorders, including language, articulation, fluency, voice and swallowing disorders, according to ASHA. After evaluation, SLPs develop appropriate treatment plans for students who need extra help. Then the SLP works with classroom teachers and other school staff members to implement the plan. They also communicate with parents, working as a team to support the student.

An SLP’s job varies throughout the day as they meet with individual students or small groups. Their work could include helping students with speech sound errors such as a lisp, fluency disorders such as stuttering, or language-based reading difficulties such as dyslexia, which ASHA describes as a word reading disorder. With appropriate training, some SLPs also treat orofacial myofunctional disorders, which affect how the tongue is positioned at rest and during swallowing, breathing and speech, as part of a team that can include dental and orthodontic professionals. They spend time completing required paperwork and preparing for upcoming sessions.

Speech language pathologists help students succeed. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association emphasizes that SLPs try to prevent academic failure for students with communication disorders. As a part of their role, they must gather and interpret data about the treatment plans so they can make data-driven decisions.

School-Based SLP Jobs

In May 2025, speech language pathologists held about 183,390 jobs in the United States, according to the BLS. These included speech therapists in schools, medical facilities, and private clinics; the count does not include self-employed SLPs. Elementary and secondary schools employed 72,130 of them. Some SLPs serve more than one school or facility, and ASHA notes that telepractice can let SLPs provide services in more than one setting with less need to travel.

School-Based Speech Pathologist Salary

In May 2025, SLPs earned a median annual wage of $97,870 across all industries, according to BLS data. The BLS further breaks this down by work setting. Among the settings below, SLPs in elementary and secondary schools had the lowest median annual wage, $83,080, and SLPs in home health care services had the highest, $117,370.

^{Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.}

Do Speech Pathologists Make More than Teachers?

Yes, according to BLS data. In May 2025, the national median annual wage for SLPs was $97,870, compared with $63,970 for elementary school teachers (except special education). The gap is smaller inside schools. In elementary and secondary schools, SLPs had a median annual wage of $83,080, while elementary school teachers had a median of $63,980, a difference of $19,100. However, this pay can vary depending on the salary schedule of a specific location.

Speech therapists who leave the school setting have the potential to earn even more. In every other setting in the table above, SLPs' median annual wage was higher than in elementary and secondary schools.