The New Educational Landscape

As a new school year begins, there are plenty of teachers entering the field for the first time, filling slots for those who have retired or moved on to other areas of education. But while there are lots of positions that have been filled, the field overall has not been as pleasant for everyone. There are many job seekers who just do not have the credentials in the specialty fields like physics, math and special education, and they are left hunting for work still.

The job market has changed, greatly affected by things like the recession, the combined state and school budget crisis as well as new legislation. Bill Henk, the dean of Marquette University's College of Education says "This is maybe the most unusual hiring climate for teachers that I've ever seen." Last year, many schools were forced to lay off hundreds of teachers. Then federal education jobs money was supplied that allowed the majority of those people to be brought back during the last school year, only to be laid off again at the end of the school year. However, this time, no such funding was provided to bring them back in.

Jobs are seemingly scarce, and competition is fierce in most districts. It has been reported that upward of 1,000 applications can be received for one single teaching position. Years ago, it was predicted that there would be lots of teaching jobs around now, as the baby boomers would be retiring. However, the recession came in and caused many of them to stay on the job longer than expected.

Those who only hold general licenses for a select smaller age/grade bracket of children tend to be at a disadvantage when they are applying for a position along side someone with special certifications or a license that covers a wider age/grade bracket. Having a special-education license is helpful too, but not everyone feels compelled to enter that field of study.

There are still positions to be filled, especially if you are qualified in some of the higher needed skills, in things like inquiry-based science, or problem-based social studies work. It seems those with special skills and licenses that cover a wider grade range have an advantage over those with general licenses, and so additional skills may be required to be more competitive in today's market.



Share your thoughts and experiences about the job market by commenting below.



Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, mail order book store manager, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Education Jobsite blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites.