Teacher Shortage Gives Way to Teacher Glut

[steven johnson]

Supply and demand can be tricky. I think it was Yogi Bera who said, "Predictions are hard to make, especially about the future." A predicted shortage of teachers has turned into a glut.

Since last fall, school systems, state education agencies, technical schools and colleges have shed about 125,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At the same time, many teachers who had planned to retire or switch jobs are staying on because of the recession, and many people who have been laid off in other fields are trying to carve out second careers as teachers or applying to work as substitutes to make ends meet.

Just a few years ago, before the recession hit, several reports had projected a big shortage of teachers across a wide range of subjects over the next several years as baby boomers retired from the classroom and the strong economy lured college graduates into fields other than education.

But the nationwide demand for teachers in 60 out of 61 subjects has declined from a year earlier, according to an annual report issued this week by the American Association for Employment in Education. Only one subject -- math -- was listed as having an extreme shortage of teachers. In recent years, more than a dozen subjects had extreme shortages.



Teacher Shortage Gives Way to Teacher Glut

[femmocrat]

1. Districts need to make it easier for the boomers to retire.

Would't it make sense to let us retire and to hire a young teacher at half the salary? I'm stuck because of health care. Too young for Medicare but I would have no health care if I retire before age 65. I would retire if I could!

[tonysam]

3. Districts are already making it "easy" for older employees to "retire"

They are firing them all over the country on bogus charges in order to make "room" for cheapo bimbo hires. Or "rehire/retires" as what happened to me when I was wrongfully terminated.

As long as there is a giant glut of teachers, which has been this way for YEARS, so this is not "news," school districts will continue to treat teachers like shit.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Do you have a link?

That sure isn't happening where I am.

[Dinger]

14. My Sentiments Exactly tony

Thank you, again.:)

[donco6]

16. Not here.

But charters are capping their payscales at about 45,000.

[NJCher]

2. yuck

I don't like the sounds of this at all. People should go into teaching because that's what they want to do. Ideally, teaching would be their passion.

I don't like the idea of people teaching just because they need a paycheck.




Cher

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Isn't that the reason anyone takes any job?

Because of the paycheck? Why should teachers be any different?

[Salviati]

13. Yeah, and I say this as an educator...

I think that the expectation that teachers do what thy do, purely because they love it, is the kind of thinking that leads to the type of exploitation of teachers in this courntry, where they are underpaid for the amount of work they do and crap they have to put up with. Do you think that the CEO's of all these major corporations who are earning obscene salaries don't like their jobs? If they do love their jobs, should we be paying them less?

[thunder rising]

4. Well does that mean H1-B teachers are going to be sent home? My bet ... nope.

[tonysam]

5. Districts will hire them in a shot

if it means getting rid of the older, more expensive teachers.

[greennina]

6. After over a decade of over paying them...

of course there's going to be a glut.

[tonysam]

7. WHO is "overpaying" them?

The REAL money--and with it absolute ironclad job security--is in administration beginning with principals.

Teachers are treated like coolies in this system. They are totally expendable.

[greennina]

8. Is that a racist term?

Well? I think you've shown your true colors.

[tonysam]

9. No, I am not "racist"

"Coolie" is exactly the way teachers are treated anymore, they are treated little better than slaves.

Calling people out is against DU rules, by the way.

Here is the reference about the term:

link

Obviously I am referring to the historic definition.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Overpaying who?

Are you implying teachers are overpaid?

[YvonneCa]

15. Welcome to DU...

...;)

[donco6]

17. Overpaying?

Where?