Stay-at-home dad shares his struggle to reenter workforce

As I read Katy Read's commentary ("Priceless -- but with a cost," Opinion Exchange, Feb. 13), I couldn't help feeling her pain.

As a stay-at-home dad now ready to reenter the workforce, I've also encountered significant challenges. I left a 13-year career in teaching four years ago when my wife and I moved to Minnesota.

Now that the kids are older and I'm able to return to the profession that I dearly love, I can't even get an interview. The teaching market is horrid.

Read didn't talk about retraining, which is the path I'm taking. My family is financially stable, which allows me to go that route, but not everyone is in that position.

I still want to teach, so I've entered a program to obtain a special-education license. This will make me more marketable and help me establish much-needed professional contacts in Minnesota and take on a new challenge.

I sympathize with Read and can relate to her plight. Many thanks for her essay.

SCOTT RICHARDSON, PRIOR LAKE