J IS FOR JOB

NEA Today, Mar 2004 by Loschert, Kristen

You've heard the horror stories, now here's the reality: Teaching jobs still exist, and finding one isn't as hard as you think. You just have to know where to look.

OK, what gives? For more than a decade, school districts, the media, and even your Association have told you there is a teacher shortage. But now all you hear about are teacher layoffs and school budget cuts.

So, where did all the jobs go?

That's a question Amy Simmons wishes she could answer. After she graduated from North Dakota's Minot State University in 2001, Simmons began substitute teaching because of the lack of full-time positions. A year later, her dream came true when she landed a job teaching third grade at a school in Minot.

Her dream job quickly turned into budget crunch reality, however, when she found herself without a permanent assignment the following spring. Facing a declining student population, Simmons' district consolidated three schools into one and reduced the staff, starting with the least experienced teachers, like Simmons.

"It's so frustrating when teaching kids is what you know you were meant to do," says Simmons, who substitute teaches and bartends to get by. "It's an absolute roller coaster of emotions. You never know what's going to happen. Is a job going to come along?"

While Simmons' case is extreme, it certainly isn't unique. However, the job market for teachers has hardly dried up. A demand still exists in most subject areas and in many parts of the country. But finding your ideal j ob-whether you're fresh out of school or midway through your career-requires some research and flexibility.

BUDGET CUT BLITZ

Understanding where the job market has been-and where it's going-is a good place to start. Despite what you've heard, the teacher shortage isn't just some urban legend. There really was one back in the 1990s. With a thriving economy-and a rallying stock market-many educators left the profession to snap up higher paying jobs in private industry. At the same time, school districts offered attractive retirement incentives, which encouraged many educators to cash in their mutual funds and leave the profession early. Consequently, by 2001, the "peak" for the shortage, most education fields desperately needed teachers, while others experienced what's called a "balanced demand"-meaning there was an equal number of job candidates and job openings.

That's the finding of the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE), which annually evaluates the supply and demand for educators in 64 different administrative and teaching fields based on surveys of college career centers and teacher education programs.

During the last two years, however, the market has softened a bit, says BJ. Bryant, executive director of AAEE. While almost all education fields faced shortages just a few years ago, only 26 face them today, and seven have some surplus. But that doesn't mean there are plenty of new teachers to go around.

"There's no huge new supply," says Bryant. "It's not like there is this bulge of teacher education students available."

It's simply the economic times, she says.

States and local communities are struggling with the worst budget shortfalls they've seen since the 1940s. And, in the name of penny pinching, schools have cut extracurricular activities and enrichment classes, purchased fewer school supplies, postponed maintenance projects, and increased class sizes. But they haven't stopped there. They've also terminated teachers and staff-more than 10,000 of them by some estimates-forcing record numbers of experienced educators back into the market. (And more layoffs could be in the future.)

On top of that, increasing federal mandates have put the squeeze on schools. With new demands to meet-and few dollars to meet them-many districts have tightened their purse strings. And that, says Bryant, has left little money to hire new teachers or fill existing vacancies. "If a school district had all the money it needed, we'd be right back to the shortages of 2001," she says.

Financial pressures have forced many teachers to delay their retirements, as well, which means fewer positions have opened up for new grads and new job seekers.

But, no one can teach forever. And states like California, for instance, still face a major turnover in staff within the next decade.

"We still have a need for teachers," says Gail Watts, of the California Teachers Association (CTA). "Fifty-four percent of CTA members are over 42 years old and a third are over 50. So in terms of retirements in the next 10 years, we will need to replace those teachers in the classroom."

WHERE THE JOBS ARE

But what if you need a job today or just want a change? Where should you look?

Major teacher shortages still exist in special education, math, the sciences, English as a second Language, and some foreign languages like Spanish, according to AAEE. That's good news for student teachers like Amanda Macdonald, a sophomore chemistry major at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.

"I'm probably not as worried about finding a job, but more finding a job that I will be happy with or finding a job in a state that I will be happy with, not having to settle," she says.