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**verizon** · 06-01-2011, 01:26 AM

Many who feel that a vocation to teach is in their blood are being convinced that the job uncertainties, declining work environment and minimal pay outweigh the benefits of doing what they feel they were born to do. I doubt that California's would-be teachers are alone in this. The societal devaluation of education and instructors is the most foolish investment decision of our generation.

LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr...ching-20110404

Education experts are warning of a shortage of new teachers in a few years as large numbers of baby boomers start to retire from teaching jobs and larger numbers of youngsters enter elementary school.

"It's a very dramatic decline," noted Dale Janssen, executive director of the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing. "It's kind of difficult to encourage people to become teachers when every time this time of year they hear about 20,000 pink slips going out."

In California, the number of teaching credentials issued annually fell 29% during the last five years, from 28,039 in 2004-05 to 20,032 in 2009-10, according to a new report by the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The biggest decline, nearly a 50% drop during that period, was in the multiple subject credential usually required to teach elementary school youngsters, while some demand for high school math and science teachers remains.

Beverly Young, the Cal State system's assistant vice chancellor for teacher education, said economic uncertainties are not the only factor. Potential teachers are discouraged by increasingly crowded classrooms and more emphasis than before on testing and scripted lessons.

"I think people are seeing it as a less attractive career and a more stressful one," Young said. But, she said, those who still pursue teaching careers decide the negatives are outweighed by the chance to help youngsters.

...

Younger teachers, whose annual starting salaries are about $35,000, bear the brunt of the "last hired-first fired" response to budget problems and student enrollment decline. The number of first- and second-year teachers in California dropped by half, to slightly more than 18,000, between the 2007-08 and 2009-10 academic years, according to a report by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, a Santa Cruz-based nonprofit.

But the report says more teachers will be needed in the future, and not just to fill the jobs of retiring baby boomers. Elementary school enrollment statewide is expected to increase 7% by 2018 and high school enrollment, declining now, will start to grow again by 2016, according to the study. Meeting the demand for teachers will require more recruiting by university credentialing programs "as well as a redoubling of efforts to make the teaching profession attractive to new and experienced teachers alike," the report said.

06-01-2011, 01:26 AM	#12
verizon Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 529 Senior Member	Many who feel that a vocation to teach is in their blood are being convinced that the job uncertainties, declining work environment and minimal pay outweigh the benefits of doing what they feel they were born to do. I doubt that California's would-be teachers are alone in this. The societal devaluation of education and instructors is the most foolish investment decision of our generation. LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr...ching-20110404 Education experts are warning of a shortage of new teachers in a few years as large numbers of baby boomers start to retire from teaching jobs and larger numbers of youngsters enter elementary school. "It's a very dramatic decline," noted Dale Janssen, executive director of the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing. "It's kind of difficult to encourage people to become teachers when every time this time of year they hear about 20,000 pink slips going out." In California, the number of teaching credentials issued annually fell 29% during the last five years, from 28,039 in 2004-05 to 20,032 in 2009-10, according to a new report by the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The biggest decline, nearly a 50% drop during that period, was in the multiple subject credential usually required to teach elementary school youngsters, while some demand for high school math and science teachers remains. Beverly Young, the Cal State system's assistant vice chancellor for teacher education, said economic uncertainties are not the only factor. Potential teachers are discouraged by increasingly crowded classrooms and more emphasis than before on testing and scripted lessons. "I think people are seeing it as a less attractive career and a more stressful one," Young said. But, she said, those who still pursue teaching careers decide the negatives are outweighed by the chance to help youngsters. ... Younger teachers, whose annual starting salaries are about $35,000, bear the brunt of the "last hired-first fired" response to budget problems and student enrollment decline. The number of first- and second-year teachers in California dropped by half, to slightly more than 18,000, between the 2007-08 and 2009-10 academic years, according to a report by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, a Santa Cruz-based nonprofit. But the report says more teachers will be needed in the future, and not just to fill the jobs of retiring baby boomers. Elementary school enrollment statewide is expected to increase 7% by 2018 and high school enrollment, declining now, will start to grow again by 2016, according to the study. Meeting the demand for teachers will require more recruiting by university credentialing programs "as well as a redoubling of efforts to make the teaching profession attractive to new and experienced teachers alike," the report said.
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