Teacher Shortage Means It's Not To Late To Consider As A Teaching Career
With school back in session and many counties in California including Los Angeles and Fresno searching to fill vacancies, it looks like the long predicted shortage of teachers is here. Across the state there are stories of counties having to resort to bringing in substitute teachers full-time in order to fill some positions. According to the Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools in an interview with Capitol Public Radio earlier last month, Sacramento has "about 176 teaching vacancies among 13 school districts in Sacramento with most concentrated in Sacramento and Twin Rivers unified." A quick scroll through EdJoin.org (a popular job posting site for teachers across the United States) sees more than 360 job openings for certified teaching positions in Sacramento County alone. Jobs range from Head Start teachers who work with younger kids to middle school teachers all the way to Varsity Wrestling coaches for a local high-school. But the reality is that the supply of teachers is shrinking and that means less experienced teachers are being employed at Elementary schools and even in higher education. Suffice to say, there isn't a shortage of jobs in teaching if you have the desire and the resources to obtain a teaching credential and have a bit of time on your hands.
As far as overall employment in education services, Sacramento County has seen an increase of just about 1.4 percent over last year. But that doesn't paint an entirely clear picture. Between 2008 and 2013 according to the California Teaching Commission, more generally due to the economic downturn, many teachers lost their jobs and enrollment in teacher-prep educational programs took a nose dive to the tune of 22,000 enrollees. A good chunk of those teachers sought other careers and haven't returned since. Tack on the baby boomer generation of teachers going into retirement and the ever-increasing cost of college education and we begin to see why there aren't enough teachers nowadays.
Although you can chalk up the slow response to recruit more teachers to a lack of incentive to teach, awareness to the availability of a teaching credential is part of the problem as well. According to the CTC, if you want to become a teacher in California you must pass a single or multiple subject teaching credential program depending on if you want to teach at the elementary or high-school level with multiple requirements within each program. On top of your four-year degree, two additional years are usually required to obtain your teaching credential after passing all required tests.
Paulo Acoba is a California native raised in the Bay Area and living in the Central Valley. He enjoys distance running, cycling and grassroots motorsports. He holds a degree in management from the University of California Merced. Paulo has been writing for Examiner.com since 2012 and covering the Fresno area.
