Rio Grande Valley schools are just a few weeks away from the start of the new school year, but as the new school year starts, some teachers have called it quits.

"The teachers are constantly under pressure,” said Marsha Gonzalez, a retired teacher and president of the Edinburg CISD teacher’s union.

Gonzalez worked as an elementary and middle school teacher for over 35 years and at the end of the last school year, she decided to leave the profession.

“But if I have to come home and I'm so exhausted, and then I go to trainings and I'm away from the family for an extended period of time, that's not good either," Gonzalez said.

According to the district, the Edinburg school board increased annual teacher pay for the past nine years. It stands at an average of $59,360 a year.

Mission CISD officials say they only have a handful of vacancies for teaching positions across the district.

"Our superintendent made it a priority to make improvements with our compensation plan over the last four years,” said Mission CISD spokesperson Craig Verley.

The average annual salary for teachers at Mission CISD is over $60,000 — one of the highest in the Valley.

Meanwhile, other districts like Brownsville ISD have been in need of employees, from teachers to custodians. Their average annual teacher pay was recently increased to over $57,000 a year.

Neither the Brownsville nor Edinburg school districts responded to requests for comment on this story.