A significant issue in education today is the chronic shortage of special education teachers. The problem is twofold because teacher shortages in special education include both a quantity and quality shortage: a lack in the number of individuals who are available to fill vacant positions combined with a lack in the number who are fully certified. The predicament that schools are facing should persuade them to address the organizational sources of low retention. The traditional approach to teacher shortages has been to increase the quantity of teachers supplied through recruitment. However, this strategy will not solve the deficit problem if 40% to 50% of new teachers leave the job within five years. The turnover rate has to be decreased. This was a qualitative case study on a former special education teacher that analyzed the experiences that influenced her to leave the teaching profession. The study focused on thick descriptions of the participant, her school environment, and the contextual factors that weighed on her decision. The significance of this study was anchored in the importance of asking a teacher to speak for herself about the meaning of her work. Furthermore, the knowledge gained about how a teacher perceived her career might help to inform and formulate policies that are needed to enhance the conditions of teachers and teaching in order to attract and hold talented individuals in the teaching profession. Administrators and district human resource personnel have to deal with teacher turnover every year. This case study may cast further light on teacher retention and attrition and, perhaps more importantly, on attitudes towards teachers who should be valued as important employees.