If you're an accounting teacher, you would have a chuckle at what states are doing with some $10 billion in education jobs funding if it didn't affect your own job prospects. While Congress recently passed a bill that was supposed to be designed to enable more teachers to keep their jobs, it's contingent on state decisions regarding education.
Take South Dakota, a state that's seeing a growing influx of young children as families see the possibilities of work in mining or natural gas extraction. The state is giving the money it will receive to local schools, but in lieu of the money it would have given to them itself. That means that the funding will be the same, though legislators may improve their budget numbers.
The Unique Case of Education Jobs in Texas
Texas is a unique state in many respects. It is the second largest by population, and exerts a lot of pull in terms of education. It also is the only state with specific requirements regarding the education jobs bill, ones that could see districts miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars.
An Austin-based legislator put in a provision in the Congressional bill forcing the education aid money to actually go to school districts, ensuring that it couldn't be used for accounting measures by the state. If it works out properly, Texas has the potential to lead the country in kept education jobs, although there are several legal issues.
From STEM to Stern in Georgia
Georgia is pulled by two forces, one a Southern conservatism that tends to influence how education is perceived, but also by a growing belief in the value of jobs creation as evidenced by gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal.
He wants more magnet schools and a focus on STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics coursework. It's a natural extension of the Cold War era focus on sciences, brought to the modern age.
If Deal is successful, Georgia will be one of a growing number of states that focus on the value of STEM in education and later, job creation. Teachers should be keeping an eye on these movements as a source of new teaching jobs, and even non-science and math educators can benefit by researching collaborative efforts that could get them slots in these areas.
Take South Dakota, a state that's seeing a growing influx of young children as families see the possibilities of work in mining or natural gas extraction. The state is giving the money it will receive to local schools, but in lieu of the money it would have given to them itself. That means that the funding will be the same, though legislators may improve their budget numbers.
The Unique Case of Education Jobs in Texas
Texas is a unique state in many respects. It is the second largest by population, and exerts a lot of pull in terms of education. It also is the only state with specific requirements regarding the education jobs bill, ones that could see districts miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars.
An Austin-based legislator put in a provision in the Congressional bill forcing the education aid money to actually go to school districts, ensuring that it couldn't be used for accounting measures by the state. If it works out properly, Texas has the potential to lead the country in kept education jobs, although there are several legal issues.
From STEM to Stern in Georgia
Georgia is pulled by two forces, one a Southern conservatism that tends to influence how education is perceived, but also by a growing belief in the value of jobs creation as evidenced by gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal.
He wants more magnet schools and a focus on STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics coursework. It's a natural extension of the Cold War era focus on sciences, brought to the modern age.
If Deal is successful, Georgia will be one of a growing number of states that focus on the value of STEM in education and later, job creation. Teachers should be keeping an eye on these movements as a source of new teaching jobs, and even non-science and math educators can benefit by researching collaborative efforts that could get them slots in these areas.
[Image courtesy U.S. Army]
By: John Curran
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