I'm working on an education degree (to teach in primary school) and am rather concerned by the lack of jobs, but as that is the job for me (its the only work I think I can enjoy), I can't exactly chase after another career. So, why is it that teachers are having a difficult time finding work? What did the poor economy do to teachers? In my (perhaps) simple-minded thinking, I'd think that regardless of the state of the economy, the demand for teachers would always be increasing as the population increases. So what am I overlooking? And why do so many Web sites say education will be very good work in the future?
its easier just to cram more students into a classroom than it is to build new space and hire new teachers
The basic thrust of the problem in my view is that teachers are funded directly from tax dollars. Tax rates for school districts are based off of the assessed valuation of the properties within the school district. As the economy has been impacted, these values have dropped resulting in a reduction in the revenues collect by school districts. Even though revenues have dropped the costs such as fuel, utilities, labor, etc. have continued to rise. When you combine this with the fact that most school districts are limited in the amount of discretionary spending they have available because their labor costs are fixed through collective bargaining agreements negotiated by teacher's unions, the only thing most school districts are able to do to mitigate the funding reduction is eliminate positions and increase class sizes. Some states have reached the point where they are no longer able to balance the books this way, hence the approach of coming after collective bargaining for teachers in an attempt to reduce the fixed labor costs.
Also, current demographics don't support the idea of increasing numbers of youngens - just the opposite, actually (I am a teacher, and this has been on the radar for the past couple of years; we're expecting continuing decreasing numbers for the foreseen future).
Nationwide, there has been little growth in the school-age population over the past 5 years. The US Dept. of Education estimated the numbers at 55,187,000 in 2005, and 55,850,000 in 2010. So that's like 1% growth over five years, which is essentially flat. Some parts of the country have been growing more rapidly over this period, but conversely, other parts of the country have been shrinking. The school-age population is subject to long-term cycles. For example, there was a peak in 1971, and then the school-age population shrank every year until 1984.
I believe the growth is happening within individual school districts. While my district is losing students, it's not that they're just disappearing. They're moving to other, more affordable areas. A few years ago my high school had 515 students. Now we're down to 405, and in the next 2-3 years we're looking at being around 360 or so. -Matt
As the economy worsens or stagnates people are less willing to spend money on anything they can cut. Here in NJ lots of people are out of work or have taken cuts in pay or benefits. School budgets have to be approved by the population, and a rise in the school budget will cause a rise in property tax. If I can't afford to pay for my heat or take my sick child to the Dr. then I am looking for anywhere to cut cost. Another problem here in NJ is our schools are top heavy, we have too many administrators. The problem is it is the administrators who help draw up the budget. If the budget needs to find $120,000 that could be one administrator or 2-3 teachers. The teachers are always the ones to go. In high schools classes are cut or clubs or other activities. In elementary or middle schools class sizes are raised and teachers and aides are cut to part time and lose benefits. In the next 5-10 years many teachers will be retiring this should open up some new jobs, but not enough for the many graduates. Teaching seems to go in cycles, I can remember in the late 60's early 70's there was a shortage of teachers then everyone went to school to become a teacher and there were some years when teaching was not an easy job to find. Then we had a little baby boom in the mid to late 80's and we needed more teachers again. Now births have slowed down again, class sizes are very small and teachers are a dime a dozen. Don't give up your dream, you may have to prove yourself at a lower paying part time job but if you are a good teacher it will eventually pay off for you.
Also, I see a lot of parents who went from a double income to a single income home school their children. In Florida, the number of homeschooled children increased, this resulted in each school getting less money, because they have less students. And yes, they also increased class sizes to cut down on the number of teachers.
