Operation Education: Future teachers preparing for troubled job market
WFAA
Posted on February 21, 2011 at 5:34 PM
It is estimated 100,000 thousand public education jobs could be lost in Texas. That is just the start. Add that to the thousands of students that have spent the past four years in college hoping to become teachers.
Finding a classroom is going to be hard and it is only getting harder. Dozens of districts have decided not to travel to recruit new students. For the first time, that decision has forced Texas Christian University to not host its annual Statewide Career Day.
TCU students who want to teach elementary school are very aware of what has happened to the job market for elementary teachers.
Normally districts from around the state come to TCU once a year to interview future teachers.
This year, they are not coming.
"The statewide got canceled," said dale Young, TCU career services. "For the first time in 24 years at least."
TCU alum Dale Young has been with the college of education for 34 years.
"We had a crisis eight to ten years ago, but nothing like this," Young said. "This is probably the worst ever."
To improve the odds of getting a job, TCU has started requiring future elementary teachers to be certified as either ESL or special education, in addition to their other specialties. Other education students are encouraged to test for as many certifications as possible.
University of Texas at Arlington graduates about 400 teachers per year.
"We don’t want it to be demoralizing," said Jeanne Gerlach, UTA College of Education.
Gerlach said her students must be ESL certified, but they are also encouraged to be patient and flexible.
"I just found opportunities for three of our students in publish," Gerlach said.
Councilors are telling education students that they may have to move far away or wait years for that teaching job if lawmakers do not come up with more money for schools. They believe eventually those teaching jobs will come back.
1. Chapter 5 Notes
2. Spiral Notes
3. Cartoon depictions
4. Charades!
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