I am one meeting away to hop out with an MPhil...

I look for people in quantum research, not a single prof has funding or availability. Finding an advisor may be a typical struggle, but at this point my only research options are in the labs I'm connected to. But with a potential 40% pay bump to 6 digits from my teaching job currently... I may just follow my passions and do what I can with the education crisis in this country. ACTUALY do something, rather than investing in commoditizing my knowledge and doing something with that.

I don't want to frame this as a "this is the university's fault for having funding issues" or "it's my fault for not networking enough", nor "I'm just taking the path of least resistance". I don't even find myself incompatible with doctoral research, I intend to continue to do PhD-quality research independently or eventually apply to another program that actually has available faculty... I just don't know what to make of my journey to turn out this way. I will always want a PhD, but nowadays I see myself as one of the people who holds himself to a PhD standard with Master's credentials (regardless of elitist haters). Going in this direction and taking an MPhil, it doesn't necessarily feel like I'm diverting from my dream of having "Doctor" to my name, but when there's such a lack of availability I can only think that it simply wasn't the right time. I was back-to-back high school, bachelor's, to PhD, and it's always felt like the path for me and it still does. This a big turning point, but in any case I'll be doing what makes me REALLY happy: mathematics.

Tackling this conversation with my department is gonna turn out different than the words I'm splurging now, but I'm sticking with the power I have to choose a path with actual room for growth. I don't want to communicate as if the university failed me, but I want to uphold that there are conditions that are leaving me to not make it to candidacy. Part of me is being hard on myself for considering to not finish this PhD... I'll appreciate any input for those who either faced with this same dilemma and pushed forward to finish or pushed in another direction.